Well, it is changing again (and this is still in the House Version, we don’t have a clue what the Senate might do).  BUT!  I must say, the current version in the House is good for Hawkinsville.   The School’s ESPLOST will now be unaffected!    No losses for the school system in the current version. The only stipulation is that taxes that are received from Motor Fuels, MUST be spent in the area of Transportation, but the definition is pretty broad.   The City and County’s SPLOST (and Future SPLOSTS) are unaffected, with only the same stipulation – Motor Fuel taxes must be spent on Transportation.   The City and County’s LOST taxes will see an INCREASE in revenue.  Although Motor Fuels are being removed, the rest of the sales tax base will be taxed at 1.25% rather than 1%, so it will be a NET gain to the combined CITY/COUNTY of almost $80,000.

Hotel/Motel Taxes are also being slightly adjusted upward in the current version.  I don’t really understand why.

And as mentioned in an earlier post, the current version of this bill will also FORCE a larger state allocation of LMIG (road resurfacing money).  Although we have to match (30%) of the LMIG allocation, this WILL allow us to resurface additional miles in the years to come.

So….    Although the fat lady has not even gotten up to sing yet, the current version IS good for Hawkinsville.

(I am NOT making any such overall statements about whether this bill is good for GEORGIANS or not.  Any way you slice it, it IS a tax increase on gasoline purchases in Georgia).

Shelly