This report presents observations by Georgia’s local officials regarding impediments to achieving quality growth and offers suggestions for overcoming them. The Quality Growth Task Force is comprised of representatives of ACCG and GMA from urban, suburban, and rural areas of the state of Georgia. They were chosen because of their interest in, and commitment to quality growth.
The Georgia Department of Audits uses an annual Sales Ratio Study to measure compliance with the state requirement for counties to maintain an equalized tax digest for state education funding. This study was released last month. It is important for all counties to review their ratio and understand the impact it may have on the county’s budget. Counties also have up to 30 days to appeal their ratio if they feel it is not accurate.
E-Verify is an Internet based system operated by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in partnership with the Social Security Administration (SSA) that allows participating employers to electronically verify the employment eligibility of their newly hired employees.
Georgia communities can now take advantage of lower interest rates for environmental infrastructure projects that conserve water. The Georgia Environmental Finance Authority’s (GEFA) Executive Director Kevin Clark today announced that the GEFA board of directors approved a 1 percent interest rate reduction on all water conservation loans made from the Georgia Fund, the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) and the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF). Depending on the fund source, interest rates for qualifying projects could be as low as 2 percent.
Counties are responsible for maintaining many vital records in the community. This responsibility often results in many questions, and the Georgia Archives can provide guidance and assistance from professional archivists. For a list of other services provided by the Georgia Archives, click her
First published in 1994, Georgia County Snapshots provides brief descriptions of the state's 159 counties and has been used by teachers, students, business leaders, elected officials and others for various research and presentation purposes. It has become one of the most popular and most requested publications of the Georgia Department of Community Affairs (DCA).
In 2009, the Georgia General Assembly created the Georgia Transportation Infrastructure Bank (GTIB) to serve as a revolving loan fund for local government transportation projects.
ACCG has developed a detailed overview and model ordinance for counties for the implementation of House Bill 256, which changes the method that 9-1-1 fees are assessed on prepaid wireless cellular phones and service and sets forth a method for distribution of the fees to local governments.
ACCG has developed a detailed overview and model resolution to assist counties in implementing Senate Bill 157, which enables counties and cities to adopt local solid waste management plans via local ordinance rather than going through the 5 and 10-year updating requirements set by the Department of Community Affairs.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has mandated that radios transition from 25 KHz channels to 12.5 kHz channels by January 1, 2013. This mandate, commonly referred to as “narrowbanding,” affects public safety and other government radio systems operating at frequencies between 150 and 512 MHz (VHF and UHF) throughout Georgia and the rest of the nation. Existing systems operating in these bands may require modification to equipment or in some cases complete replacement of system equipment to meet the new federal standard. There is no federal funding currently available to assist with compliance.
The National Association of Counties (NACo) has created an online game specifically related to county government called, “Counties Work.” The game lets students learn about county government by serving as a county official with the tasks of providing services, dealing with citizen requests, setting and raising revenues and working within a budget. The game is available at no cost at www.icivics.com.
Information regarding the Property Tax Conference held on September 11, 2008 entitled "Towards a Better Understanding of Property Taxes Proposed Policies."
The Association County Commissioners of Georgia and the Georgia Municipal Association will hold joint training sessions on Georgia’s Illegal Immigration Reform and Enforcement Act (House Bill 87) for counties and cities.
The Department of Revenue has launched a new Sales Tax Distribution Report on its website that will allow every local jurisdiction (county, city, school system) the ability to identify its monthly sales tax distribution amount from January 1999 to the present, Commissioner Bart L. Graham announced today.
Governor Nathan Deal has issued the formal call for the Special Session on Reapportionment. The session will begin on Monday, August 15. The Governor did include two additional issues besides reapportionment in the call notice. One is consideration of altering the T-SPLOST election date from the July primary to the general election date of November 8, 2012. The other issue to be considered is the extension of the Governor’s earlier suspension of Georgia’s gas tax which took place on July 1.
The United States Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) issued a press release on August 30, 2011 proposing to eliminate the unfunded mandate that all street signs must be replaced and upgraded to a higher retro-reflectivity standard by 2015. Instead, signs will only have to be upgraded to the new standard after the useful life of a sign expires.
