07
LC 18 6232S/AP
House
Bill 182 (AS PASSED HOUSE AND SENATE)
By:
Representatives Martin of the
47th,
Royal of the
171st,
Scott of the
2nd,
and Williams of the
4th
A
BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
AN ACT
To
amend Code Section 48-5-274 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating
to the establishment of the equalized adjusted property tax digest, so as to
provide that positive tax allocation increments shall not be used in calculating
certain tax digest amounts; to provide an effective date; to repeal conflicting
laws; and for other purposes.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION
1.
Code
Section 48-5-274 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to the
establishment of the equalized adjusted property tax digest, is amended by
revising subsection (b) as follows:
"(b)
The state auditor shall establish on a continuing basis, no later than November
15 in each year, an equalized adjusted property tax digest for each county in
the state and for the state as a whole for the current calendar year.
All real
and personal property exempted from taxation shall be excluded from the
digest.
Such digest
shall exclude all real and personal property exempted from taxation and the
difference between the value of all taxable property within any tax allocation
district and the tax allocation increment base of such tax allocation district
as defined under paragraph (15) of Code Section 36-44-3 for which consent has
been obtained pursuant to Code Section
36-44-9. The state auditor may establish
a unit within the Department of Audits and Accounts consisting of such number of
personnel as is deemed necessary in order to establish and maintain on a
continuing basis the equalized adjusted property tax digest. The equalized
adjusted property tax digest shall be established and maintained as
follows:
(1)
Determine the locally assessed valuation of the county property tax assessment
digest for the preceding calendar year, exclusive of real and personal property
exempted from taxation
and,
exclusive of the difference between the value of all taxable property within any
tax allocation district and the tax allocation increment base of such tax
allocation district as defined under paragraph (15) of Code Section 36-44-3 for
which consent has been obtained pursuant to Code Section 36-44-9,
exclusive of railroad equipment company
property shown on the county railroad equipment company property tax digest,
exclusive of any property subject to current use valuation on the county
property tax digest, and exclusive of the locally assessed valuation of timber
harvested or sold;
(2)
Determine the fair market value for timber harvested or sold during the calendar
year;
(3)
Divide the sum of the locally assessed valuation of the county property tax
assessment digest under paragraph (1) of this subsection by the ratio of
assessed value to fair market value of the property established by the state
auditor in accordance with paragraph (8) of this subsection;
(4)
Determine the fair market value of the county railroad equipment company
property tax digest for the preceding calendar year;
(5)
Determine the sum of the current use valuation of the county property tax
digest;
(6)
Determine the total fair market value of the Public Utility Digest as
established by the commissioner;
(7)
The total of the sums obtained through the calculations prescribed in paragraphs
(2), (3), (4), (5), and (6) of this subsection shall be known as the current
equalized adjusted property tax digest of the county. The sum of the current
equalized adjusted property tax digest of all counties of the state combined
shall be known as the current equalized adjusted property tax digest for the
state as a whole; and
(8)
Establish for each county in the state the ratio of assessed value to fair
market value of county property subject to taxation, excluding railroad
equipment company property. The ratio shall be determined by establishing the
ratio of assessed value to sales price for each of a representative number of
parcels of real property, the titles to which were transferred during a period
of time to be determined by the state auditor, and then by establishing the
measure of central tendency for the county as a whole based upon a
representative number of usable transactions studied. The representative number
of transactions shall not include any parcel of which the sales price is not
reflective of the fair market value of such property as fair market value is
defined in Code Section 48-5-2. The state auditor shall supplement realty sales
price data available in any county with actual appraisals of a representative
number of parcels of farm property and industrial and commercial property
located within the county, the titles to which were not transferred within the
period of time determined by the state auditor. The state auditor may make
appraisals on other types of real property located within the county when
adequate realty sales data cannot be obtained on such property. The
representative number of parcels of each class of real property as defined by
the commissioner used for the study shall be determined by the state auditor.
The state auditor may use the same ratio for other personal property, excluding
motor vehicles, within the county as is finally determined for real property
within the county."
SECTION
2.
This
Act shall become effective upon its approval by the Governor or upon its
becoming law without such approval.
SECTION
3.
All
laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.