Section 48-5-345. Receipt for digest and order authorizing use; assessment if deviation from proper assessment ratio

   (a) (1) Upon the determination by the commissioner that a county tax digest is in proper form, that the property therein that is under appeal is within the limits of Code Section 48-5-304, and that the digest is accompanied by all documents, statistics, and certifications required by the commissioner, the commissioner shall issue a receipt for the digest and enter an order authorizing the use of said digest for the collection of taxes.

   (2) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to prevent the superior court from allowing the new digest to be used as the basis for the temporary collection of taxes under Code Section 48-5-310.

(b) Each year the commissioner shall determine if the overall assessment ratio for each county, as computed by the state auditor under paragraph (8) of subsection (b) of Code Section 48-5-274, deviates substantially from the proper assessment ratio as provided in Code Section 48-5-7, and if such deviation exists, the commissioner shall assess against the county governing authority additional state tax in an amount equal to the difference between the amount the state's levy, as prescribed in Code Section 48-5-8, would have produced if the digest had been at the proper assessment ratio and the amount the digest that is actually used for collection purposes will produce. The commissioner shall notify the county governing authority annually of the amount so assessed and this amount shall be due and payable not later than five days after all appeals have been exhausted or the time for appeal has expired or the final date for payment of taxes in the county, whichever comes latest, and shall bear interest at the rate specified in Code Section 48-2-40 from the due date.

Code 1981, § 48-5-345, enacted by Ga. L. 1988, p. 1763, § 1; Ga. L. 1991, p. 728, § 4; Ga. L. 1992, p. 2494, § 6; Ga. L. 2000, p. 1683, § 7; Ga. L. 2012, p. 694, § 2/HB 729.