This legislation allows the election superintendent to correct mistakes or omissions in the printing of official ballots or the programming of the display of the official ballot on the DRE voting equipment for local government candidates.  Currently, said correction must be required by the superior court following an application by an elector.   

This bill relates to the recurring issue of collecting sales tax on internet sales and other sales by out of state retailers. This bill creates a new vendor classification, 'delivery retailer', defined as a retailer that either collects more than $250,000.00 from retail sales to be delivered in Georgia or that conducts more than 200 such sales. A delivery retailer must 1) either collect and remit sales tax to the state or 2) notify the purchaser that the purchaser is required to file a sales and use tax return. In the second situation, the delivery retailer is also required to send to each purchaser (and copy the Department of Revenue) a tax statement listing purchase price, date of purchase, and other information. These changes would become effective in January of 2019.

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.

As amended by the author before the Senate Finance Committee, this bill would prohibit the placement on property tax bills of nontax-related fees and assessments, unless that fee or assessment is established via the creation of a special tax district. Regardless of method of establishment of such fees, however, this bill would prohibit the filing of liens against property for nonpayment of fees or assessments -- only unpaid property taxes could result in a lien. As a result, this bill would indirectly repeal existing law authorizing the filing of liens for unpaid sanitation and water fees/bills.

While the bill’s author maintains that placing such fees on property tax bills exposes the property owner to potential liens and losing of their homes due to unpaid fees, examples of that happening have not been provided. 

In contrast, placing fees on property tax bills provides convenience to citizens, lowers counties’ administrative costs, and results in higher collection rates. Because experience has shown that billing fees separately can significantly impact collections, counties could be faced with either raising fees for those who do pay in order to continue providing vital services, or shift those fees to property taxes. In addition, for those counties that currently do include fees on property tax bills, separating those billings will likely result in substantial administrative costs. More importantly, the loss of the ability to file liens would mean that counties would have to sue citizens for unpaid fees or raise fees on those citizens who do pay their bills.

ACCG believes that the decision on whether to bill separately or collectively for taxes and fees is best left to local officials, who are better positioned to respond to the specific desires of their citizens.

 As amended in the Senate Finance Committee, the above subject was removed and replaced with unrelated language exempting non-profit organizations from the $5 transporation surcharge for hotel/motel stays.

This bill changes the criteria that a tax assessor is required to apply in determining fair market value of property receiving certain income tax credits for ad valorem tax purposes. It is an effort to circumvent a recent court decision and limit the consideration of low income housing tax credits.

The text of this bill was added to HB 196. 

This bill, in its substitute form, changes the definition of fair market value for ad valorem tax purposes by requiring the consideration of actual income and expense data if supplied by the owner.

The text of this bill was added to HB 196. 

The text of this bill was added to HB 329 and adopted, effective July 1, 2019. This bill would make several changes to the calculation and distribution of title ad valorem tax (TAVT). Rather than the current law which provides for annual adjustment of the state/local split based on prior year collections, local governments will continue to collect ad valorem taxes on pre-2013 vehicles. TAVT proceeds be split between the state and local governments on a 65/35 (state/local) basis. The local share would be distributed as follows: 1) for vehicles registered in unincorporated areas, 51% of the local proceeds would be paid to the county and 49% to the school system; and 2) for vehicles registered in incorporated areas, 49% would be paid to the school system, 28% to the county, and 23% to the city. There are also provisions to accommodate MARTA in the three counties in which MARTA sales tax is collected. 

As adopted, the formula for calculating TAVT on used cars is unchanged. The TAVT rate for out-of-state registrations is lowered from 7% to 3%. Certain minor changes are also included, such as no longer charging full TAVT when a vehicle is retitled as a result of a divorce from one spouse to the other.

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/ 

As introduced, this bill provides for the comprehensive revision of the distribution of state and local TAVT proceeds. First, during a four-year phase in period, counties (and other local governments) first receive proceeds based upon the 2012 tax year ad valorem collections minus the amount of ad valorem tax collected in the current month. During that phase-in period, the remaining amount is split between the state and local governments on a graduated scale that shifts more money to the local governments. Following the phase in period, all vehicle ad valorem taxes and TAVT proceeds are split 30 percent to the state and 70 percent to local government. During the phase in period, the distribution of local TAVT proceeds among counties, schools, and cities remains the same as at present. Under a proposed substitute to the original bill, beginning in 2022 the county/schools/cities split would be at the average percentages those entities received from 2018 through 2021. More information is available here. 

As passed by the Senate Finance Committee, the above changes to the state/local distribution of TAVT was removed from the bill. As ultimately approved by both the Senate and House, HB 340 only changes the formula for calculation of TAVT on leased vehicles.

All county commissioners elected on or after January 1, 2017, must take office on the Monday following their election so long as it is at least five days following the certification of election results.  If a petition to contest the election is filed, then the newly-elected commissioner takes office on the Monday following a judgment rendered, or the withdrawal or dismissal of the petition.  The officeholder shall be sworn in at the next county commission meeting - which shall be held no later than two weeks following their term of office.  For a full summary of this legislation, please click here.