This legislation adds flexibility, clarifications and enhancements to the existing Single County T-SPLOST law. This bill allows Single County T-SPLOST to fund state transportation projects and removes dates that are no longer relevant so now all counties, with the exception of Fulton County who has their own code section, would follow the same Single County T-SPLOST law. It also permits more than one Single County T-SPLOST to be levied at the same time as long as the amount does not exceed 1 percent and allows cities to bond their T-SPLOST projects. Lastly, the bill clarifies that after January 1, 2018, Regional T-SPLOST and a Single County T-SPLOST cannot be on the ballot at the same time.

A more detailed description of HB 134 can be found here.

This legislation amends the Oil and Gas Deep Drilling Act of 1975. It requires the creation of regulations governing hydraulic fracturing. Counties and cities have the ability to adopt local zoning or land use ordinances limiting the location or timing of fracking activities to protect natural resources, human life and human welfare. A three percent severance tax will be required from the sale price of the gas and oil obtained. Counties, where the fracking occurs, can enact local ordinances or resolutions to levy its own severance tax, which can't exceed nine cents per barrel of oil or two cents per thousand cubic feet of gas.  

This bill creates the Georgia Outdoor Stewardship program. The intent of this legislation is to provide dedicated funding for state parks and state wildlife management areas as well as support to local parks and trails. Forty percent of the proceeds of all state sales tax from outdoor recreation items would be appropriated for the protection and preservation of conservation land. The General Assembly has the ability to increase this amount up to the 80%. 

Counties would be eligible to apply for grants and loans from this newly created trust fund. A Board of Trustees of the Georgia Outdoor Stewardship Trust Fund is created to oversee the grant/loan applications. The composition of the board could include representatives from local government.

In addition, each county in which is located 20,000 acres or more of unimproved real property belonging to the state and under the custody or control of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (GA DNR), in which such state-owned property exceeds 10 percent of the taxable real property in the county, and in which such property represents 10 percent or more of the assessed tax digest of the county may receive from the GA DNR an annual grant. Only land acquired with Outdoor Stewardship Trust Fund money would be used in the calculation of this grant. 

The bill is contingent upon a proposed constitutional amendment, found in HR 238, which would be placed on the ballot for the November, 2018 state-wide general election.

Additional Information:  https://georgiaoutdoorstewardship.org/ 

This legislation preempts local governments from adopting ordinances regulating the use of drones except for ordinances adopted before April 1, 2017, ordinances that enforce Federal Aviation Administration restrictions or ordinances prohibiting the launch, recovery or intentional landing of drones on county property.