| HR 1209 - House Study Comm on Ad Val Tax & Titling of Boats & Motors; create |
First Reader Summary
A RESOLUTION creating the House Study Committee on Ad Valorem Tax
and Titling of Boats and Motors; and for other purposes.
HR 1209 LC 8 4056
A RESOLUTION
1- 1 Creating the House Study Committee on Ad Valorem Tax and
1- 2 Titling of Boats and Motors; and for other purposes.
1- 3 WHEREAS, marine dealers pay ad valorem tax on boats, motors,
1- 4 and trailers in inventory only on January 1 of each year;
1- 5 and
1- 6 WHEREAS, boats and motors are ever increasingly expensive
1- 7 vehicles often costing hundreds of thousands of dollars; and
1- 8 WHEREAS, marine dealers have substantial resources invested
1- 9 in inventory of new boats, motors, and trailers; and
1-10 WHEREAS, the boating and marine industry are significant
1-11 sectors of the economy of the State of Georgia; and
1-12 WHEREAS, boats and motors are not titled in the State of
1-13 Georgia as they are in South Carolina, Florida, Alabama, and
1-14 other states and a clear title is unobtainable in Georgia;
1-15 and
1-16 WHEREAS, titling boats would be beneficial for boat owners,
1-17 marine dealers, banks, and insurance companies in protecting
1-18 them from theft and ensuring clear titles; and
1-19 WHEREAS, the maximum sales tax in South Carolina on a boat
1-20 regardless of its sales price is $300.00; and
1-21 WHEREAS, the sales tax on a $50,000.00 boat in Georgia would
1-22 be approximately $3,000.00; and
1-23 WHEREAS, the State of Georgia and its cities and counties
1-24 are losing millions of dollars in sales taxes and ad valorem
1-25 taxes when Georgia citizens are traveling out of state to
1-26 purchase boats and motors due to the difference in sales
1-27 tax; and
1-28 WHEREAS, boat owners often fail to register boats in Georgia
1-29 when they are purchased out of state; and
1-30 WHEREAS, the purchaser of a boat pays ad valorem tax which
1-31 is not specifically noted on its invoice but is included in
1-32 the sales price of the boat just as is all other overhead
1-33 expenses of a marine dealer; and
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2- 1 WHEREAS, there is the possibility that boat owners and
2- 2 marine dealers could obtain lower interest rates and
2- 3 insurance rates if they had a clear title; and
2- 4 WHEREAS, if boats and motors were titled, boat owners,
2- 5 marine dealers, banks, and insurance companies could clearly
2- 6 establish ownership, check out liens, and have a clear chain
2- 7 of ownership, thereby preventing fraud, protecting
2- 8 lienholders, ensuring transfer of new titles and liens by
2- 9 subsequent owners, and guarding boats against theft.
2-10 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF
2-11 REPRESENTATIVES that there is created the House Study
2-12 Committee on Ad Valorem Tax and Titling of Boats and Motors
2-13 to be composed of 14 members appointed by the Speaker of the
2-14 House of Representatives as follows: two members of the
2-15 House who are members of the House Natural Resources and
2-16 Environment Committee; two members of the House who are
2-17 members of the House Ways and Means Committee; three citizen
2-18 members representing marine dealers, one each from north
2-19 Georgia, middle Georgia, and south Georgia; the executive
2-20 director of the Georgia Municipal Association or his
2-21 designee; the executive director of the Association County
2-22 Commissioners of Georgia or his designee; the executive
2-23 director of the Georgia Superior Court Clerks Cooperative
2-24 Authority or his designee; a representative from the banking
2-25 industry; a representative from the insurance industry; the
2-26 commissioner of revenue or his designee; and the
2-27 commissioner of natural resources or his designee. The
2-28 Speaker shall designate a member of the committee as
2-29 chairperson of the committee. The chairperson shall call
2-30 all meetings of the committee.
2-31 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the committee shall undertake a
2-32 study of the conditions, needs, issues, and problems
2-33 mentioned above or related thereto and recommend any actions
2-34 or legislation which the committee deems necessary or
2-35 appropriate. In particular, the committee shall consider
2-36 the impact of transferring the ad valorem tax from marine
2-37 dealer inventory to the purchaser and study the possibility
2-38 of titling boats and motors. The committee may conduct such
2-39 meetings at such places and at such times as it may deem
2-40 necessary or convenient to enable it to exercise fully and
2-41 effectively its powers, perform its duties, and accomplish
2-42 the objectives and purposes of this resolution. The
2-43 legislative members of the committee shall receive the
2-44 allowances authorized for legislative members of interim
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3- 1 legislative committees but shall receive the same for not
3- 2 more than five days unless additional days are authorized.
3- 3 The other members of the committee shall serve without
3- 4 compensation. The funds necessary to carry out the
3- 5 provisions of this resolution shall come from the funds
3- 6 appropriated to the House of Representatives. In the event
3- 7 the committee makes a report of its findings and
3- 8 recommendations, with suggestions for proposed legislation,
3- 9 if any, such report shall be made on or before December 31,
3-10 2000. The committee shall stand abolished on December 31,
3-11 2000.
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Clerk of the House
Robert E. Rivers, Jr., Clerk
Last Updated on 03/04/00
