Section 48-8-104. Exclusive administration of tax by commissioner; identification of location where tax collected; manner of disbursement of proceeds

   (a) The sales and use tax levied pursuant to this article shall be exclusively administered and collected by the commissioner for the use and benefit of each county whose geographical boundary is conterminous with that of a special district. Such administration and collection shall be accomplished in the same manner and subject to the same applicable provisions, procedures, and penalties provided in Article 1 of this chapter except that the sales and use tax provided in this article shall be applicable to sales of motor fuels as prepaid local tax as that term is defined in Code Section 48-8-2; provided, however, that all moneys collected from each taxpayer by the commissioner shall be applied first to such taxpayer's liability for taxes owed the state. Dealers shall be allowed a percentage of the amount of the sales and use tax due and accounted for and shall be reimbursed in the form of a deduction in submitting, reporting, and paying the amount due if such amount is not delinquent at the time of payment. The deduction shall be at the rate and subject to the requirements specified under subsections (b) through (f) of Code Section 48-8-50.

(b) Each sales and use tax return remitting sales and use taxes collected under this article 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 article 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 article 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 article 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 article 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 article 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 article 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 article 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 article; 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 article 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 article as provided for under this article. 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                             0.150                        
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                                                        
  (B) Net amount of sales and                    $50 million                  
  use tax collected in the                                                    
  special district pursuant                                                   
  to this article for the                                                     
  previous calendar year                                                      
  (C) Taxes levied for county                    $100 million                 
  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                                                
  (D) Calculation of                             .425                         
  homestead factor using                                                      
  figures above =                                                             
  [(1-.0150)($50                                                              
  million/$100 million)]                                                     
Next, calculate the                              15.0 mills                   
equalization amount in                                                        
accordance with paragraph (1)                                                 
of this subsection as follows:                                                
  (E) Unincorporated county                                                   
  millage rate                                                                
  (F)  Minus the incorporated     Difference:    (10.0 mills)                 
  county millage rate for                                                     
  qualified municipality "Y"                                                  
                                                 = 5.0 mills                  
  (G) Times homestead factor                     x .425                       
  (calculated above)                                                          
  (H) Equals the equalization                    = 2.125 mills                
  millage:                                                                    
  (I) Times net homestead                        $200 million                 
  digest for qualified                                                        
  municipality "Y"                                                            
  (J) Equals the equalization                    $425,000.00                  
  amount payable to                                                           
  municipality "Y"                                                            

   (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.

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.