Section 48-8-103. Submission to voters to determine imposition of tax

   (a) Whenever the governing authority of any county whose geographic boundary is conterminous with that of the special district wishes to submit to the electors of the special district the question of whether the sales and use tax authorized by Code Section 48-8-102 shall be imposed, any such governing authority shall notify the election superintendent of the county whose geographical boundary is conterminous with that of the special district by forwarding to the superintendent a copy of a resolution of the governing authority calling for a referendum election. Upon receipt of the resolution, 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. Such election shall only be conducted on the date of and in conjunction with a referendum provided for by local Act on the question of whether to impose a homestead exemption within such county and based on the amount of proceeds from the sales and use tax levied and collected pursuant to this article. 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 statement which shall precede the ballot question specified in this subsection and the ballot question specified by the required local Act:
   "NOTICE TO ELECTORS: Unless BOTH the homestead exemption AND the retail homestead option sales and use tax are approved, then neither the exemption nor the sales and use tax shall become effective."

Such statement shall be followed by the following:
   "( ) YES Shall a retail homestead option sales and use tax of 1 percent be 
   levied within the special
    ( ) NO district within                  County for the purposes of funding capital 
   outlay projects and of funding services to replace revenue lost to an 
   additional homestead exemption of up to 100 percent of the assessed value 
   of homesteads from county taxes for county purposes?"

Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the statement, ballot question, and local Act ballot question referred to in this subsection shall precede any and all other ballot questions calling for the levy or imposition of any other sales and use tax 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 and approving the local Act providing such homestead exemption, then the tax shall be levied in accordance with this article; 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 Code Section 48-8-102 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 by Code Section 48-8-102 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.

Code 1981, § 48-8-103, enacted by Ga. L. 1995, p. 655, § 1; Ga. L. 1997, p. 1, § 3.