“The Only Thing That Is Constant Is Change ” – Heraclitus

― That quote fits really well into the legislative process.   HB 170 – the House version of the transportation bill, as introduced was very UNFRIENDLY to local governments.   (Read my earlier post for full details).   But city’s around the state complained to their respective representatives.  Many cities and counties were passing resolutions asking their representatives to vote NO to House Bill 170.   People were screaming, cussing, and complaining.   But our representatives LISTENED to us, and the current version of this bill shows that.

As it stands now….

The House has made significant efforts to address the concerns expressed by local elected officials about the original bill’s impact on local revenues. HB 170 no longer includes language that would give a county governing sole authority to impose, or not impose, a 6¢ per gallon local excise tax. With the local excise tax option removed, so too is the local distribution formula based on DOT’s Local Maintenance & Improvement Grant (LMIG) program.

HB 170 as it passed the House Transportation Committee would do the following:

• beginning July 1, 2015, LOST, HOST and Atlanta’s MOST would no longer be collected on the sale of motor fuel;
• beginning July 1, 2015, the tax rate for LOST, HOST and MOST would be adjusted to 1.25% from the current 1% rate;
• current and future SPLOSTs and ESPLOSTs would continue to be imposed at a rate of 1%;
• current and future SPLOSTs and ESPLOSTs would continue to be collected on motor fuel except that diesel would no longer be taxed beginningJuly 1, 2015;
• for future SPLOSTs and EPLOSTS, any revenue collected from the sale of motor fuel would be required to be spent on transportation needs, which for cities and counties is defined broadly to include transit, rail and airports, and for schools includes the purchase of fuel and buses.

The House Transportation Committee version of HB 170 is a good faith attempt to make cities, counties and schools whole and to use current sales tax agreements for the distribution of revenue. While House leaders are looking for ways to reach the goal of making local governments whole in the aggregate, as with any significant change in what can be taxed as well as tax rates, some jurisdictions would see increases in tax revenue while others would experience a decrease.

In our community, the breakdown is as follows.   (assuming future sales of motor fuels and other taxable products in our community remain somewhat stable with what 2014 saw).

LOST IMPACT:
City of Hawkinsville – Current = $421,455    Under HB170 = $444,800 (Net increase of $23,345)
County – Current =$421,455   Under HB170 = $444,800 (Net Increase of $23,345)

SPLOST IMPACT:
City of Hawkinsville – Current = $421,455    Under HB170 = $411,200 (Net decrease of $23,345)
County – Current =$421,455   Under HB170 = $411,200 (Net decrease of $23,345)

ESPLOST IMPACT
Pulaski County School System – Current = $842,911 Under HB170 = $822,400 (Net decrease of $20,510)

Total Community Impact is a net increase of revenue of a little over $5,600

Another benefit to us locally is that the GDOT is legally mandated to re-distribute at least 10% of its budget allocation for LOCAL improvements (know as LMIG – Local Maintenance and Improvement Grants.   Last year the county received some $200,000 while the city received some $45,000 (to be matched 30%).    Since the GDOT budget will rise SIGNIFICANTLY due to this HB170, our city and county should be receiving somewhere between a 50% and 100% increase in our LMIG allocations.   This should result in many more miles of roads within our city that will be repaved during the 2016 fiscal year!

So, originally, the bill was BAD…..   We complained as did others…..   Our representatives listened and the current version of the bill is palatable.

Now lets wait and see what the Senate version of the bill looks like.

Shelly Berryhill
Hawkinsville City Commission
shelly@hawkinsvillega.net