TITLE 48 REVENUE AND TAXATION

Section 8. Sales and Use Taxes, 48-8-1 through 48-8-278.

ARTICLE 5 SPECIAL DISTRICT TRANSPORTATION SALES AND USE TAX (TSPLOST)

48-8-242. Definitions.

As used in this article, the term:

1. "Commission" means the Georgia State Financing and Investment Commission;
2. "Cost of project" means:
   1. All costs of acquisition, by purchase or otherwise, construction, assembly, installation, modification, renovation, extension, rehabilitation, operation, or maintenance incurred in connection with any project of the special district or any part thereof;
   2. All costs of real property or rights in property, fixtures, or personal property used in or in connection with or necessary for any project of the special district or for any facilities related thereto, including but not limited to the cost of all land, interests in land, estates for years, easements, rights, improvements, water rights, and connections for utility services; the cost of fees, franchises, permits, approvals, licenses, and certificates; the cost of securing any such franchises, permits, approvals, licenses, or certificates; the cost of preparation of any application therefor; and the cost of all fixtures, machinery, equipment, furniture, and other property used in or in connection with or necessary for any project of the special district;
   3. All costs of engineering, surveying, planning, environmental assessments, financial analyses, and architectural, legal, and accounting services and all expenses incurred by engineers, surveyors, planners, environmental scientists, fiscal analysts, architects, attorneys, accountants, and any other necessary technical personnel in connection with any project of the special district;
   4. All expenses for inspection of any project of the special district;
   5. All fees of any type charged to the special district in connection with any project of the special district;
   6. All expenses of or incidental to determining the feasibility or practicability of any project of the special district;
   7. All costs of plans and specifications for any project of the special district;
   8. All costs of title insurance and examinations of title with respect to any project of the special district;
   9. Repayment of any loans for the advance payment of any part of any of the foregoing costs, including interest thereon and any other expenses of such loans;
   10. Administrative expenses of the special district and such other expenses as may be necessary or incidental to any project of the special district or the financing thereof; and
   11. The establishment of a fund or funds or such other reserves as the commission may approve with respect to the financing and operation of any project of the special district.

       Any cost, obligation, or expense incurred for any of the purposes specified in this paragraph shall be a part of the cost of the project of the special district and may be paid or reimbursed as otherwise authorized by this article.

3. "County" means any county created under the Constitution or laws of this state.
4. "Dealer" means a dealer as defined in paragraph (8) of Code Section 48-8-2.
5. "Director" means the director of planning provided for in Code Section 32-2-43.
6. "LARP factor" means the sum of one-fifth of the ratio between the population of a local government's jurisdiction and the total population of the special district in which such local government is located plus four-fifths of the ratio between the paved and unpaved centerline road miles in the local government's jurisdiction and the total paved and unpaved centerline road miles in the special district in which such local government is located.
7. "Local government" means any municipal corporation, county, or consolidated government created by the General Assembly or pursuant to the Constitution and laws of this state.
8. "Metropolitan planning organization" or "MPO" means the policy board of an organization created and designated to carry out the metropolitan transportation planning process as defined in 23 C.F.R. Section 450.
9. "Municipal corporation" means any incorporated city or town in this state.
10. "Project" means, without limitation, any new or existing airports, bike lanes, bridges, bus and rail mass transit systems, freight and passenger rail, pedestrian facilities, ports, roads, terminals, and all activities and structures useful and incident to providing, operating, and maintaining the same. The term shall also include direct appropriations to a local government for the purpose of serving as a local match for state or federal funding.
11. "Regional transportation roundtable" or "roundtable" means a conference of the local governments of a special district created pursuant to this article held at a centralized location within the district as chosen by the director for the purpose of establishing the investment criteria and determining projects eligible for the investment list for the special district. The regional transportation roundtable shall consist of the chairperson, sole commissioner, mayor, or chief executive officer of the county governing authority from each county in the special district. In the event any county in the special district has a consolidated government, the consolidated government shall elect a second elected member of the county consolidated government to the regional roundtable. In counties without a consolidated government, the second member of the regional roundtable from that county shall be one mayor elected by the mayors of the county; provided, however, that, in the event such an election ends in a tie, the mayor of the municipal corporation with the highest population determined using the most recently completed United States decennial census shall be deemed to have been elected as a representative unless that mayor is already part of the roundtable. In such case, the mayor of the municipal corporation with the second highest population shall be deemed to have been elected as a representative. If a county has more than 90 percent of its population residing in municipal corporations, such county shall have the mayor of the municipal corporation with the highest population determined using the most recently completed United States decennial census as an additional representative. The regional transportation roundtable shall elect five representatives from among its members to serve as an executive committee. The executive committee shall also include two members of the House of Representatives selected by the chairperson of the House Transportation Committee and one member of the Senate selected by the chairperson of the Senate Transportation Committee. Each member of the General Assembly appointed to the executive committee shall be a nonvoting member of the executive committee and shall represent a district which lies wholly or partially within the region represented by the executive committee. The executive committee shall not have more than one representative from any one county, but any member of the General Assembly serving on the executive committee shall not count as a representative of his or her county.
12. Reserved.
13. "State-wide strategic transportation plan" means the official state-wide transportation plan as defined in paragraph (6) of subsection (a) of Code Section 32-2-22.
14. "State-wide transportation improvement program" means a state-wide prioritized listing of transportation projects as defined in paragraph (7) of subsection (a) of Code Section 32-2-22.
15. "Transportation improvement program" means a prioritized listing of transportation projects as defined in paragraph (8) of subsection (a) of Code Section 32-2-22.

(Code 1981, §48-8-242, enacted by Ga. L. 2010 p. 778, § 6/HB 277 and Ga. L. 2010, p. 818, § 3/SB 520; Ga. L. 2015, p. 236, § 7-2/HB 170.)

The 2015 amendment, effective July 1, 2015, substituted "Reserved" for the former provisions of paragraph (12), which read: "'Special Regional Transportation Funding Election Act' means an Act specifically and exclusively enacted for the purpose of ordering that a referendum be held for the reimposition of the special district transportation sales and use tax within the region that includes the districts, in their entirety or any portion thereof, of the members from a local legislative delegation in the General Assembly. A majority of the signatures of the legislative delegation for a majority of the counties within the region shall be required for the bill to be placed upon the local calendar of each chamber. This method shall be exclusively used for this purpose and no other bill shall be placed or voted upon on the local calendar utilizing this method of qualification for placement thereon. This Act shall be treated procedurally by the General Assembly as a local Act and all counties within the region shall receive the legal notice requirements of a local Act." See Editor's notes for applicability.