HB 60 - Homestead option sales tax; pro- ceeds; cert capital outlay projects

First Reader Summary

A BILL to amend Article 2A of Chapter 8 of Title 48 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to homestead option sales and use tax, so as to authorize the proceeds of such tax to be used in part for certain capital outlay projects; and for other purposes.

Page Numbers - 1/ 2/ 3/ 4/ 5/ 6/ 7/ 8

Code Sections - 48-8-102

Recorded Votes

• Vote # 10 PASS 01/15/97

HB 60                                             LC 18 7836S 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                        A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 
                               AN ACT 
 
 
  1- 1  To amend Article 2A of Chapter 8 of Title 48 of the Official 
  1- 2  Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to homestead option 
  1- 3  sales and use tax, so as to authorize the proceeds of such 
  1- 4  tax to be used in part for certain capital outlay projects; 
  1- 5  to provide for an exception with respect to certain local 
  1- 6  Act effective date limitations; to change a definition; to 
  1- 7  change certain provisions with respect to submission to the 
  1- 8  voters of the questions of imposing and of discontinuing 
  1- 9  such tax; to change certain provisions with respect to 
  1-10  distribution of the proceeds of such tax; to provide an 
  1-11  effective date; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other 
  1-12  purposes. 
 
  1-13       BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA: 
 
  1-14                           SECTION 1. 
 
  1-15  Article 2A of Chapter 8 of Title 48 of the Official Code of 
  1-16  Georgia Annotated, relating to homestead option sales and 
  1-17  use tax, is amended by striking paragraph (1) of Code 
  1-18  Section 48-8-101, relating to definitions, and inserting in 
  1-19  its place a new paragraph (1) to read as follows: 
 
  1-20      "(1) 'Ad valorem taxes for county purposes' means any 
  1-21      and all ad valorem taxes for county maintenance and 
  1-22      operation purposes levied by, for, or on behalf of the 
  1-23      county, excluding taxes to retire general obligation 
  1-24      bonded indebtedness of the county. 
 
  1-25                           SECTION 2. 
 
  1-26  Said article is further amended by striking Code Section 
  1-27  48-8-102, relating to the levy of the homestead option sales 
  1-28  and use tax and use of proceeds, and inserting in its place 
  1-29  a new Code Section 48-8-102 to read as follows: 
 
  1-30    "48-8-102. 
 
  1-31    (a) Pursuant to the authority granted by Article IX, 
  1-32    Section II, Paragraph VI of the Constitution of this 
  1-33    state, there are created within this state 159 special 
 
 
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  2- 1    districts.  The geographical boundary of each county shall 
  2- 2    correspond with and shall be conterminous with the 
  2- 3    geographical boundary of one of the 159 special districts. 
 
  2- 4    (b) When the imposition of a local sales and use tax is 
  2- 5    authorized according to the procedures provided in this 
  2- 6    article within a special district, the county whose 
  2- 7    geographical boundary is conterminous with that of the 
  2- 8    special district shall levy a local sales and use tax at 
  2- 9    the rate of 1 percent.  Except as to rate, the local sales 
  2-10    and use tax shall correspond to the tax imposed and 
  2-11    administered by Article 1 of this chapter.  No item or 
  2-12    transaction which is not subject to taxation by Article 1 
  2-13    of this chapter shall be subject to the sales and use tax 
  2-14    levied pursuant to this article, except that the sales and 
  2-15    use tax provided in this article shall be applicable to 
  2-16    sales of motor fuels as that term is defined by Code 
  2-17    Section 48-9-2 and shall be applicable to the sale of food 
  2-18    and beverages only to the extent provided for in paragraph 
  2-19    (57) of Code Section 48-8-3. 
 
  2-20      (c)(1) Except as otherwise provided in paragraph (2) of 
  2-21      this subsection, the proceeds of the sales and use tax 
  2-22      levied and collected under this article shall be used 
  2-23      only for the purpose purposes of funding capital outlay 
  2-24      projects and of funding services within a special 
  2-25      district equal to the revenue lost to the homestead 
  2-26      exemption as provided in Code Section 48-8-104 and, in 
  2-27      the event excess funds remain following the expenditure 
  2-28      for such purpose purposes, such excess funds shall be 
  2-29      used for millage rate adjustment expended as provided in 
  2-30      subparagraph (c)(2)(E) (c)(2)(C) of Code Section 
  2-31      48-8-104. 
 
  2-32      (2) Prior to January 1 of the year immediately following 
  2-33      the first complete calendar year in which the sales and 
  2-34      use tax under this article is imposed, such proceeds may 
  2-35      be used for funding all or any portion of those services 
  2-36      which are to be provided by the governing authority of 
  2-37      the county whose geographic boundary is conterminous 
  2-38      with that of the special district pursuant to and in 
  2-39      accordance with Article IX, Section II, Paragraph III of 
  2-40      the Constitution of this state. 
 
  2-41    (d) Such sales and use tax shall only be levied in a 
  2-42    special district following the enactment of a local Act 
  2-43    which provides for a homestead exemption of an amount to 
  2-44    be determined from the amount of sales and use tax 
 
 
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  3- 1    collected under this article.  Such exemption shall 
  3- 2    commence with taxable years beginning on or after January 
  3- 3    1 of the year immediately following the first complete 
  3- 4    calendar year in which the sales and use tax under this 
  3- 5    article is levied.  Any such local Act shall incorporate 
  3- 6    by reference the terms and conditions specified under this 
  3- 7    article.  Any such local Act shall not be subject to the 
  3- 8    provisions of Code Section 1-3-4.1.  Any such homestead 
  3- 9    exemption under this article shall be in addition to and 
  3-10    not in lieu of any other homestead exemption applicable to 
  3-11    county taxes for county purposes within the special 
  3-12    district. Notwithstanding any provision of such local Act 
  3-13    to the contrary, the referendum which shall otherwise be 
  3-14    required to be conducted under such local Act shall only 
  3-15    be conducted if the resolution required under subsection 
  3-16    (a) of Code Section 48-8-103 is adopted prior to the 
  3-17    issuance of the call for the referendum under the local 
  3-18    Act by the election superintendent.  If such ordinance is 
  3-19    not adopted by that date, the referendum otherwise 
  3-20    required to be conducted under the local Act shall not be 
  3-21    conducted. 
 
  3-22    (e) No sales and use tax shall be levied in a special 
  3-23    district under this article in which a tax is levied and 
  3-24    collected under either Article 2 or Article 3 of this 
  3-25    chapter." 
 
  3-26                           SECTION 3. 
 
  3-27  Said article is further amended by striking subsection (a) 
  3-28  of Code Section 48-8-103, relating to submission to voters 
  3-29  to determine imposition of such tax, and inserting in its 
  3-30  place a new subsection (a) to read as follows: 
 
  3-31    "(a) Whenever the governing authority of any county whose 
  3-32    geographic boundary is conterminous with that of the 
  3-33    special district wishes to submit to the electors of the 
  3-34    special district the question of whether the sales and use 
  3-35    tax authorized by Code Section 48-8-102 shall be imposed, 
  3-36    any such governing authority shall notify the election 
  3-37    superintendent of the county whose geographical boundary 
  3-38    is conterminous with that of the special district by 
  3-39    forwarding to the superintendent a copy of a resolution of 
  3-40    the governing authority calling for a referendum election. 
  3-41    Upon receipt of the resolution, it shall be the duty of 
  3-42    the election superintendent to issue the call for an 
  3-43    election for the purpose of submitting the question of the 
  3-44    imposition of the sales and use tax to the voters of the 
 
 
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  4- 1    special district for approval or rejection.  The election 
  4- 2    superintendent shall issue the call and shall conduct the 
  4- 3    election on a date and in the manner authorized under Code 
  4- 4    Section 21-2-540.  Such election shall only be conducted 
  4- 5    on the date of and in conjunction with a referendum 
  4- 6    provided for by local Act on the question of whether to 
  4- 7    impose a homestead exemption within such county and based 
  4- 8    on the amount of proceeds from the sales and use tax 
  4- 9    levied and collected pursuant to this article.  The 
  4-10    election superintendent shall cause the date and purpose 
  4-11    of the election to be published once a week for two weeks 
  4-12    immediately preceding the date of the election in the 
  4-13    official organ of such county.  The ballot shall have 
  4-14    written or printed thereon the following statement which 
  4-15    shall precede the ballot question specified in this 
  4-16    subsection and the ballot question specified by the 
  4-17    required local Act: 
 
  4-18      'NOTICE TO ELECTORS:  Unless BOTH the homestead 
  4-19      exemption AND the retail homestead option sales and use 
  4-20      tax are approved, then neither the exemption nor the 
  4-21      sales and use tax shall become effective.' 
 
  4-22    Such statement shall be followed by the following: 
 
  4-23      '(  ) YES Shall a retail homestead option sales and 
  4-24                use tax of 1 percent be levied within the 
  4-25       (  ) NO  special district within _____________ County 
  4-26                for the purpose purposes of funding capital 
  4-27                outlay projects and of funding services to 
  4-28                replace revenue lost to an additional 
  4-29                homestead exemption of up to 100 percent of 
  4-30                the assessed value of homesteads from county 
  4-31                taxes for county purposes?' 
 
  4-32    Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the 
  4-33    contrary, the statement, ballot question, and local Act 
  4-34    ballot question referred to in this subsection shall 
  4-35    precede any and all other ballot questions calling for the 
  4-36    levy or imposition of any other sales and use tax which 
  4-37    are to appear on the same ballot." 
 
  4-38                           SECTION 4. 
 
  4-39  Said article is further amended by striking subsection (c) 
  4-40  of Code Section 48-8-104, relating to administration of such 
  4-41  tax and disbursement of proceeds, and inserting in its place 
  4-42  a new subsection (c) to read as follows: 
 
 
 
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  5- 1    "(c) The proceeds of the sales and use tax collected by 
  5- 2    the commissioner in each special district under this 
  5- 3    article shall be disbursed as soon as practicable after 
  5- 4    collection as follows: 
 
  5- 5      (1) One percent of the amount collected shall be paid 
  5- 6      into the general fund of the state treasury in order to 
  5- 7      defray the costs of administration; 
 
  5- 8      (2) Except for the percentage provided in paragraph (1) 
  5- 9      of this subsection, the remaining proceeds of the sales 
  5-10      and use tax shall be distributed to the governing 
  5-11      authority of the county whose geographical boundary is 
  5-12      conterminous with that of the special district.  As a 
  5-13      condition precedent for the authority to levy the sales 
  5-14      and use tax or to collect any proceeds from the tax 
  5-15      authorized by this article for the year following the 
  5-16      first complete calendar year in which it is levied and 
  5-17      for all subsequent years except the year following the 
  5-18      year in which the sales and use tax is terminated under 
  5-19      Code Section 48-8-106, the county whose geographical 
  5-20      boundary is conterminous with that of the special 
  5-21      district shall, except as otherwise provided in 
  5-22      subsection (c) of Code Section 48-8-102, expend such 
  5-23      proceeds as follows: 
 
  5-24        (A) A portion of such proceeds shall be expended for 
  5-25        the purpose of funding capital outlay projects as 
  5-26        follows: 
 
  5-27          (i) The governing authority of the county whose 
  5-28          geographical boundary is conterminous with that of 
  5-29          the special district shall establish the capital 
  5-30          factor which shall not exceed .200; and 
 
  5-31          (ii) Capital outlay projects shall be funded in an 
  5-32          amount equal to the product of the capital factor 
  5-33          multiplied by the net amount of the sales and use 
  5-34          tax proceeds collected under this article during the 
  5-35          previous calendar year; 
 
  5-36        (B) A portion of such proceeds shall be expended for 
  5-37        the purpose of funding services within the special 
  5-38        district equal to the revenue lost to the homestead 
  5-39        exemption as provided in Code Section 48-8-104 as 
  5-40        follows: 
 
  5-41          (A)(i) The homestead factor shall be calculated by 
  5-42          dividing multiplying the quantity 1.000 minus the 
 
 
 
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  6- 1          capital factor times an amount equal to the net 
  6- 2          amount of sales and use tax collected in the special 
  6- 3          district pursuant to this article for the previous 
  6- 4          calendar year, and then dividing by the taxes levied 
  6- 5          for county purposes on only that portion of the 
  6- 6          county tax digest that represents net assessments on 
  6- 7          qualified homestead property after all other 
  6- 8          homestead exemptions have been applied, rounding the 
  6- 9          result to three decimal places; 
 
  6-10          (B)(ii) If the homestead factor is less than or 
  6-11          equal to 1.000, the amount of homestead exemption 
  6-12          created under this article on qualified homestead 
  6-13          property shall be equal to the product of the 
  6-14          homestead factor multiplied times the net assessment 
  6-15          of each qualified homestead remaining after all 
  6-16          other homestead exemptions have been applied; and 
 
  6-17          (C)(iii) If the homestead factor is greater than 
  6-18          1.000, the homestead exemption created by this 
  6-19          article on qualified homestead property shall be 
  6-20          equal to the net assessment of each homestead 
  6-21          remaining after all other homestead exemptions have 
  6-22          been applied, and to the extent; and 
 
  6-23        (C) the sales and use tax proceeds collected under 
  6-24        this article exceed the total revenue lost to the 
  6-25        homestead exemptions created by this article, If any 
  6-26        of such proceeds remain following the distribution 
  6-27        provided for in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of this 
  6-28        paragraph: 
 
  6-29          (i) the The millage rate levied for county purposes 
  6-30          shall be rolled back in an amount equal to such 
  6-31          excess divided by the net taxable digest for county 
  6-32          purposes after deducting all homestead exemptions 
  6-33          including the exemption under this article; and 
 
  6-34          (D)(ii) In the event the rollback created by 
  6-35          subparagraph (C) of this paragraph division (i) of 
  6-36          this subparagraph exceeds the millage rate for 
  6-37          county purposes, the governing authority of the 
  6-38          county whose boundary is conterminous with the 
  6-39          special district shall be authorized to expend the 
  6-40          surplus funds for funding all or any portion of 
  6-41          those services which are to be provided by such 
  6-42          governing authorities pursuant to and in accordance 
 
 
 
 
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  7- 1          with Article IX, Section II, Paragraph III of the 
  7- 2          Constitution of this state." 
 
  7- 3                           SECTION 5. 
 
  7- 4  Said article is further amended by striking subsection (a) 
  7- 5  of Code Section 48-8-106, relating to submission to voters 
  7- 6  of the question of discontinuing such tax, and inserting in 
  7- 7  its place a new subsection (a) to read as follows: 
 
  7- 8    "(a) Whenever the governing authority of any county whose 
  7- 9    geographic boundary is conterminous with that of the 
  7-10    special district in which the sales and use tax authorized 
  7-11    by this article is being levied wishes to submit to the 
  7-12    electors of the special district the question of whether 
  7-13    the sales and use tax authorized by Code Section 48-8-102 
  7-14    shall be discontinued, the governing authority shall 
  7-15    notify the election superintendent of the county whose 
  7-16    geographical boundary is conterminous with that of the 
  7-17    special district by forwarding to the superintendent a 
  7-18    copy of a resolution of the governing authority calling 
  7-19    for the referendum election.  Upon receipt of the 
  7-20    resolution, it shall be the duty of the election 
  7-21    superintendent to issue the call for an election for the 
  7-22    purpose of submitting the question of discontinuing the 
  7-23    levy of the sales and use tax to the voters of the special 
  7-24    district for approval or rejection.  The election 
  7-25    superintendent shall issue the call and shall conduct the 
  7-26    election on a date and in the manner authorized under Code 
  7-27    Section 21-2-540.  Such election shall only be conducted 
  7-28    on the date of and in conjunction with a referendum 
  7-29    provided for by local Act on the question of whether to 
  7-30    repeal the homestead exemption within such county which is 
  7-31    funded from the proceeds of the sales and use tax levied 
  7-32    and collected pursuant to this article.  The election 
  7-33    superintendent shall cause the date and purpose of the 
  7-34    election to be published once a week for two weeks 
  7-35    immediately preceding the date of the election in the 
  7-36    official organ of such county.  The ballot shall have 
  7-37    written or printed thereon the following: 
 
  7-38      '(  ) YES Shall the 1 percent retail homestead option 
  7-39                sales and use tax being levied within the 
  7-40       (  ) NO  special district within ____________ County 
  7-41                for the purpose purposes of funding capital 
  7-42                outlay projects and of funding services to 
  7-43                replace revenue lost to an additional 
  7-44                homestead exemption of up to 100 percent of 
 
 
                                 -7- 
 
 
 
  8- 1                the assessed value of homesteads from county 
  8- 2                taxes for county purposes be terminated?'" 
 
  8- 3                           SECTION 6. 
 
  8- 4  Notwithstanding the provisions of Code Section 1-3-4.1 to 
  8- 5  the contrary, this Act shall become effective upon its 
  8- 6  approval by the Governor or upon its becoming law without 
  8- 7  such approval. 
 
  8- 8                           SECTION 7. 
 
  8- 9  All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are 
  8-10  repealed. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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