Legislative Alert
GMA Legislative Alert
No. 10 / March 20, 2009
Georgia 2020 Transportation Act
House Bill 277, Rep. Vance Smith (R-Pine Mountain)
GMA Position: Oppose
Contact: Tom Gehl, tgehl@gmanet.com, (678) 686-6247
Status: Is scheduled to be heard on the Senate floor on Monday, March 23.
As currently written, HB 277 would allow a county, or counties, to enter into
an intergovernmental agreement with a city, or cities, to list projects on a
sub-regional T-SPLOST ballot. The cities would have to represent at least 50
percent of the municipal population. If the parties cannot reach agreement on
the list of projects, they would enter into a ?nonbinding? arbitration process.
Each party would submit their respective plans to a judge who would decide
which plan to use, similar to baseball arbitration. Since the arbitration is
non-binding, however, the county could simply ignore the judge?s ruling and
choose to not put the plan the judge selected on the ballot.
GMA opposes the Senate version of HB 277 for the following reasons:
It does not give cities outside of the 10-county metro Atlanta region any
meaningful role when determining the projects to be funded by the regional tax.
The Senate proposal undercuts the desired outcome of encouraging cities and
counties to work together to present a unified transportation funding proposal
to their voters and essentially creates a new county tax that doesn?t require
city participation.
GMA supports an amendment to the bill that would require county officials, in
those instances where arbitration is used, to put on the ballot the
transportation plan that in the judge?s view is in the best interest of the
sub-region.
Transforming Transportation Investment Act
Senate Bill 200, Senator Tommie Williams (R-Lyons)
GMA Position: Evaluating
Contact: Tom Gehl, tgehl@gmanet.com, (678) 686-6247
Status: Pending in the House Transportation Committee.
GMA continues to urge city officials to read it?s analysis of SB 200 and to
express any concerns you may have about it with your House members.
Motor Vehicle Title Fee
House Bill 480, Rep. Harry Geisinger (R-Roswell)
GMA Position: Evaluating
Contact: Gwin Hall, ghall@gmanet.com, (678) 686-6212
Status: Pending in the Senate Finance Committee.
HB 480 would eliminate the sales tax and ad valorem tax on motor vehicles
titled in Georgia after January 2010 and creates a 7% title fee that is
currently capped at $2000 per title. The title fee would apply to all motor
vehicle sales, including casual sales, and would be split between the state and
local governments.
GMA continues to evaluate the impact of HB 480 and would appreciate hearing
from cities ASAP about the impact of this bill on municipal revenues. GMA has
concerns that this bill will not make cities whole in regards to what they
would normally receive from motor vehicle ad valorem taxes and sales taxes.
Local Government Equipment Financing Authority
House Bill 553, Rep. John Lunsford (R-McDonough)
GMA Position: Support
Contact: Lamar Norton, lnorton@gmanet.com, (678) 686-6273
Status: Passed the Senate State & Local Governmental Operations Committee and
is now pending in the Senate Rules Committee.
HB 553 would allow an authority to be created that could issue tax-exempt
municipal bonds. Such an authority would lower the cost of borrowing for local
governments.
Reduce Threshold for Electronic Filing
House Bill 334, Rep. David Knight (R-Griffin)
GMA Position: Support
Contact: Gwin Hall, ghall@gmanet.com, (678) 686-6212
Status: Passed the Senate Finance Committee and is now pending in the Senate
Rules Committee.
HB 334 would lower the threshold for filing sales taxes and certain other taxes
electronically from $5000 to $1000 and then to $500. Reducing this threshold
should speed up the processing and distribution of local sales taxes.
Unidentifiable Sales Tax Collections
House Bill 181, Rep. Rick Austin (R-Demorest)
GMA Position: Support
Contact: Gwin Hall, ghall@gmanet.com, (678) 686-6212
Status: Passed the Senate Finance Committee and is now pending in the Senate
Rules Committee.
HB 181 reauthorizes the Commissioner of Revenue to distribute unidentifiable
sales tax proceeds. This would amount to approximately $18 million a year in
additional sales tax revenues being distributed to cities, counties and schools.
Prompt Deed Recording
Senate Bill 141, Sen. Bill Hamrick (R-Carrollton)
GMA Position: Support
Contact: Marcia Rubensohn, mrubensohn@gmanet.com, (678) 686-6248
Status: Pending in the House Judiciary Committee.
SB 141 would require the purchaser of foreclosed property to file the deed with
the clerk of superior court. Prompt filing of the deed would make it easier for
local governments to determine who owns the property and to hold the owner
responsible for code violations.
? 1997 - 2009 Georgia Municipal Association
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