10 SB
520/AP
Senate
Bill 520
By:
Senators Mullis of the 53rd, Rogers of the 21st, Pearson of the 51st, Williams
of the 19th, Staton of the 18th and others
AS
PASSED
A
BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
AN ACT
To
amend Title 32 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to highways,
bridges, and ferries, so as to provide for the recall of members of the State
Transportation Board; to provide for an Intermodal Division within the
Department of Transportation; to amend Chapter 8 of Title 48, relating to sales
and use taxes, so as to provide for definitions relating to the special district
sales and use tax for transportation; to provide for related matters; to provide
for an effective date; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other
purposes.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION
1.
Title
32 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to highways, bridges, and
ferries, is amended by revising subsection (b) of Code Section 32-2-20, relating
to the composition, terms, and election of members of the State Transportation
Board, as follows:
"(b)
Each member shall be elected to serve for a term of five years and until his
or her
successor is duly elected and certified.
The member of the board from each congressional district shall be elected by a
majority vote of the members of the House of Representatives and Senate whose
respective districts are embraced or partly embraced within such congressional
district, meeting in caucus at the regular session of the General Assembly
immediately preceding the expiration of the term of office of each such board
member. Said caucus shall be called at the state capitol by the Speaker of the
House of Representatives and the President of the Senate within the first ten
days of the convening of the General Assembly in regular session by mailing to
the members of the General Assembly who are affected written notice at least
four days before the caucus, which notice shall state the time, place, and
purpose of said caucus. Within 15 days after each such election, the Speaker of
the House and the President of the Senate shall jointly transmit a certificate
of such election to the Secretary of State who, upon receipt thereof, shall
immediately issue his
or
her commission thereon, with the great
seal of the state affixed thereto.
Any member of
the board shall be subject to recall at any time by a majority vote of the
legislative caucus that elected the
member."
SECTION
2.
Said
title is further amended by revising paragraph (5) of subsection (b) of Code
Section 32-2-41, relating to the powers of the commissioner of transportation
and the divisions within the Department of Transportation, as
follows:
"(5)
There shall be an Engineering Division of the department to be supervised by the
chief engineer, a Finance Division of the department to be supervised by the
treasurer, an Administration Division of the department to be supervised by the
deputy commissioner,
an Intermodal
Division to be supervised by an appointee serving at the pleasure of the
commissioner, and a Local Grants Division
to be supervised by an appointee serving at the pleasure of the commissioner.
The duties, responsibilities, and personnel of each such division shall be as
established by the commissioner."
SECTION
3.
Chapter
8 of Title 48, relating to sales and use taxes, is amended by adding a new Code
section to read as follows:
"48-8-242.
As
used in this article, the term:
(1)
'Commission' means the Georgia State Financing and Investment
Commission;
(2)
'Cost of project' means:
(A)
All costs of acquisition, by purchase or otherwise, construction, assembly,
installation, modification, renovation, extension, rehabilitation, operation, or
maintenance incurred in connection with any project of the special district or
any part thereof;
(B)
All costs of real property or rights in property, fixtures, or personal property
used in or in connection with or necessary for any project of the special
district or for any facilities related thereto, including but not limited to the
cost of all land, interests in land, estates for years, easements, rights,
improvements, water rights, and connections for utility services; the cost of
fees, franchises, permits, approvals, licenses, and certificates; the cost of
securing any such franchises, permits, approvals, licenses, or certificates; the
cost of preparation of any application therefor; and the cost of all fixtures,
machinery, equipment, furniture, and other property used in or in connection
with or necessary for any project of the special district;
(C)
All costs of engineering, surveying, planning, environmental assessments,
financial analyses, and architectural, legal, and accounting services and all
expenses incurred by engineers, surveyors, planners, environmental scientists,
fiscal analysts, architects, attorneys, accountants, and any other necessary
technical personnel in connection with any project of the special
district;
(D)
All expenses for inspection of any project of the special district;
(E)
All fees of any type charged to the special district in connection with any
project of the special district;
(F)
All expenses of or incidental to determining the feasibility or practicability
of any project of the special district;
(G)
All costs of plans and specifications for any project of the special
district;
(H)
All costs of title insurance and examinations of title with respect to any
project of the special district;
(I)
Repayment of any loans for the advance payment of any part of any of the
foregoing costs, including interest thereon and any other expenses of such
loans;
(J)
Administrative expenses of the special district and such other expenses as may
be necessary or incidental to any project of the special district or the
financing thereof; and
(K)
The establishment of a fund or funds or such other reserves as the commission
may approve with respect to the financing and operation of any project of the
special district.
Any
cost, obligation, or expense incurred for any of the purposes specified in this
paragraph shall be a part of the cost of the project of the special district and
may be paid or reimbursed as otherwise authorized by this article.
(3)
'County' means any county created under the Constitution or laws of this
state.
(4)
'Dealer' means a dealer as defined in paragraph (3) of Code Section
48-8-2.
(5)
'Director' means the director of planning provided for in Code Section
32-2-43.
(6)
'LARP factor' means the sum of one-fifth of the ratio between the population of
a local government's jurisdiction and the total population of the special
district in which such local government is located plus four-fifths of the ratio
between the paved and unpaved centerline road miles in the local government's
jurisdiction and the total paved and unpaved centerline road miles in the
special district in which such local government is located.
(7)
'Local government' means any municipal corporation, county, or consolidated
government created by the General Assembly or pursuant to the Constitution and
laws of this state.
(8)
'Metropolitan planning organization' or 'MPO' means the policy board of an
organization created and designated to carry out the metropolitan transportation
planning process as defined in 23 C.F.R. Section 450.
(9)
'Municipal corporation' means any incorporated city or town in this
state.
(10)
'Project' means, without limitation, any new or existing airports, bike lanes,
bridges, bus and rail mass transit systems, freight and passenger rail,
pedestrian facilities, ports, roads, terminals, and all activities and
structures useful and incident to providing, operating, and maintaining the
same. The term shall also include direct appropriations to a local government
for the purpose of serving as a local match for state or federal
funding.
(11)
'Regional transportation roundtable' or 'roundtable' means a conference of the
local governments of a special district created pursuant to this article held at
a centralized location within the district as chosen by the director for the
purpose of establishing the investment criteria and determining projects
eligible for the investment list for the special district. The regional
transportation roundtable shall consist of the chairperson, sole commissioner,
mayor, or chief executive officer of the county governing authority from each
county in the special district. In the event any county in the special district
has a consolidated government, the consolidated government shall elect a second
elected member of the county consolidated government to the regional roundtable.
In counties without a consolidated government, the second member of the regional
roundtable from that county shall be one mayor elected by the mayors of the
county; provided, however, that, in the event such an election ends in a tie,
the mayor of the municipal corporation with the highest population determined
using the most recently completed United States decennial census shall be deemed
to have been elected as a representative unless that mayor is already part of
the roundtable. In such case, the mayor of the municipal corporation with the
second highest population shall be deemed to have been elected as a
representative. If a county has more than 90 percent of its population residing
in municipal corporations, such county shall have the mayor of the municipal
corporation with the highest population determined using the most recently
completed United States decennial census as an additional representative. The
regional transportation roundtable shall elect five representatives from among
its members to serve as an executive committee. The executive committee shall
also include two members of the House of Representatives selected by the
chairperson of the House Transportation Committee and one member of the Senate
selected by the chairperson of the Senate Transportation Committee. Each member
of the General Assembly appointed to the executive committee shall be a
nonvoting member of the executive committee and shall represent a district which
lies wholly or partially within the region represented by the executive
committee. The executive committee shall not have more than one representative
from any one county, but any member of the General Assembly serving on the
executive committee shall not count as a representative of his or her
county.
(12)
'Special Regional Transportation Funding Election Act' means an Act specifically
and exclusively enacted for the purpose of ordering that a referendum be held
for the reimposition of the special district transportation sales and use tax
within the region that includes the districts, in their entirety or any portion
thereof, of the members from a local legislative delegation in the General
Assembly. A majority of the signatures of the legislative delegation for a
majority of the counties within the region shall be required for the bill to be
placed upon the local calendar of each chamber. This method shall be
exclusively used for this purpose and no other bill shall be placed or voted
upon on the local calendar utilizing this method of qualification for placement
thereon. This Act shall be treated procedurally by the General Assembly as a
local Act and all counties within the region shall receive the legal notice
requirements of a local Act.
(13)
'State-wide strategic transportation plan' means the official state-wide
transportation plan as defined in paragraph (6) of subsection (a) of Code
Section 32-2-22.
(14)
'State-wide transportation improvement program' means a state-wide prioritized
listing of transportation projects as defined in paragraph (7) of subsection (a)
of Code Section 32-2-22.
(15)
'Transportation improvement program' means a prioritized listing of
transportation projects as defined in paragraph (8) of subsection (a) of Code
Section 32-2-22."
SECTION
4.
This
Act shall become effective upon its approval by the Governor or upon its
becoming law without such approval.
SECTION
5.
All
laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.