Georgia County Government - December 2008 - (Page 14)

OUTLOOK continued from page 13 proceeds back to local taxing jurisdictions. This legislation would apply to “unprocessable” tax returns, returns the Department of Revenue cannot determine what jurisdiction the money goes to for lack of information. When the Department cannot “process,” and distribute tax proceeds to appropriate taxing jurisdictions, not knowing where the monies were collected, these returns get held as “unidentifiable” in state coffers. Since accounting standards require the state to identify every dollar on every return in order to disperse such tax proceeds, when they are pronounced “unidentifiable” after 90 days, the state simply holds the funds belonging to local taxing jurisdictions. A pro rata formula for local sales tax proceeds granted by the General Assembly in O.C.G.A. § 48-8-67 noted the need for a fair way to redistribute the local monies to the appropriate taxing jurisdiction levied by consent of the local voters for local purposes. Lifting the sunset provision on this law would allow the state to continue to disperse these local sales tax funds collected on behalf of local governments and schools. The pro rata formula also allows DOR to advertise semi-annually the department’s efficient processing of returns – to the benefit of the taxpayers – as distributing over 99.5 percent of state collections and returns. The unidentifiable sales tax pro rata allocation was a sensible solution to distributing “unprocessable returns,” Mueller advises. “But between May 1998 and October 2007, state and local government returns deemed “unprocessable” resulted in allocations of $615,620,557 of including $243,739,713 distributed back to local taxing jurisdictions.” Natural Resources and Environment According to Associate Legislative Director for Natural Resources and Env i ron ment Todd E dwa rds, t he main focus of the Natural Resources and Environment Committee continues to be development of the landmark Statewide Water Management Plan, passed into law in the 2008 session with, as ACCG had hoped, a framework is in place for inclusion of local government representation on regional bodies that will oversee implementation of the plan. Most importantly for 2009, ACCG advocates that the state appropriate an adequate amount of funding for the water monitoring necessary to conduct the regional planning. “While it remains a high ACCG priority to establish a long-term dedicated source of funding for water planning, this will be an uphill fight as the General Assembly most often opposes having its hands tied during the appropriations process,” Edwards points out. 4931 Riverside Drive Macon, Georgia 31210 478-474-9092 Proudly Supplying Quality Asphalt Products and Pavement Solutions to Georgia Counties Since 1955 Visit www.reevescc.com for locations in your area. 14 GEORGIA COUNTY GOVERNMENT http://www.secement.org http://www.maai.net http://www.reevescc.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Georgia County Government - December 2008

Georgia County Government - December 2008 Contents President's Message County Matters 2009 Legislative Forecast: ACCG's Platform for the Coming Legislative Session ACCG Policy Staff 2008 Legislative Awards Honor Georgia Lawmakers Cell Towers and Local Governments Oglethorpe Power Plans Biomass Electric Facilities Georgia's Grand Old Courthouses: Dawson County Extension News: Biofuels Development Research Corner: Implementing a Record Retention Policy County Parade Index of Advertisers/Advertiser.com

Georgia County Government - December 2008

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