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Call Now: 904-383-7448(a) As used in this Paragraph and Paragraph III of this section, "annual debt service requirements" means the total principal and interest coming due in any state fiscal year. With regard to any issue of debt incurred wholly or in part on a term basis, "annual debt service requirements" means an amount equal to the total principal and interest payments required to retire such issue in full divided by the number of years from its issue date to its maturity date.
(b) No debt may be incurred under subparagraphs (c), (d), and (e) of Paragraph I of this section or Paragraph V of this section at any time when the highest aggregate annual debt service requirements for the then current year or any subsequent year for outstanding general obligation debt and guaranteed revenue debt, including the proposed debt, and the highest aggregate annual payments for the then current year or any subsequent fiscal year of the state under all contracts then in force to which the provisions of the second paragraph of Article IX, Section VI, Paragraph I(a) of the Constitution of 1976 are applicable, exceed 10 percent of the total revenue receipts, less refunds of the state treasury in the fiscal year immediately preceding the year in which any such debt is to be incurred.
(c) No debt may be incurred under subparagraphs (c) and (d) of Paragraph I of this section at any time when the term of the debt is in excess of 25 years.
(d) No guaranteed revenue debt may be incurred to finance water or sewage treatment facilities or systems when the highest aggregate annual debt service requirements for the then current year or any subsequent fiscal year of the state for outstanding or proposed guaranteed revenue debt for water facilities or systems or sewage facilities or systems exceed 1 percent of the total revenue receipts less refunds, of the state treasury in the fiscal year immediately preceding the year in which any such debt is to be incurred.
(e) The aggregate amount of guaranteed revenue debt incurred to make loans for educational purposes that may be outstanding at any time shall not exceed $18 million, and the aggregate amount of guaranteed revenue debt incurred to purchase, or to lend or deposit against the security of, loans for educational purposes that may be outstanding at any time shall not exceed $72 million.
- Art. VII, Sec. III, Para. I.
- In light of the similarity of the provisions, decisions under former Ga. Const. 1976, Art. VII, Sec. III, Para. I and antecedent provisions are included in the annotations for this paragraph. Current provisions on the same subjects and cases construing them now appear in this paragraph and Paragraphs I, III, and IV of this section.
An authority, being an agent of the state but not the state, is not restricted by state's debt limitation under this paragraph. Rich v. State, 237 Ga. 291, 227 S.E.2d 761 (1976) (see Ga. Const. 1983, Art. VII, Sec. IV, Para. II).
- Neither Ga. L. 1953, Jan.-Feb. Sess., p. 626 (see now O.C.G.A. Art. 1, Ch. 10, T. 32), nor the lease contract which the state highway department (now Department of Transportation) made with the State Bridge Building (now Georgia Highway) Authority under and pursuant to Ga. L. 1953, Jan.-Feb. Sess., p. 626, § 8 (see now O.C.G.A. § 32-10-9) for the use of its facilities or services violates the debt restriction and limitation provision of the Constitution. On their face they do not run counter to the Constitution; and the Supreme Court will not attribute to state lawmakers a purpose to circumvent the provisions of that instrument. McLucas v. State Bridge Bldg. Auth., 210 Ga. 1, 77 S.E.2d 531 (1953).
An obligation incurred by the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia, is not a debt of the state, and therefore is not affected by constitutional limitations upon state indebtedness. State v. Regents of Univ. Sys., 179 Ga. 210, 175 S.E. 567 (1934).
It cannot be said that creation of a debt by the Regents of the University System of Georgia is unconstitutional. Villyard v. Regents of Univ. Sys., 204 Ga. 517, 50 S.E.2d 313 (1948).
- In light of the similarity of the provisions, opinions under former Ga. Const. 1976, Art. VII, Sec. III, Para. I and antecedent provisions are included in the annotations for this paragraph. Current provisions on the same subjects and cases construing them now appear in this paragraph and Paragraphs I, III, and IV of this section.
- This paragraph is construed as prohibiting incurring a fiscal liability not to be discharged by taxes levied within the year in which the liability is undertaken. 1971 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 71-103.(see Ga. Const. 1983, Art. VII, Sec. IV, Para. II).
- Debt, as used in this paragraph and Ga. Const. 1976, Art. IX, Sec. VII, Para. I (see Ga. Const. 1983, Art. IX, Sec. V, Para. I), which forms the basis of the restriction upon public debt, means the incurring of a fiscal liability not to be discharged by taxes levied within the year in which the liability is undertaken. 1975 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 75-19 (decided under Ga. Const. 1945, Art. VII, Sec. III, Para. I; see Ga. Const. 1983, Art. VII, Sec. IV, Para. II).
State contracts in excess of one year are not enforceable. 1970 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 70-8.
As a general rule, a contract which fiscally obligates the state for a period longer than one year is invalid. 1972 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 72-132.
An Area Vocational-Technical School Board may not borrow money to be repaid to the lender over a period of time extending beyond the fiscal year in which the loan was made. 1975 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 75-19 (decided under Ga. Const. 1945, Art. VII, Sec. III, Para. I).
A golf-cart lease contract creating state liability for over a year is in violation of this paragraph. 1972 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 72-59.(see Ga. Const. 1983, Art. VII, Sec. IV, Para. II).
- Conclusiveness of official determination of existence of emergency within the contemplation of constitutional or statutory provisions permitting excess of maximum limit of tax or indebtedness in an "emergency", 90 A.L.R. 328.
Obligation payable from special fund created by imposition of fees, penalties, or excise taxes as a "debt" within constitutional debt limitation, 100 A.L.R. 900.
Bonds issued by state officer or board payable solely out of proceeds of obligations of political subdivisions pledged as security as within constitutional or statutory provisions which impose a limit on state indebtedness or require consent of electors, 100 A.L.R. 1114.
Power of Legislature to add to or make more onerous the conditions or limitations prescribed by Constitution upon incurring public deeds, 106 A.L.R. 231.
Obligation to meet which money is appropriated at the time of its creation as an indebtedness within limitation of indebtedness, 134 A.L.R. 1399.
Presumptions and burden of proof as to violation of or compliance with public debt limitation, 16 A.L.R.2d 515.