The stage has been set for the issue that will draw most of the attention in this legislative session: revising Georgia’s transportation taxes.
The House leadership finally introduced a bill last week, HB 170, that will be the starting point for a debate certain to last all the way to adjournment on the 40th day.
Supporters of the bill, who include Gov. Nathan Deal and Speaker David Ralston, call it a “bold” plan to raise $1 billion a year to maintain the state’s transportation facilities.
“This is a bill which we believe will lead our state into the 21st century,” Ralston declared.
Those who would lose the most under the proposed legislation — local governments — complain the legislature wants to take away more than $500 million in tax money that rightfully belongs to them. Those are essentially the battle lines that the two sides have established.
There’s no question that HB 170 would dramatically revise the motor fuel tax charged on the retail sale of gasoline. Currently, that levy includes an excise tax of 7.5 cents per gallon, a state sales tax of 4 percent and, in most places, a local sales tax of 3 or 4 percent.
Under the proposed bill, that would all be converted to a flat excise tax of 29.2 cents per gallon. The excise tax would be indexed so that it increases as the rate of inflation and the fuel efficiency of vehicles increases.
via Tom Crawford: Georgia legislators go for a ‘tax grab’ with transportation plan.
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