TAX NEWS - JUNE 2010

Georgia Tax: Tax vote to appear on 2012 ballot

03 June 2010 -- Yesterday, Governor Sonny Perdue signed legislation signifying over three years' worth of work from local transit activists, business leaders, and environmental activists in bettering Georgia's transportation system to keep up with explosive growth.

As a result of this legislation, Georgia voters will decide in 2012 whether to embark on programs and projects to improve roads, bridges, and public transportation options throughout the state.

In recent years, drivers throughout Georgia metropolitan areas have had to deal with worsening congestion and unreliable public transit options which have forced longer and longer commutes and rising pollution throughout Georgia cities, most notable on the arteries leading into downtown Atlanta.

The state will be divided into twelve districts for transportation, including one for metropolitan Atlanta. Each region, in July 2012, will vote on a 1% sales tax which will go toward funding transportation projects upon approval.

In the interim, there are some steps to take by local entities:

MARTA, Atlanta's public transit system in Fulton and Dekalb counties, will be able to temporarily spend more than currently allowed under current law. As of now, it is limited to spending half of its sales tax revenue on operating costs, which has forced the agency to deeply cut service.

Clayton County, south of Atlanta, will vote on whether to join MARTA in July 2010. Clayton County's service, C-Tran, was folded in March due to budgetary problems. Other counties could also hold votes to join a universal system that have declined it in the past, such as Cobb County (NW of Atlanta) or Gwinnett County (NE of Atlanta).

The governor's office and leaders from each of the 12 transportation districts will put together a list of desired projects that would be funded by the 1% tax to be evaluated by the new gubernatorial administration slated to take office January 2011. Whether this means MARTA expansion, the Beltline, high-speed rail for Macon, or road transportation remains to to be seen.

It will be interesting to see what projects come about and if the region, not to mention the whole state, will go along with plan. Only regions approving the tax would be subject to the tax or have projects potentially built, but given the longstanding transportation problems in Georgia, I would doubt anyone would want to be left out of this opportunity.