Equal distribution of homestead option sales and use tax among counties and municipalities.

It is the intent of the General Assembly that the proceeds of the homestead option sales and use tax be distributed equitably to the counties and qualified municipalities such that the residents of a new incorporated municipality will continue to receive a benefit from that tax substantially equal to the benefit they would have received if the area covered by the municipality had not incorporated. The provisions of this part shall be liberally construed to effectuate such intent. History. Code 1981, § 48-8-101.1, enacted by Ga. L. 2007, p. 598, § 2/HB 264; Ga. L. 2015, p. 217, § 2/HB 215. JUDICIAL DECISIONS Amendment to Homestead Option Sales and Use Tax not payment of gratuity. — Trial court did not err in holding that Ga. L. 2007, p. 598, § 1 et seq., which amended the Homestead Option Sales and Use Tax (HOST) Act, O.C.G.A. § 48-8-100 et seq., was not the payment of a gratuity in violation of Ga. Const. 1983, Art. III, Sec. VI, Para. VI(a), because the equalization amount received by a city as a qualified municipality within a county special tax district clearly represented the share of homestead option sales and use tax capital outlay proceeds the legislature determined the city’s residents were entitled to receive; therefore, that share was not a gift in violation of Ga. Const. 1983, Art. III, Sec. VI, Para. VI(a); under the Homestead Option Sales and Use Tax Act, O.C.G.A. § 48-8-100 et seq., as amended, the city, just like the county, would act as an agent for the special tax district coterminous with the geographical boundaries of the county in expending HOST revenues for capital outlay projects that benefited the special tax district. DeKalb County v. Perdue, 286 Ga. 793, 692 S.E.2d 331, 2010 Ga. LEXIS 267 (2010).