O.C.G.A. § 48-8-111 (2019)

Annotations

The 2015 amendment, effective July 1, 2015, in subsection (a), deleted "or" at the end of subparagraph (a)(1)(K), added subparagraphs (a)(1)(L) and (a)(1)((M), and redesignated former subparagraph (a)(1)(L) as present subparagraph (a)(1)(N).

The 2017 amendments. The first 2017 amendment, effective May 8, 2017, added the ending undesignated paragraph in paragraph (a)(1). See Editor's notes for applicability. The second 2017 amendment, effective May 9, 2017, part of an Act to revise, modernize, and correct the Code, revised punctuation in subsection (d) and paragraph (e)(1).

Editor's notes. - Former subsection (c.1), relating to the validity of an election held pursuant to an ordinance or resolution with respect to taxes imposed or to be imposed under this article, was repealed by its own terms December 31, 1999.

Ga. L. 2002, p. 576, § 3, not codified by the General Assembly, provides in part that the amendments to this Code section "shall apply with respect to taxes imposed or to be imposed under resolutions or ordinances adopted on or after July 1, 2002."

Ga. L. 2004, p. 69, § 1, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that: "This Act shall be known and may be cited as the 'State and Local Taxation, Financing, and Service Delivery Revision Act of 2004.'"

Ga. L. 2004, p. 69, § 23(c), not codified by the General Assembly, provides that this Code section "shall apply with respect to taxes imposed or to be imposed under any resolution or ordinance adopted by a county or municipal governing authority on or after July 1, 2004; and, except as otherwise specifically provided in this Act, Sections 8, 9 (the amendment to this Code section), 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15 of this Act shall not apply with respect to taxes imposed or to be imposed under resolutions and ordinances adopted prior to July 1, 2004."

Ga. L. 2017, p. 530, § 4(c)/SB 156, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: "Sections 1 and 3 of this Act shall apply to all equalized homestead option sales and use taxes which are implemented on and after the effective date specified in subsection (a) of this section and to all county special purpose local option sales taxes which are implemented in conjunction with an equalized homestead option sales and use tax implemented on and after such date." Subsection (a) of this section provides that the Act becomes effective upon approval of the Governor which occurred on May 8, 2017.

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Termination of tax. - Unmistakable and unambiguous meaning of the provisions of O.C.G.A. § 48-8-112 as it existed in 1987 was that a special purpose local option sales tax that was not limited to purposes other than road, street, and bridge purposes, and that did not provide in its resolution for general obligation debt, was to be measured by the period of time specified in the resolution. Jackson v. Shadix, 272 Ga. 631, 533 S.E.2d 706 (2000), reversing Shadix v. Carroll County, 239 Ga. App. 191, 521 S.E.2d 99 (1999).

Cited in Gwinnett County v. Bolin, 262 Ga. 67, 414 S.E.2d 225 (1992); City of Atlanta v. City of College Park, 292 Ga. 741, 741 S.E.2d 147 (2013).

OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

Retiring earlier incurred indebtedness. - Tax under O.C.G.A. Art. 3, Ch. 8, T. 48 may not be imposed to retire bonded indebtedness incurred in conjunction with capital outlay projects which were not planned contemporaneously with the imposition of the tax. 1986 Op. Att'y. Gen. No. U86-6.

Special county one percent sales and use tax may be levied for the purpose of retiring county general obligation debt which was incurred prior to the imposition of the tax in order to purchase a hospital used by or benefiting the citizens of the entire county. 1991 Op. Att'y Gen. No. U91-1.

Annual payments to hospital authority. - Jefferson County may not levy a special county one percent sales and use tax under O.C.G.A. § 48-8-111 for the purpose of obtaining funds to make certain annual payments to the Hospital Authority of Jefferson County and the City of Louisville. 1986 Op. Att'y. Gen. No. U86-6.

Water and sewer project operated by county board of utilities commissioners. - Water or sewer project operated in whole or in part by the Board of Utilities Commissioners of Catoosa County would not fall within O.C.G.A. § 48-8-111(a)(1)(C), and the local government attorneys would have to review the particular contract and project to determine whether or not the ownership and operation requirement and the power to contract prerequisite of O.C.G.A. § 48-8-111(a)(1)(D) can be met in this instance. 1985 Op. Att'y Gen. No. U85-24.

Purpose in O.C.G.A. § 48-8-111(a)(1)(F) as added by the 1987 amendment to the special county one percent sales and use tax law does not replace the purposes in O.C.G.A. § 48-8-111(a)(1)(C) and (a)(1)(D) but is in addition thereto. 1989 Op. Att'y Gen. U89-15.

Payments to city for project not identified in tax resolution not authorized. - To the extent the question of whether a city can use a portion of "the money" for the construction of a civic center which can be used by both the residents of the city and all the county residents relates to a flow-through of tax proceeds under the Act directly to cities for usage on another project independent of the purpose identified in the resolution of the county calling for imposition of the tax, such payments or usage of the taxes, apart from payments under appropriate contracts, would not be authorized. 1985 Op. Att'y Gen. No. U85-24.

Use of proceeds to repay loan from state revolving fund. - Local government may improve the local sewer and water systems by means of a loan from a state revolving fund and repay with funds derived from a special, county one percent sales tax, when voters have approved the tax and the capital project, but the referendum ballot did not state that the debt would be used to finance the work. 1990 Op. Att'y Gen. No. U90-7.

It is an expenditure for an authorized capital outlay project although proceeds (proceeds paid to a city) are spent in repaying loans rather than in paying project costs directly. 1990 Op. Att'y Gen. No. U90-7.

Loans by the Department of Natural Resources pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 12-5-38.1 and loans by the Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 50-23-1 et seq. do not cause a city or county to incur debt in accordance with Ga. Const. 1983, Art. IX, Sec. V, Para. I. The constitutional underpinning of these programs is in the intergovernmental contract clause, Ga. Const. 1983, Art. IX, Sec. III, Para. I(a). Thus, the procedural requirements in O.C.G.A. § 48-8-111 for submitting a debt question are not triggered when proceeds derived from the sales tax are to be applied to repayment of the loans by the Department of Natural Resources or the Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority. 1990 Op. Att'y Gen. No. U90-7.

Specificity of referendum questions relative to the special county one percent sales and use tax. - Referendum questions relative to the special county one percent sales and use tax provided for under O.C.G.A. § 48-8-110 (see now O.C.G.A. § 48-8-110.1) et seq. must only be so specific as to place the electorate on fair notice as to which projects the tax proceeds will be devoted, and when there is municipal participation in such projects, identification of the municipalities and projects involved would be required. 1990 Op. Att'y Gen. No. U90-18.

General obligations of municipalities which were incurred under a constitutionally authorized joint contract with the county may not be retired with proceeds from the special county one percent sales and use tax. Excess proceeds from the tax first must be used to reduce other county indebtedness, and then must be paid into the county general fund. 1991 Op. Att'y Gen. No. U91-1.

Borrowing from tax proceeds. - County may not borrow from the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) proceeds to fund expenditures other than voter-approved capital projects authorized in the SPLOST statutes. 2007 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 2007-5.