TITLE 45 PUBLIC OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES

Section 12. Governor, 45-12-1 through 45-12-207.

ARTICLE 4 OFFICE OF PLANNING AND BUDGET

45-12-92. Revenue collections to be paid to state treasury on monthly basis; effect of failure of budget unit to comply with Code section; user fee defined; reporting.

All departments, agencies, and budget units charged with the duty of collecting taxes, fees, assessments, or other moneys, the collection of which is imposed by law, if required, shall pay all revenues collected by them into the state treasury on a monthly basis on or before the fifteenth day of each month for the immediately preceding month's collections, according to such rules and regulations as may be prescribed by the Office of Planning and Budget. No allotment of funds shall be made to any budget unit which has failed to comply fully with this Code section.
1. As used in this subsection, the term "user fee" shall mean voluntary or mandatory payments made in exchange for a government good or service provided specifically to the fee payer. A revenue source meets this definition if the authorization for the fee explicitly or implicitly ties the fee to the activities of a specific program, such as a licensing fee charged by a regulatory program. Fines, penalties, late fees, or similar punitive charges are not included in this definition.
2. All departments, agencies, and budget units charged with the duty of collecting user fees, the collection of which is authorized by law or regulation, shall compile a separate annual report to be submitted to the Office of Planning and Budget showing:
  1. The statute or regulation authorizing a user fee;
  2. The user fee amount;
  3. The goods or services associated with the user fee and the estimated cost of such goods or services;
  4. The total amount collected from the user fee in the current fiscal year; and
  5. Whether the user fee has been retained by the department, agency, or budget unit or remitted to the state treasury.
3. The report provided for in paragraph (2) of this subsection shall also contain any proposal that the budget unit may have to:
  1. Create a new fee, or change, reauthorize, or terminate an existing fee, which shall include a description of the associated service or product provided or the regulatory function performed; and
  2. Adjust an existing fee rate or amount. Each new or adjusted fee rate shall be accompanied by information justifying the proposed rate adjustment which may include:
    1. The relationship between the revenue to be raised by the fee or change in the fee and the cost or change in the cost of the service, product, or regulatory function supported by the fee, with costs construed as actual costs incurred;
    2. The inflationary pressures that have arisen since the fee was last set;
    3. The effect on budgetary adequacy if the fee is not increased;
    4. The existence of comparable fees in other jurisdictions;
    5. Policies that might affect the acceptance or the viability of the fee amount;
    6. Any proposal to designate, or redesignate, the fund into which revenue from a fee is to be deposited; and
    7. Other relevant considerations.
4. The Office of Planning and Budget shall compile and publish on the Open Georgia website, open.georgia.gov, a report showing for each department, agency, or other budget unit the data collected pursuant to this subsection.

(Code 1933, § 40-423, enacted by Ga. L. 1962, p. 17, § 1; Ga. L. 2010, p. 112, § 1/HB 1284; Ga. L. 2011, p. 752, § 45/HB 142.)

OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

Word "law" in O.C.G.A. § 45-12-92 probably refers only to enactments of the General Assembly. 1981 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 81-100.

Room and board charges of prisoners on work release must be deposited into the state treasury. 1977 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 77-77.

Proceeds from sales of unserviceable property must be deposited.

- Proceeds of property sales may constitutionally be retained by the agency concerned, because such proceeds are not "taxes," "fees" or "assessments." As a matter of statute, however, most such proceeds must be paid into the state treasury: first, such proceeds would in general constitute "other moneys" within the meaning of former Code 1933, § 40-423 (see now O.C.G.A. § 45-12-92); and second, former Code 1933, § 91-804 (see former O.C.G.A. § 50-16-144) provided that the proceeds of sales of unserviceable property shall be paid into the treasury. 1977 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 77-77.

Revenue transferred from another agency need not be deposited into state treasury.

- The constitutional and statutory provisions when the provisions speak of revenues refer to outside receipts; revenues which are received by one agency from another agency, unlike outside receipts, are already subject to the annual appropriations process; therefore, such revenues need not be deposited into the state treasury to ensure that the General Assembly can exercise control over state finances. 1977 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 77-77.

Certain income generated by judicial branch need not be deposited into state treasury.

- Certain income generated by the judicial branch of government, including dues paid by members of the State Bar of Georgia, fees paid to the office of bar admissions by applicants for admission to the bar, and fees paid by court reporters to the board of court reporting of the Judicial Counsel, may be retained by the judicial branch. 1977 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 77-77.

With respect to character examination fees paid by prospective members of the bar, neither the Constitution nor the Budget Act requires that such fees be deposited into the state treasury. 1977 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 77-77.

Bar fees.

- Fees, generated by proposed rules of the Supreme Court creating a board to determine fitness of bar applicants and an office of bar admissions, are not to be collected pursuant to any revenue statute and these fees do not have to be remitted to the state treasury. 1977 Op. Att'y Gen. No. U77-10.1.

Room and board charges collected from probationers need not be deposited into state treasury.

- As there is no specific statutory premise for collecting room and board charges from probationers, by the Department of Offender Rehabilitation, or for collecting meal money from employees working in group homes operated by the Department of Human Resources, these funds may be retained by the respective departments. 1977 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 77-77.

Probation supervision fee does not have to be paid into state treasury.

- Probation supervision fee collected pursuant to probation order of sentencing court lacks statutory premise. Therefore, such a fee does not have to be paid into state treasury but, if permitted by probation order, could be retained by Department of Offender Rehabilitation. 1981 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 81-100.

Gifts and grants, whether federal or private, may be retained by an agency recipient as gifts and grants are not "taxes," "fees" or "assessments," nor is an agency under a legal duty to collect them, although some agencies are by law authorized or required to accept whatever gifts may be made available to them. 1977 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 77-77.

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