Bill Text: GA SB496 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: 'Alternative Homestead Option Sales and Use Tax Act'; enact

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 3-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2012-02-28 - Senate Read and Referred [SB496 Detail]

Download: Georgia-2011-SB496-Introduced.html

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12 LC 34 3247

Senate Bill 496

By: Senators Rogers of the 21st, Albers of the 56th and Loudermilk of the 52nd

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT

To amend Chapter 8 of Title 48 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to sales and use taxes, so as to enact an alternative homestead option sales and use tax; to provide for a short title; to provide for definitions; to provide for creation of special districts; to provide for a referendum on levying the tax; to provide for collection and administration of the tax; to provide for a credit for similar taxes collected in other jurisdictions; to provide for a referendum on discontinuation of the tax; to provide an exemption for building and construction materials; to provide that the commissioner shall have the power to issue rules and regulations to administer this tax; 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.

Chapter 8 of Title 48 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to sales and use taxes, is amended by adding a new Article 2B, relating to an alternative homestead option sales and use tax, to read as follows:

"ARTICLE 2B

48-8-109.1.

This article shall be known and may be cited as the 'Alternative Homestead Option Sales and Use Tax Act.'

48-8-109.2.

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. In the case of any tax levied pursuant to this article, such term shall also include any special district ad valorem taxes.

(2) 'Base year' shall be the first year in which the homestead exemption under this article is sufficient to equate to the complete elimination of ad valorem taxes for county purposes for each resident of the county receiving such exemption.

(3) 'Homestead' shall have the same meaning as provided 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.

48-8-109.3.

(a) Pursuant to the authority granted by Article IX, Section II, Paragraph VI of the Constitution of this state, there are created within this state 159 special districts. The geographical boundary of each county shall correspond with and shall be conterminous with the geographical boundary of one of the 159 special districts.

(b) When the imposition of a local sales and use tax is authorized according to the procedures provided in this article within a special district, the county whose geographical boundary is conterminous with that of the special district shall levy a local sales and use tax at the rate of 1 percent. Except as to rate, the local sales and use tax shall correspond to the tax imposed and administered by Article 1 of this chapter. No item or transaction which is not subject to taxation by Article 1 of this chapter shall be subject to the sales and use tax levied pursuant to this article, except that the sales and use tax provided in this article shall be applicable to sales of motor fuels as prepaid local tax as that term is defined in Code Section 48-8-2 and shall be applicable to the sale of food and food ingredients and alcoholic beverages only to the extent provided for in paragraph (57) of Code Section 48-8-3.

(c)(1) Except as otherwise provided in paragraph (2) of this subsection, the proceeds of the sales and use tax levied and collected under this article shall be used only for the purposes of funding services within a special district equal to the revenue lost to the homestead exemption as provided in Code Section 48-8-109.5 and of funding capital outlay projects and, in the event excess funds remain following the expenditure for such purposes, such excess funds shall be expended as provided in subparagraph (c)(2)(C) of Code Section 48-8-109.5.

(2) Prior to January 1 of the year immediately following the first complete calendar year in which the sales and use tax under this article is imposed, such proceeds may be used for funding all or any portion of those services which are to be provided by the governing authority of the county whose geographic boundary is conterminous with that of a special district pursuant to and in accordance with Article IX, Section II, Paragraph III of the Constitution of this state.

(d) Such sales and use tax shall only be levied in a special district following the enactment of a local Act which provides for a homestead exemption of an amount to be determined from the amount of sales and use tax collected under this article. Such exemption shall commence with taxable years beginning on or after January 1 of the year immediately following the first complete calendar year in which the sales and use tax under this article is levied. Any such local Act shall incorporate by reference the terms and conditions specified under this article. Any such homestead exemption under this article shall be in addition to and not in lieu of any other homestead exemption applicable to county taxes for county purposes within the special district. Notwithstanding any provision of such local Act to the contrary, the referendum which shall otherwise be required to be conducted under such local Act shall only be conducted if the resolution required under subsection (a) of Code Section 48-8-109.4 is adopted prior to the issuance of the call for the referendum under the local Act by the election superintendent. If such ordinance is not adopted by that date, the referendum otherwise required to be conducted under the local Act shall not be conducted.

(e) No sales and use tax shall be levied in a special district under this article in which a tax is levied and collected under Article 2 of this chapter.

48-8-109.4.

(a) Whenever the governing authority of any county whose geographic boundary is conterminous with that of a special district wishes to submit to the electors of such special district the question of whether the sales and use tax authorized by Code Section 48-8-109.3 shall be imposed, any such governing authority shall notify the election superintendent of the county whose geographical boundary is conterminous with that of the special district by forwarding to the superintendent a copy of a resolution of the governing authority calling for a referendum election. Upon receipt of the resolution, it shall be the duty of the election superintendent to issue the call for an election for the purpose of submitting the question of the imposition of the sales and use tax to the voters of the special district for approval or rejection. The election superintendent shall issue the call and shall conduct the election on a date and in the manner authorized under Code Section 21-2-540. Such election shall only be conducted on the date of and in conjunction with a referendum provided for by local Act on the question of whether to impose a homestead exemption within such county based on the amount of proceeds from the sales and use tax levied and collected pursuant to this article and a homestead exemption within such county in an amount sufficient to offset future millage rate increases. The election superintendent shall cause the date and purpose of the election to be published once a week for two weeks immediately preceding the date of the election in the official organ of such county. The ballot shall have written or printed thereon the following statement which shall precede the ballot question specified in this subsection and the ballot question specified by the required local Act:

'NOTICE TO ELECTORS: Unless BOTH the homestead exemptions AND the retail homestead option sales and use tax are approved, then neither the exemptions nor the sales and use tax shall become effective.'

Such statement shall be followed by:

'(  )  YES (  )  NO

Shall a homestead option sales and use tax of 1 percent be levied within the special district within ______________ County for the purposes of funding services to replace revenue lost to an additional homestead exemption of up to 100 percent of the assessed value of homesteads from county taxes for county purposes and, if excess proceeds remain, of funding capital outlay projects?'

Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the statement, ballot question, and local Act ballot question referred to in this subsection shall precede any and all other ballot questions calling for the levy or imposition of any other sales and use tax which are to appear on the same ballot.

(b) All persons desiring to vote in favor of levying the sales and use tax shall vote 'Yes,' and all persons opposed to levying the tax shall vote 'No.' If more than one-half of the votes cast are in favor of levying the tax and approving the local Act providing such homestead exemptions, then the tax shall be levied in accordance with this article; otherwise, the sales and use tax shall not be levied, and the question of the imposition of the sales and use tax may not again be submitted to the voters of the special district until after 24 months immediately following the month in which the election was held. It shall be the duty of the election superintendent to hold and conduct such elections under the same rules and regulations as govern special elections. It shall be the superintendent's further duty to canvass the returns, declare the result of the election, and certify the result to the Secretary of State and to the commissioner. The expense of the election shall be borne by the county whose geographical boundary is conterminous with that of the special district holding the election.

(c) If the imposition of the sales and use tax provided in Code Section 48-8-109.3 is approved in a referendum election as provided by subsections (a) and (b) of this Code section, the governing authority of the county whose geographical boundary is conterminous with that of the special district shall adopt a resolution during the first 30 days following the certification of the result of the election imposing the sales and use tax authorized by Code Section 48-8-109.3 on behalf of the county whose geographical boundary is conterminous with that of the special district. The resolution shall be effective on the first day of the next succeeding calendar quarter which begins more than 80 days after the adoption of the resolution. With respect to services which are billed on a regular monthly basis, however, the resolution shall become effective with the first regular billing period coinciding with or following the otherwise effective date of the resolution. A certified copy of the resolution shall be forwarded to the commissioner so that it will be received within five days after its adoption.

(d) In the event the millage rate for county maintenance and operation purposes, excluding any millage rate for the retirement of general bonded indebtedness, is increased in any year following the base year to a rate exceeding the millage rate for such purposes that was imposed in the base year, the local Act providing for the homestead option sales and use tax homestead exemption shall provide for an additional homestead exemption which shall be granted to each resident of the county receiving the homestead option sales and use tax homestead exemption. In that event, such local Act shall provide that each such resident is granted an additional homestead exemption in an amount equivalent to the increase in that resident's ad valorem taxes for county purposes which is attributable to the amount of the millage rate which exceeds the millage rate of the base year.

48-8-109.5.

(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 except that the sales and use tax provided in this article shall be applicable to sales of motor fuels as prepaid local tax as that term is defined in Code Section 48-8-2; 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, 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 48-8-109.7, the county whose geographical boundary is conterminous with that of the special district shall, except as otherwise provided in subsection (c) of Code Section 48-8-109.3, expend such proceeds as follows:

(A) 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 this Code section as follows:

(i) The homestead factor shall be calculated by multiplying the quantity 1.000 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;

(B) In the event that excess proceeds remain following the expenditure of proceeds under subparagraph (A) of this paragraph such that the homestead exemption provided for under this article is sufficient to equate to the complete elimination of ad valorem taxes for county purposes for each taxpayer receiving such exemption, then such remaining 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

(ii) Capital outlay projects shall be funded from such excess proceeds 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 only to the extent that the amount of such excess proceeds will permit; and

(C) If any of such proceeds remain following the distribution provided for in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of this paragraph:

(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.

48-8-109.6.

Where a local sales or use tax has been paid with respect to tangible personal property by the purchaser either in another local tax jurisdiction within this state or in a tax jurisdiction outside this state, the sales and use tax may be credited against the sales and use tax authorized to be imposed by this article upon the same property. If the amount of sales or use tax so paid is less than the amount of the use tax due under this article, the purchaser shall pay an amount equal to the difference between the amount paid in the other tax jurisdiction and the amount due under this article. The commissioner may require such proof of payment in another local tax jurisdiction as the commissioner deems necessary and proper. No credit shall be granted, however, against the sales and use tax imposed under this article for tax paid in another jurisdiction if the sales and use tax paid in such other jurisdiction is used to obtain a credit against any other local sales and use tax levied in the special district or in the county which is conterminous with the special district; and sales and use taxes so paid in another jurisdiction shall be credited first against the sales and use tax levied under this article and then against the sales and use tax levied under Article 3 of this chapter, if applicable.

48-8-109.7.

(a) Whenever the governing authority of any county whose geographic boundary is conterminous with that of the special district in which the sales and use tax authorized by this article is being levied wishes to submit to the electors of the special district the question of whether the sales and use tax authorized by Code Section 48-8-109.3 shall be discontinued, the governing authority shall notify the election superintendent of the county whose geographical boundary is conterminous with that of the special district by forwarding to the superintendent a copy of a resolution of the governing authority calling for the referendum election. Upon receipt of the resolution, it shall be the duty of the election superintendent to issue the call for an election for the purpose of submitting the question of discontinuing the levy of the sales and use tax to the voters of the special district for approval or rejection. The election superintendent shall issue the call and shall conduct the election on a date and in the manner authorized under Code Section 21-2-540. Such election shall only be conducted on the date of and in conjunction with a referendum provided for by local Act on the question of whether to repeal the homestead exemption within such county which is funded from the proceeds of the sales and use tax levied and collected pursuant to this article. The election superintendent shall cause the date and purpose of the election to be published once a week for two weeks immediately preceding the date of the election in the official organ of such county. The ballot shall have written or printed thereon the following:

'(  )  YES (  )  NO

Shall the 1 percent retail homestead option sales and use tax being levied within the special district within ____________ County for the purposes of funding capital outlay projects and of funding services to replace revenue lost to an additional homestead exemption of up to 100 percent of the assessed value of homesteads from county taxes for county purposes be terminated?'

(b) All persons desiring to vote in favor of discontinuing the sales and use tax shall vote 'Yes,' and those persons opposed to discontinuing the tax shall vote 'No.' If more than one-half of the votes cast are in favor of discontinuing the sales and use tax and repealing the local Act providing for such homestead exemption, then the sales and use tax shall cease to be levied on the last day of the taxable year following the taxable year in which the commissioner receives the certification of the result of the election; otherwise, the sales and use tax shall continue to be levied, and the question of the discontinuing of the tax may not again be submitted to the voters of the special district until after 24 months immediately following the month in which the election was held. It shall be the duty of the election superintendent to hold and conduct such elections under the same rules and regulations as govern special elections. It shall be the superintendent's further duty to canvass the returns, declare and certify the result of the election, and certify the result to the Secretary of State and to the commissioner. The expense of the election shall be borne by the county whose geographical boundary is conterminous with that of the special district holding the election.

48-8-109.8.

No sales and use tax provided for in Code Section 48-8-109.3 shall be imposed upon the sale of tangible personal property which is ordered by and delivered to the purchaser at a point outside the geographical area of the special district in which the sales and use tax is imposed under this article regardless of the point at which title passes, if the delivery is made by the seller's vehicle, United States mail, or common carrier or by a licensed private or contract carrier.

48-8-109.9.

(a) As used in this Code section, the term 'building and construction materials' means all building and construction materials, supplies, fixtures, or equipment, any combination of such items, and any other leased or purchased articles when the materials, supplies, fixtures, equipment, or articles are to be utilized or consumed during construction or are to be incorporated into construction work pursuant to a bona fide written construction contract.

(b) No sales and use tax provided for in Code Section 48-8-109.3 shall be imposed in such special district upon the sale or use of building and construction materials when the contract pursuant to which the building and construction materials are purchased or used was advertised for bid prior to approval of the levy of the sales and use tax by the county whose geographical boundary is conterminous with that of the special district and the contract was entered into as a result of a bid actually submitted in response to the advertisement prior to approval of the levy of the sales and use tax.

48-8-109.10.

The commissioner shall have the power and authority to promulgate such rules and regulations as shall be necessary for the effective and efficient administration and enforcement of the collection of the sales and use tax authorized to be imposed by this article."

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.