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(a) Whenever a petition is filed with the election superintendent of any county whose geographical boundary is conterminous with that of the special district and such petition is signed by at least 10 percent of the electors registered to vote in the last general election directing such election superintendent to submit to the electors of the special district the question of whether the sales and use tax authorized by this part shall be imposed, the election superintendent shall determine the validity of such petition within 60 days of its being filed. In the event the election superintendent determines that such petition is valid, it shall be the duty of the election superintendent to issue the call for an election for the purpose of submitting the question of the imposition of the sales and use tax to the voters of the special district for approval or rejection. The election superintendent shall issue the call and shall conduct the election on a date and in the manner authorized under Code Section 21-2-540. The election superintendent shall cause the date and purpose of the election to be published once a week for two weeks immediately preceding the date of the election in the official organ of such county. The ballot shall have written or printed thereon the following ballot question: “( ) YES Shall the homestead option sales and use tax ( ) NO be suspended within the special district within County and a revised homestead option sales and use tax be levied for the purpose of reducing the ad valorem property tax millage rates levied by county and municipal governments on homestead properties, with 99 percent of such tax being used to roll back ad valorem property tax millage rates?” Click to view Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the ballot question referred to in this subsection shall precede any and all other ballot questions which are to appear on the same ballot.
(b) All persons desiring to vote in favor of levying the sales and use tax shall vote “Yes,” and those persons opposed to levying the tax shall vote “No.” If more than one-half of the votes cast are in favor of levying the tax, then the tax shall be levied in accordance with this part; otherwise, the sales and use tax may not be levied, and the question of the imposition of the sales and use tax may not again be submitted to the voters of the special district until after 24 months immediately following the month in which the election was held. It shall be the duty of the election superintendent to hold and conduct such elections under the same rules and regulations as govern special elections. It shall be the superintendent’s further duty to canvass the returns, declare the result of the election, and certify the result to the Secretary of State and to the commissioner. The expense of the election shall be borne by the county whose geographical boundary is conterminous with that of the special district holding the election.
(c) If the imposition of the sales and use tax provided in this part is approved in a referendum election as provided by subsections (a) and (b) of this Code section, the governing authority of the county whose geographical boundary is conterminous with that of the special district shall adopt a resolution during the first 30 days following the certification of the result of the election imposing the sales and use tax authorized in this part on behalf of the county whose geographical boundary is conterminous with that of the special district. The resolution shall be effective on the first day of the next succeeding calendar quarter which begins more than 80 days after the adoption of the resolution. With respect to services which are billed on a regular monthly basis, however, the resolution shall become effective with the first regular billing period coinciding with or following the otherwise effective date of the resolution. A certified copy of the resolution shall be forwarded to the commissioner so that it will be received within five days after its adoption. History. Code 1981, § 48-8-109.18, enacted by Ga. L. 2020, p. 674, § 1/HB 1102.