Section 48-16A-3. Definitions

   As used in this chapter, the term:

   (1) "Ad valorem tax" or "property tax" means any state or local ad valorem tax levied by any taxing jurisdiction.

   (2) "Administering governing authority" means the county governing authority in the case of state, county, and school ad valorem tax or the municipal governing authority in the case of municipal or independent school system ad valorem tax.

   (3) "Delinquent taxes" means an amount of ad valorem property tax, penalty, or interest which has been recorded as due and entered in the account records or any ledger maintained in the office of the local collection official, or which a taxpayer should reasonably expect to become due as a direct or indirect result of any pending or completed audit or assessment, which a taxpayer knows is being conducted by any state or local assessing authority.

   (4) "Final, due, and owing" means an assessment and ad valorem tax amount which has become final and is owed to the taxing jurisdiction due to either the expiration of the taxpayer's appeal rights or the rendition of a final determination of assessed value based upon an appeal.

   (5) "Governing authority" means that official or group of officials responsible for the governing of a taxing jurisdiction.

   (6) "Local collection official" means that local official responsible for the collection of ad valorem taxes.

   (7) "Taxing jurisdiction" means the state or any district within which a county or municipality, a county, independent, or area school system, or a consolidated city-county government or other political subdivision of the state exercises the power to levy or causes to be levied any ad valorem taxes to carry out its purposes.

   (8) "Taxpayer" means any individual, partnership, joint venture, association, corporation, receiver, trustee, guardian, executor, administrator, fiduciary, or any other entity of any kind subject to any ad valorem tax.

Code 1981, § 48-16A-3, enacted by Ga. L. 1994, p. 428, § 3.