07 LC 18
6280S
House
Bill 264 (COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE)
By:
Representatives Millar of the
79th,
Willard of the
49th,
Geisinger of the
48th,
and Wilkinson of the
52nd
A
BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
AN ACT
To
amend Article 2A of Chapter 8 of Title 48 of the Official Code of Georgia
Annotated, relating to the homestead option sales and use tax, so as to change
the manner and method of disbursing the proceeds of such tax; to provide for
definitions; to provide for legislative intent; to provide for procedures,
conditions, and limitations; to provide for powers and duties of the state
revenue commissioner; to provide an effective date; to repeal conflicting laws;
and for other purposes.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION
1.
Article
2A of Chapter 8 of Title 48 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating
to the homestead option sales and use tax, is amended by revising Code Section
48-8-101, relating to definitions, to read as follows:
"48-8-101.
As
used in this article, the term:
(1)
'Ad valorem taxes for county purposes' means any and all ad valorem taxes for
county maintenance and operation purposes levied by, for, or on behalf of the
county, excluding taxes to retire general obligation bonded indebtedness of the
county.
(2)
'Existing
municipality' means a municipality created prior to January 1, 2007, lying
wholly within or partially within a county.
(3)
'Homestead' means homestead as defined and qualified in Code Section 48-5-40,
with the additional qualification that it shall include only the primary
residence and not more than five contiguous acres of land immediately
surrounding such residence.
(4)
'Qualified municipality' means a municipality created on or after January 1,
2007, lying wholly within or partially within a
county."
SECTION
2.
Said
article is further amended by adding a new Code section to read as follows:
"48-8-101.1.
It
is the intent of the General Assembly that the proceeds of the homestead option
sales and use tax be distributed equitably to the counties and qualified
municipalities such that the residents of a new incorporated municipality will
continue to receive a benefit from that tax substantially equal to the benefit
they would have received if the area covered by the municipality had not
incorporated. The provisions of this article shall be liberally construed to
effectuate such intent."
SECTION
3.
Said
article is further amended by revising Code Section 48-8-104, relating to
administration and disbursement of homestead option sales and use tax proceeds,
as follows:
"48-8-104.
(a)
The sales and use tax levied pursuant to this article shall be exclusively
administered and collected by the commissioner for the use and benefit of each
county whose geographical boundary is conterminous with that of a special
district. Such administration and collection shall be accomplished in the same
manner and subject to the same applicable provisions, procedures, and penalties
provided in Article 1 of this chapter; provided, however, that all moneys
collected from each taxpayer by the commissioner shall be applied first to such
taxpayer´s liability for taxes owed the state. Dealers shall be allowed a
percentage of the amount of the sales and use tax due and accounted for and
shall be reimbursed in the form of a deduction in submitting, reporting, and
paying the amount due if such amount is not delinquent at the time of payment.
The deduction shall be at the rate and subject to the requirements specified
under subsections (b) through (f) of Code Section 48-8-50.
(b)
Each sales and use tax return remitting sales and use taxes collected under this
article shall separately identify the location of each retail establishment at
which any of the sales and use taxes remitted were collected and shall specify
the amount of sales and the amount of taxes collected at each establishment for
the period covered by the return in order to facilitate the determination by the
commissioner that all sales and use taxes imposed by this article are collected
and distributed according to situs of sale.
(c)
The proceeds of the sales and use tax collected by the commissioner in each
special district under this article shall be disbursed as soon as practicable
after collection as follows:
(1)
One percent of the amount collected shall be paid into the general fund of the
state treasury in order to defray the costs of administration;
(2)
Except for the percentage provided in paragraph (1) of this subsection
and the amount
determined under subsections (d) and (e) of this Code
section, the remaining proceeds of the
sales and use tax shall be distributed to the governing authority of the county
whose geographical boundary is conterminous with that of the special
district;
provided, however, that a county and any qualified municipality shall be
authorized by intergovernmental agreement to waive the equalization amount
otherwise required under subsections (d) and (e) of this Code section and
provide for a different distribution amount. In the event of such waiver,
except for the percentage provided in paragraph (1) of this subsection, the
remaining proceeds of the sales and use tax shall be distributed to the
governing authority of the county whose geographical boundary is conterminous
with that of the special district. As a
condition precedent for the authority to levy the sales and use tax or to
collect any proceeds from the tax authorized by this article for the year
following the first complete calendar year in which it is levied and for all
subsequent years except the year following the year in which the sales and use
tax is terminated under Code Section 48-8-106, the county whose geographical
boundary is conterminous with that of the special district shall, except as
otherwise provided in subsection (c) of Code Section 48-8-102, expend such
proceeds as follows:
(A)
A portion of such proceeds shall be expended for the purpose of funding capital
outlay projects as follows:
(i)
The governing authority of the county whose geographical boundary is
conterminous with that of the special district shall establish the capital
factor which shall not exceed .200
and, for a
county in which a qualified municipality is located, shall not be less than the
level required by subsection (d) of this Code section; therefore, at a minimum,
the county shall set the capital factor at a level that yields an amount of
capital outlay proceeds that is equal to or greater than the sum of all
equalization amounts due qualified municipalities and existing municipalities
under subsection (e) of this Code section;
and
(ii)
Capital outlay projects shall be funded in an amount equal to the product of the
capital factor multiplied by the net amount of the sales and use tax proceeds
collected under this article during the previous calendar
year, and this
amount shall be referred to as capital outlay proceeds in subsections (d) and
(e) of this Code section;
(B)
A portion of such proceeds shall be expended for the purpose of funding services
within the special district equal to the revenue lost to the homestead exemption
as provided in
Code
Section 48-8-104
this Code
section as follows:
(i)
The homestead factor shall be calculated by multiplying the quantity 1.000 minus
the capital factor times an amount equal to the net amount of sales and use tax
collected in the special district pursuant to this article for the previous
calendar year, and then dividing by the taxes levied for county purposes on only
that portion of the county tax digest that represents net assessments on
qualified homestead property after all other homestead exemptions have been
applied, rounding the result to three decimal places;
(ii)
If the homestead factor is less than or equal to 1.000, the amount of homestead
exemption created under this article on qualified homestead property shall be
equal to the product of the homestead factor multiplied times the net assessment
of each qualified homestead remaining after all other homestead exemptions have
been applied; and
(iii)
If the homestead factor is greater than 1.000, the homestead exemption created
by this article on qualified homestead property shall be equal to the net
assessment of each homestead remaining after all other homestead exemptions have
been applied; and
(C)
If any of such proceeds remain following the distribution provided for in
subparagraphs (A) and (B) of this paragraph
and
subsections (d) and (e) of this Code
section:
(i)
The millage rate levied for county purposes shall be rolled back in an amount
equal to such excess divided by the net taxable digest for county purposes after
deducting all homestead exemptions including the exemption under this article;
and
(ii)
In the event the rollback created by division (i) of this subparagraph exceeds
the millage rate for county purposes, the governing authority of the county
whose boundary is conterminous with the special district shall be authorized to
expend the surplus funds for funding all or any portion of those services which
are to be provided by such governing authorities pursuant to and in accordance
with Article IX, Section II, Paragraph III of the Constitution of this
state.
(d)(1)
The commissioner shall distribute to the governing authority of each qualified
municipality located in the special district a share of the capital outlay
proceeds calculated as provided in this subsection and subsection (e) of this
Code section which proceeds shall be expended for the purpose of funding capital
outlay projects of such municipality.
(2)
Both the tax commissioner and the governing authority for the county in which a
qualified municipality is located shall cooperate with and assist the
commissioner in the calculation of the equalization amounts under subsection (e)
of this Code section and shall, on or before July 1 of each year, provide to the
commissioner and the governing authority of each qualified municipality written
certification of the following:
(A)
The capital factor set by the county for the current calendar year; provided,
however, that the capital factor may not exceed 0.200;
(B)
The total amount, if any, due to be paid to existing municipalities from the
capital outlay proceeds as required by any intergovernmental agreement between
the county and such municipalities;
(C)
The incorporated county millage rate in each qualified
municipality;
(D)
The net homestead digest for each qualified municipality;
(E)
The total homestead digest; and
(F)
The unincorporated county millage rate.
If
the tax commissioner and the governing authority of the county fail to provide
such certification on or before July 1, the commissioner shall not distribute to
such county any additional proceeds of the sales and use tax collected after
July 1 unless and until such certification is provided.
(3)
The commissioner shall then calculate the equalization amount due each qualified
municipality based on the certifications provided by the tax commissioner and
the governing authority of the county and pay such amount to the governing
authority of each qualified municipality in six equal monthly payments as soon
as practicable during or after each of the last six months of the current
calendar year. In the event an existing municipality that has entered into an
intergovernmental agreement with a county at any time before January 1, 2007, to
receive capital outlay proceeds of the homestead option sales and use tax and
such intergovernmental agreement has become or does become null and void for any
reason, such existing municipality shall be treated under this article the same
as if it were a qualified municipality as defined in paragraph (4) of Code
Section 48-8-101and therefore receive payment of equalization amounts under this
article as provided for under this article. The commissioner shall distribute
to the governing authority of the county each month the net sales and use tax
remaining after payment of equalization amounts to the qualified
municipalities.
(e)(1)
As used in this subsection, the term:
(A)
'Equalization amount' means for a qualified municipality the product of the
equalization millage times the net homestead digest for that qualified
municipality.
(B)
'Equalization millage' means for each qualified municipality the product of the
homestead factor calculated pursuant to division (c)(2)(B)(i) of this Code
section times the difference between the unincorporated county millage rate and
the incorporated county millage rate for that qualified
municipality.
(C)
'Incorporated county millage rate' means the millage rate for all ad valorem
taxes for county purposes levied by the county in each of the qualified
municipalities in the county.
(D)
'Net homestead digest' means for each qualified municipality the total net
assessed value of all qualified homestead property located in that portion of
the qualified municipality located in the county remaining after all other
homestead exemptions are applied.
(E)
'Total homestead digest' means the total net assessed value of all qualified
homestead property located in the county remaining after all other homestead
exemptions are applied.
(F)
'Unincorporated county millage rate' means the millage rate for all ad valorem
taxes for county purposes levied by the county in the unincorporated areas of
the county.
(2)
For illustration purposes, a hypothetical example of the calculation of the
equalization amount is provided below.
|
First,
calculate the homestead factor in accordance with division (c)(2)(B)(i) of this
Code section as follows:
|
|
|
(A)
Capital factor certified by county as required by subsection (d) of this Code
section
|
0.150
|
|
(B)
Net amount of sales and use tax collected in the special district pursuant to
this article for the previous calendar year
|
$
50 million
|
|
(C)
Taxes levied for county purposes on only that portion of the county tax digest
that represents net assessments on qualified homestead property after all other
homestead exemptions have been applied
|
$100
million
|
|
(D)
Calculation of homestead factor using figures above = [(1-.0150)($50
million/$100 million)]
|
.425
|
|
Next,
calculate the equalization amount in accordance with paragraph (1) of this
subsection as follows:
|
|
|
(E)
Unincorporated county millage rate
|
15.0
mills
|
|
(F)
Minus the incorporated county millage rate for qualified municipality
'Y'
|
(10.0
mills)
|
|
Difference:
|
=
5.0 mills
|
|
(G)
Times homestead factor (calculated above)
|
.425
|
|
(H)
Equals the equalization millage:
|
=
2.125 mills
|
|
(I)
Times net homestead digest for qualified
municipality
'Y'
|
$200
million
|
|
(J)
Equals the equalization amount payable to municipality 'Y'
|
$
425,000.00
|
(3)
In the event the total amount payable in a calendar year to all existing
municipalities as certified by the county pursuant to subparagraph (d)(2)(B) of
this Code section plus the total equalization amount payable to all qualified
municipalities in the special district exceeds the capital outlay proceeds
calculated based on a maximum capital factor of 0.200, the commissioner shall
pay to the governing authority of each qualified municipality a share of such
proceeds calculated as follows:
(A)
Determine the capital outlay proceeds based on a maximum capital factor of
0.200;
(B)
Subtract the amount certified by the county as payable to existing
municipalities pursuant to subparagraph (d)(2)(B) of this Code
section;
(C)
The remaining amount equals the portion of the capital outlay proceeds that may
be used by the commissioner to pay equalization amounts to qualified
municipalities.
The
commissioner shall calculate each qualified municipality´s share of such
remaining amount by dividing the net homestead digest for each qualified
municipality by the total homestead digest for all municipalities.
(4)
In the event the incorporated county millage rate for a qualified municipality
is greater than the unincorporated county millage rate, no payment shall be due
from the governing authority of the qualified municipality to the governing
authority of the county.
(5)
In the event the amount of capital outlay proceeds exceeds the sum of the
equalization amounts due all qualified municipalities plus the total amount
certified under subparagraph (d)(2)(B) of this Code section as due all existing
municipalities, the commissioner shall distribute to each qualified municipality
a portion of such excess equal to the net homestead digest for such municipality
divided by the total homestead digest.
(6)
If any qualified municipality is located partially in the county then only that
portion so located shall be considered in the calculations contained in this
subsection."
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.