Bill Text: GA HB260 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Community Affairs, Department of; qualified local government; repeal definition; provisions

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 4-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-02-17 - House Second Readers [HB260 Detail]

Download: Georgia-2011-HB260-Introduced.html

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11 LC 28 5519

House Bill 260

By: Representatives Powell of the 29th, McCall of the 30th, and Powell of the 171st

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT

To amend Chapter 8 of Title 50 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to the Department of Community Affairs, so as to repeal the definition of a "qualified local government"; to provide that comprehensive planning by local governments shall be optional; to eliminate reviews of developments of regional impact; to provide that the department shall provide assistance in planning to local governments; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:

SECTION 1.

Chapter 8 of Title 50 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to the Department of Community Affairs, is amended by revising paragraph (18) of subsection (a) of Code Section 50-8-2, relating to definitions, as follows:

"(18) 'Qualified local government' means a county or municipality which:

(A) Has a comprehensive plan in conformity with the minimum standards and procedures;

(B) Has made its local plan implementation mechanisms consistent with those established in its comprehensive plan and with the minimum standards and procedures; and

(C) Has not failed to participate in the department's mediation or other means of resolving conflicts in a manner which, in the judgment of the department, reflects a good faith effort to resolve any conflict Reserved."

SECTION 2.

Said chapter is further amended by revising subsection (b) of Code Section 50-8-5, relating to the powers of the commissioner, as follows:

"(b) The commissioner shall have and may exercise the following power and authority:

(1) The power and authority to take or cause to be taken any or all action necessary to perform any local government services or otherwise necessary to perform any duties, responsibilities, or functions which the department is authorized by law to perform or to exercise any power or authority which the department is authorized by law to exercise;

(2) The power and authority to make, promulgate, enforce, or otherwise require compliance with any and all rules, regulations, procedures, or directives necessary to perform any local government services, to carry into effect the minimum standards and procedures for coordinated and comprehensive planning, or otherwise necessary to perform any duties, responsibilities, or functions which the department is authorized by law to perform or to exercise any power or authority which the department is authorized by law to exercise; and

(3) The power and authority to certify, from time to time, municipalities and counties as qualified local governments, which certification shall not be unreasonably withheld; and

(4)(3) The power and authority to assist the board in the performance of its duties, responsibilities, and functions and the exercise of its power and authority."

SECTION 3.

Said chapter is further amended by revising Code Section 50-8-7.1, relating to general powers and duties of the department, as follows:

"50-8-7.1.

(a) The department shall perform the duties, responsibilities, and functions and may exercise the power and authority described in this Code section. The department, utilizing the comprehensive plans of qualified local governments, shall undertake and carry out such activities as may be necessary to assist the Governor in encouraging, coordinating, developing, and implementing coordinated and comprehensive planning. Such activities may include, but shall not be limited to, the following:

(1) The department, utilizing the comprehensive plans of regional commissions and qualified local governments, shall assist the Governor in coordinated and comprehensive planning on the state level and throughout the state, including, but not limited to, assistance in the development of a comprehensive plan for the state;

(2) The department, utilizing the comprehensive plans of regional commissions and qualified local governments, shall assist the Governor in defining the state's long-term goals, objectives, and priorities and implementing those goals, objectives, and priorities through coordinated and comprehensive planning;

(3) The department shall examine and analyze plans of state agencies, comprehensive plans of regional commissions, and comprehensive plans of municipalities and counties, undertaken as part of the coordinated and comprehensive planning process, and advise the Governor with respect to those plans; and

(4) The department shall serve as policy liaison for the Governor, with respect to coordinated and comprehensive planning, with and among state agencies and local governments.

(b) The department shall establish in accordance with the provisions of Code Section 50-8-7.2 minimum standards and procedures for coordinated and comprehensive planning, including standards and procedures for preparation of plans, for implementation of plans, and for participation in the coordinated and comprehensive planning process. Notwithstanding any provision of law or previously adopted and ratified rules and regulations, a county or municipality is authorized, but not required, to prepare a comprehensive plan. Any county or municipality may, in its discretion, prepare a comprehensive plan conforming to the minimum standards and procedures adopted by the department. The department shall undertake and carry out such activities as may be specified by law, but shall not penalize a county or municipality for not participating in the coordinated and comprehensive planning process. Such activities may include, but shall not be limited to, the following:

(1) As part of such minimum standards and procedures, the department shall establish minimum elements which shall may be addressed and included in comprehensive plans of local governments which are prepared as part of the coordinated and comprehensive planning process. These elements shall include, but shall not be limited to, housing, human services, natural resources, the environment, vital areas, historic and cultural resources, infrastructure, land use other than zoning, recreation, transportation, and economic development;

(2) The department shall establish minimum standards and procedures which shall may be used by local governments in developing, preparing, and implementing their comprehensive plans. The department shall incorporate the minimum standards and procedures with respect to natural resources, the environment, and vital areas of the state established and administered by the Department of Natural Resources pursuant to Code Section 12-2-8. In establishing such minimum standards and procedures, the department shall be authorized to differentiate among local governments and among regions based upon factors which the department determines merit differentiation, such as total population, density of population, geographic features, the size of tax base, the type and character of services furnished by local governments, the size of budget, and other factors; and

(3) The department shall develop planning procedures with respect to regionally important resources, for planning with respect to developments of regional impact, and for encouraging interjurisdictional cooperation among local governments. The department shall determine, in its judgment and for each region, what shall constitute developments of regional impact. Such determinations by the department shall be made for each region after receiving any necessary information from the regional commission for the region, from local governments within the region, and from others within the region. The department's determinations shall be publicly promulgated, using such means as the commissioner may determine, so that all local governments within a region will receive notice of the department's determinations affecting that region; and

(4)(3) The department shall establish and shall promulgate procedures for obtaining input from, and participation by, local governments and the public in establishing, amending, and updating from time to time the minimum standards and procedures. These procedures shall include, but shall not be limited to, a 45 day public notice to all affected local governments, an analysis of the fiscal impact of the proposed amendments or updates, and 30 day written comment period regarding any proposed change.

(c) The department shall undertake and carry out such activities as the board or the commissioner may deem necessary for supervising regional commissions and as may be specified by law. Such activities may include, but shall not be limited to, the following:

(1) The department shall recommend to the board from time to time the boundaries for the regions for each of the regional commissions; and

(2) The department shall review and comment on comprehensive plans prepared by, and coordinated and comprehensive planning activities undertaken by or under the direction of, regional commissions.

(d) The department shall undertake and carry out such activities as may be necessary to mediate, or otherwise assist in resolving, conflicts. Such activities may include, but shall not be limited to, the following:

(1) The department may establish such procedures and guidelines for mediation or other forms of resolving conflicts as the commissioner may deem necessary. The procedures and guidelines shall specify the times within which steps in the mediation or other form of conflict resolution shall take place and shall provide that such times shall not exceed, in the aggregate, 90 days from the date on which mediation or other conflict resolution begins. The department shall promulgate and make public all such procedures and guidelines; and

(2) The department may act to mediate or otherwise assist in resolving conflicts upon written request from any regional commission or local government or may act, without any such request, on its own initiative;.

(3) The department may establish rules and procedures which require that local governments submit for review any proposed action which would, based upon guidelines which the department may establish, affect regionally important resources or further any development of regional impact. Any such proposed action by a local government (other than a regional commission) shall be submitted for review to the local government's regional commission. Any such proposed action by a regional commission shall be submitted for review to the department. Review shall be in accordance with rules and procedures established by the department. The review shall result in a public finding by the regional commission or the department, as the case may be, that the action will be in the best interest of the region and state or that it will not be in the best interest of the region and state;

(4) Any conflict which remains after review pursuant to the procedures established under paragraph (3) of this subsection shall be submitted to mediation or such other form of resolving conflicts as the commissioner may deem necessary; and

(5) The department may decline to certify a local government as a qualified local government or may take or recommend action which would reduce state or other funding for a regional commission if such local government or regional commission, as the case may be, is a party to a conflict but fails to participate in the department's mediation or other means of resolving conflicts in a manner which, in the judgment of the department and a majority of the Board of Community Affairs, reflects a good faith effort to resolve the conflict."

SECTION 4.

Said chapter is further amended by revising Code Section 50-8-8, relating to grants, loans, and other disbursements of funds, as follows:

"50-8-8.

(a) The department shall perform the duties, responsibilities, and functions and may exercise the power and authority described in this Code section. The department shall make grants or loans to eligible recipients or qualified local governments, which grants or loans are specified by amount, recipient, and purpose in an appropriation to the department; provided, however, that the department shall not make such a grant to any county or independent board of education for the construction or operation of athletic facilities during the fiscal year following the receipt by the department of certification by the State Board of Education that the county or independent board of education is not in compliance with the requirements of Code Section 20-2-315. The department shall also grant to any school district the proceeds of any general obligation debt for educational facilities for which the department is named user agency and the school district is named recipient in an appropriation authorizing the debt. The department may make grants or loans to eligible recipients or qualified local governments from appropriations made to the department generally for grant or loan purposes, without appropriations language specifying amounts, recipients, and purposes. The department:

(1) Shall shall disburse such grants or loans on the basis of criteria which include consideration of matters such as legislative intent; local, regional, or state-wide impact or benefit; public exigencies or emergencies; enhancement of community and economic development opportunities; improvement or expansion of government operations or services; community health, safety, and economic well-being; coordinated and comprehensive planning in accordance with minimum standards and procedures; and any other similar criteria that may from time to time be established by the department; and

(2) May condition the award of any such grants or loans to a county or municipality upon the county or municipality, as the case may be, being a qualified local government.

(b) The department shall direct the distribution of any appropriations or other funds available for coordinated and comprehensive planning in accordance with the Act of the General Assembly providing for such appropriations. No grant or loan by the department to any eligible recipient or qualified local government shall adversely affect any grant, loan, or service to the eligible recipient or qualified local government by any other unit or instrumentality of state government. Without limiting the foregoing, the Department of Education, the Department of Transportation, the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority, and the state treasurer shall not diminish or fail to award any funds, loans, or service to any recipient under any state or federal program in whole or in part on account of a grant or loan by the department. Grants or loans by the department are and shall be deemed to be of a special nature and in addition to all such other grants, loans, or awards. The following provisions shall apply to making such funds available to eligible recipients or qualified local governments:

(1) The department may make available funds by grant or loan to an eligible recipient or qualified local government, by direct payments on behalf of an eligible recipient or qualified local government, or by any other lawful means. In the event the department determines that, in its judgment, a regional commission has failed to comply with its duties as provided by law or with the terms of a contract between such regional commission and a local government, the department shall be authorized to make payments, which it otherwise would have made to the regional commission, directly to the local government or as the department otherwise determines in order to carry out the duties of the regional commission under the law or such contract;

(2) The department may accept, use, and disburse gifts and grants made to it on terms consistent with its legal powers, from any public or private source;

(3) The department shall specify the terms under which it makes any funds available to an eligible recipient or qualified local government. The terms shall be those established or otherwise required by the government or other source which makes the funds available to the department. If such government or other source does not establish or otherwise require any such terms, the department may establish the terms;

(4) The department shall set forth in writing the terms under which the department makes funds available to a qualified local government or eligible recipient. The terms may be set forth in a contract. The department may execute any such contract on behalf of the state, and any eligible recipient which is a qualified local government, school district, state agency, or state authority is authorized to execute any such contract. Any such writing or contract may incorporate other terms or laws by reference to such terms or laws;

(5) The department shall manage and administer all funds made available pursuant to this Code section; and

(6) The department may make funds available for any purpose for which the eligible recipient or qualified local government may lawfully use such funds. Unless precluded by general law, these purposes may include, but shall not be limited to, assisting in or furthering any of the purposes, duties, responsibilities, functions, power, or authority of local governments or the department. These purposes may also include, but shall not be limited to, establishing, developing, constructing, improving, maintaining, restoring, or protecting local government projects or purposes of any nature, such as:

(A) Construction projects;

(B) Capital outlay projects;

(C) Infrastructure projects;

(D) Planning services;

(E) Technical assistance;

(F) Coordinated and comprehensive planning;

(G) Marketing and promotional projects to encourage tourism and to develop, promote, and retain trade, commerce, industry, and employment opportunities, agriculture, and agribusiness;

(H) Purchase or lease of equipment;

(I) Operating expenses;

(J) Housing projects;

(K) Any project for the purposes of acquiring, constructing, equipping, maintaining, and operating regional commerce and trade center facilities suitable for housing conventions and trade shows as well as cultural, political, musical, educational, athletic, and other events, in order to provide for the establishment, development, and maintenance of commerce and trade;

(L) Any project or purpose described in or permitted under any appropriations to the department;

(M) Any project or purpose described in or permitted under any grant made to, or to be made by or through, the department;

(N) Any project or purpose provided for in the federal Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, as amended, or any successor to the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974;

(O) Any project or purpose provided for in the federal Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965, as amended, or any successor to the Public Works and Economic Development Act of 1965;

(P) Any project or purpose authorized by federal or state law; or

(Q) Any other project or purpose consistent with the duties, responsibilities, functions, power, and authority of the department.

(c) The department may apply for, receive, administer, and use any grant, other financial assistance, or other funds made available to the department from any government or other source for furthering the purposes of the department. The department's actions in this respect may be taken for itself or on behalf of qualified local governments or other eligible recipients. The department's power and authority under this subsection includes, but shall not be limited to, the following:

(1) The department may apply on behalf of qualified local governments or other eligible recipients for receipt of state appropriated funds from the Governor's emergency fund as provided by Code Section 45-12-77. If such an application is approved, or if state appropriated funds from the Governor's emergency fund as provided by Code Section 45-12-77 are otherwise made available to the department, the department may be authorized by the Governor to disburse such emergency funds to the local government or other eligible recipient; and

(2) The department may accept on behalf of qualified local governments or other eligible recipients funds provided to the department by an executive order of the Governor and may disburse such funds to such local governments or other eligible recipients. The eligible recipient and the terms under which such funds are made available for use by the eligible recipient shall be specified in the executive order and shall be made a part of any writing or contract between the department and the eligible recipient.

(d) The department is authorized and shall have all powers necessary to participate in federal programs and to comply with laws relating thereto.

(e) The governing authority of any county, municipality, or combination thereof may expend public funds received from the department to perform any public service or public function as authorized under the terms specified by the department or, in the absence of any such terms, as otherwise authorized by the Constitution or by law or to perform any other service or function as authorized by the Constitution.

(f) The department shall make available to any state agency or authority assigned to the department for administrative purposes all funds made available to the department for the use of any such state authority or agency. The department may make available funds to such state agencies or authorities for any lawful purposes of any such state agencies or authorities.

(g) The power and authority of the department under this Code section to make available to local governments or any other eligible recipient any funds shall be limited by the Constitution and laws of the state, and as specified in this Code section, but shall not otherwise be limited.

(h) Pursuant to Article VII, Section III, Paragraph III of the Constitution and as otherwise may be authorized, all grants and other disbursements of funds made by the department or from the emergency fund through the department prior to July 1, 1989, are approved, ratified, and confirmed.

(i) There is established within the department a state community development program. Funds may be appropriated to such a program by line item reference in any appropriations Act. Using such funds as may be appropriated the department may provide assistance to eligible local governments that are qualified to participate in the state administered federal community development block grant program, in the form of grants, loans, loan guarantees, or any combination thereof. Nothing contained in this subsection shall be construed to limit any other powers of the department."

SECTION 5.

Said chapter is further amended by revising paragraph (22) of Code Section 50-8-31, relating to definitions relative to regional commissions, as follows:

"(22) 'Qualified local government' means a county or municipality which:

(A) Has a comprehensive plan in conformity with the minimum standards and procedures;

(B) Has made its local plan implementation mechanisms consistent with those established in its comprehensive plan and with the minimum standards and procedures; and

(C) Has not failed to participate in the department's mediation or other means of resolving conflicts in a manner which, in the judgment of the department, reflects a good faith effort to resolve any conflict Reserved."

SECTION 6.

All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.