Exclusive administration of tax by commissioner; identification of location where tax collected; manner of disbursement of proceeds.

(b) Each sales and use tax return remitting sales and use taxes collected under this part shall separately identify the location of each retail establishment at which any of the sales and use taxes remitted were collected and shall specify the amount of sales and the amount of taxes collected at each establishment for the period covered by the return in order to facilitate the determination by the commissioner that all sales and use taxes imposed by this part are collected and distributed according to situs of sale.

(c) The proceeds of the sales and use tax collected by the commissioner in each special district under this part shall be disbursed as soon as practicable after collection as follows:

(1) One percent of the amount collected shall be paid into the general fund of the state treasury in order to defray the costs of administration;

(2) Except for the percentage provided in paragraph (1) of this subsection and the amount determined under subsections (d) and (e) of this Code section, the remaining proceeds of the sales and use tax shall be distributed to the governing authority of the county whose geographical boundary is conterminous with that of the special district; provided, however, that a county and any qualified municipality shall be authorized by intergovernmental agreement to waive the equalization amount otherwise required under subsections (d) and (e) of this Code section and provide for a different distribution amount. In the event of such waiver, except for the percentage provided in paragraph (1) of this subsection, the remaining proceeds of the sales and use tax shall be distributed to the governing authority of the county whose geographical boundary is conterminous with that of the special district. As a condition precedent for the authority to levy the sales and use tax or to collect any proceeds from the tax authorized by this part for the year following the first complete calendar year in which it is levied and for all subsequent years except the year following the year in which the sales and use tax is terminated under Code Section 48-8-106, the county whose geographical boundary is conterminous with that of the special district shall, except as otherwise provided in subsection (c) of Code Section 48-8-102, expend such proceeds as follows:

(A) A portion of such proceeds shall be expended for the purpose of funding capital outlay projects as follows:

(i) The governing authority of the county whose geographical boundary is conterminous with that of the special district shall establish the capital factor which shall not exceed .200 and, for a county in which a qualified municipality is located, shall not be less than the level required by subsection (d) of this Code section; therefore, at a minimum, the county shall set the capital factor at a level that yields an amount of capital outlay proceeds that is equal to or greater than the sum of all equalization amounts due qualified municipalities and existing municipalities under subsection (e) of this Code section; and

(ii) Capital outlay projects shall be funded in an amount equal to the product of the capital factor multiplied by the net amount of the sales and use tax proceeds collected under this part during the previous calendar year, and this amount shall be referred to as capital outlay proceeds in subsections (d) and (e) of this Code section;

(B) A portion of such proceeds shall be expended for the purpose of funding services within the special district equal to the revenue lost to the homestead exemption as provided in this Code section as follows:

(i) The homestead factor shall be calculated by multiplying the quantity 1.000 minus the capital factor times an amount equal to the net amount of sales and use tax collected in the special district pursuant to this part for the previous calendar year, and then dividing by the taxes levied for county purposes on only that portion of the county tax digest that represents net assessments on qualified homestead property after all other homestead exemptions have been applied, rounding the result to three decimal places;

(ii) If the homestead factor is less than or equal to 1.000, the amount of homestead exemption created under this part on qualified homestead property shall be equal to the product of the homestead factor multiplied times the net assessment of each qualified homestead remaining after all other homestead exemptions have been applied; and

(iii) If the homestead factor is greater than 1.000, the homestead exemption created by this part on qualified homestead property shall be equal to the net assessment of each homestead remaining after all other homestead exemptions have been applied; and

(C) If any of such proceeds remain following the distribution provided for in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of this paragraph and subsections (d) and (e) of this Code section:

(i) The millage rate levied for county purposes shall be rolled back in an amount equal to such excess divided by the net taxable digest for county purposes after deducting all homestead exemptions including the exemption under this part; and

(ii) In the event the rollback created by division (i) of this subparagraph exceeds the millage rate for county purposes, the governing authority of the county whose boundary is conterminous with the special district shall be authorized to expend the surplus funds for funding all or any portion of those services which are to be provided by such governing authorities pursuant to and in accordance with Article IX, Section II, Paragraph III of the Constitution of this state.

(d) (1) The commissioner shall distribute to the governing authority of each qualified municipality located in the special district a share of the capital outlay proceeds calculated as provided in this subsection and subsection (e) of this Code section which proceeds shall be expended for the purpose of funding capital outlay projects of such municipality.

(2) Both the tax commissioner and the governing authority for the county in which a qualified municipality is located shall cooperate with and assist the commissioner in the calculation of the equalization amounts under subsection (e) of this Code section and shall, on or before July 1 of each year, provide to the commissioner and the governing authority of each qualified municipality written certification of the following:

(A) The capital factor set by the county for the current calendar year; provided, however, that the capital factor may not exceed 0.200;

(B) The total amount, if any, due to be paid to existing municipalities from the capital outlay proceeds as required by any intergovernmental agreement between the county and such municipalities;

(C) The incorporated county millage rate in each qualified municipality;

(D) The net homestead digest for each qualified municipality;

(E) The total homestead digest; and

(F) The unincorporated county millage rate. If the tax commissioner and the governing authority of the county fail to provide such certification on or before July 1, the commissioner shall not distribute to such county any additional proceeds of the sales and use tax collected after July 1 unless and until such certification is provided.

(3) The commissioner shall then calculate the equalization amount due each qualified municipality based on the certifications provided by the tax commissioner and the governing authority of the county and pay such amount to the governing authority of each qualified municipality in six equal monthly payments as soon as practicable during or after each of the last six months of the current calendar year. In the event an existing municipality that has entered into an intergovernmental agreement with a county at any time before January 1, 2007, to receive capital outlay proceeds of the homestead option sales and use tax and such intergovernmental agreement has become or does become null and void for any reason, such existing municipality shall be treated under this part the same as if it were a qualified municipality as defined in paragraph (4) of Code Section 48-8-101 and therefore receive payment of equalization amounts under this part as provided for under this part. The commissioner shall distribute to the governing authority of the county each month the net sales and use tax remaining after payment of equalization amounts to the qualified municipalities.

(e) (1) As used in this subsection, the term:

(A) “Equalization amount” means for a qualified municipality the product of the equalization millage times the net homestead digest for that qualified municipality.

(B) “Equalization millage” means for each qualified municipality the product of the homestead factor calculated pursuant to division (c)(2)(B)(i) of this Code section times the difference between the unincorporated county millage rate and the incorporated county millage rate for that qualified municipality.

(C) “Incorporated county millage rate” means the millage rate for all ad valorem taxes for county purposes levied by the county in each of the qualified municipalities in the county.

(D) “Net homestead digest” means for each qualified municipality the total net assessed value of all qualified homestead property located in that portion of the qualified municipality located in the county remaining after all other homestead exemptions are applied.

(E) “Total homestead digest” means the total net assessed value of all qualified homestead property located in the county remaining after all other homestead exemptions are applied.

(F) “Unincorporated county millage rate” means the millage rate for all ad valorem taxes for county purposes levied by the county in the unincorporated areas of the county.

(2) For illustration purposes, a hypothetical example of the calculation of the equalization amount is provided below. First, calculate the homestead factor in accordance with division (c)(2)(B)(i) of this Code section as follows: (A) Capital factor certified by county as required by subsection (d) of this Code section 0.150 (B) Net amount of sales and use tax collected in the special district pursuant to this part for the previous calendar year $50 million (C) Taxes levied for county purposes on only that portion of the county tax digest that represents net assessments on qualified homestead property after all other homestead exemptions have been applied $100 million (D) Calculation of homestead factor using figures above = [(1-.0150)($50 million/$100 million)] .425 Next, calculate the equalization amount in accordance with paragraph (1) of this subsection as follows: (E) Unincorporated county millage rate 15.0 mills (F) Minus the incorporated county millage rate for qualified municipality ‘‘Y’’ (10.0 mills) Difference: = 5.0 mills (G) Times homestead factor (calculated above) x .425 (H) Equals the equalization millage: = 2.125 mills (I) Times net homestead digest for qualified municipality ‘‘Y’’ $200 million (J) Equals the equalization amount payable to municipality ‘‘Y’’ $425,000.00 Click to view

(3) In the event the total amount payable in a calendar year to all existing municipalities as certified by the county pursuant to subparagraph (d)(2)(B) of this Code section plus the total equalization amount payable to all qualified municipalities in the special district exceeds the capital outlay proceeds calculated based on a maximum capital factor of 0.200, the commissioner shall pay to the governing authority of each qualified municipality a share of such proceeds calculated as follows:

(A) Determine the capital outlay proceeds based on a maximum capital factor of 0.200;

(B) Subtract the amount certified by the county as payable to existing municipalities pursuant to subparagraph (d)(2)(B) of this Code section;

(C) The remaining amount equals the portion of the capital outlay proceeds that may be used by the commissioner to pay equalization amounts to qualified municipalities. The commissioner shall calculate each qualified municipality’s share of such remaining amount by dividing the net homestead digest for each qualified municipality by the total homestead digest for all municipalities.

(4) In the event the incorporated county millage rate for a qualified municipality is greater than the unincorporated county millage rate, no payment shall be due from the governing authority of the qualified municipality to the governing authority of the county.

(5) In the event the amount of capital outlay proceeds exceeds the sum of the equalization amounts due all qualified municipalities plus the total amount certified under subparagraph (d)(2)(B) of this Code section as due all existing municipalities, the commissioner shall distribute to each qualified municipality a portion of such excess equal to the net homestead digest for such municipality divided by the total homestead digest.

(6) If any qualified municipality is located partially in the county then only that portion so located shall be considered in the calculations contained in this subsection. History. Code 1981, § 48-8-104, enacted by Ga. L. 1995, p. 655, § 1; Ga. L. 1997, p. 1, § 4; Ga. L. 2007, p. 309, § 7/HB 219; Ga. L. 2007, p. 598, § 3/HB 264; Ga. L. 2009, p. 8, § 48/SB 46; Ga. L. 2010, p. 662, § 23/HB 1221; Ga. L. 2015, p. 217, § 2/HB 215. JUDICIAL DECISIONS Arrangement between county and city allowable. — Court of Appeals erred in finding that the Homestead Option Sales Tax Act (HOST), O.C.G.A. § 48-8-100 et seq., did not allow a county to disburse funds to various cities in order to facilitate the capital outlay requirement under O.C.G.A. § 48-8-104(c)(2)(A) as HOST was implemented under the “special district” provision of Ga. Const. 1983, Art. IX, Sec. II, Para. VI, and as it was not a “county tax,” it was subject to such an arrangement; however, the intergovernmental agreement between the county and cities had to be authorized under Ga. Const. 1983, Art. IX, Sec. III, Para. I in order to be valid. City of Decatur v. DeKalb County, 277 Ga. 292, 589 S.E.2d 561, 2003 Ga. LEXIS 934 (2003). 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).