Capitol Update Week 5 - Title Fees and the Tennessee River

This week at the Cap

After over six hours in Ways & Means Committee hearings, the House passed HB 80 by Representative Tom Rice modifying the new auto Title Fees that take effect March 1, 2013. The revisions take into account concerns voiced by those in the auto leasing industry as well as those that are avid auto enthusiasts and collectors of older and hobby automobiles. HB 80 passed 159-4 and is now pending in the Senate Finance Committee.

Frequently Asked Questions regarding the new Title Fee and other helpful information is available at the Gwinnett County Tax Commissioner's webpage. 

The House also passed HR 4 seeking to resolve the Georgia / Tennessee boundary dispute and allow Georgia access to the Tennessee River for drinking water and other purposes. The Tennessee River generates fifteen times the water flow as the Chattahoochee River and I believe is our only realistic 100-year water solution.

   

Next Week

The pace of proposed legislation presented on the House floor for a vote will begin to quicken next week. On Tuesday, the House will consider the following bills:

HB 35

Firearms; carrying and possession of by an administrator within a school safety zone

HB 71
Georgia Municipal Employees Benefit System; total percentage of investments permissible in real estate investments; increase

HB 122
Sexual Offender Registration Review Board; review and utilize records of Board of Pardons and Paroles in making assessments; authorize - I am a co-sponsor.

HB 123
Parent and Teacher Empowerment Act; enact - sometimes called Parent Trigger

HB 124
Local elections; votes cast for disapproval of Sunday alcohol sales by retailers shall not nullify prior election results; provide - I am the author. 

HB 160
Mortgages; vacant and foreclosed real property registries; revise provisions

HB 178
Georgia Pain Management Clinic Act; enact

HB 235
Optometrists; revise definition of optometry; remove certain exemption  

HB 290
Labor; employees use sick leave for care of immediate family members; allow  

In Committee

HB 159 my Property Protection Bill will be heard for the first time before the Public Finance and Policy Subcommittee of Ways & Means. For a detailed summary of the bill that would prohibit billing non-tax fees on your property tax bill click here.

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Capitol Update Week 4 - AFY 2013 Budget, Committee Meetings

This week at the Cap

Committee hearings consumed the majority of the week at the Georgia General Assembly. On Friday, the House approved HB 105 the Amended FY 2013 Budget maintaining the overall amount at $19.3 billion. The mid-year budget provides a $172.7 million Education adjustment and reduces revenues by $26.3 million to reflect estimated 3.9% state growth. The AFY 2013 budget passed 145 - 18.         

   

In Committee this week

HB 124 a Sunday Sales fix that I authored was favorably reported out of the Regulated Industries Committee as was HB 132 moving the Boards of Pharmacy and Dentistry to the Department of Community Health rather than the Secretary of State.

HB 159 my Property Protection Bill was read for the first time in Ways & Means and assigned to the Public Finance and Policy Subcommittee. For a detailed summary of the bill that would prohibit billing non-tax fees on your property tax bill click here.

As always, I remain appreciative that you allow me to serve as your state Representative. I encourage you to contact me with any comments or questions you have about the legislation being considered at the state Capitol.  You can reach me at my Capitol office at 404-656-0254 or on my cell at 404-966-5804 or via email at brett.harrell@house.ga.gov. 

  

 Thank you again for allowing me to serve as your representative,

 Brett Harrell  

2013 Capitol Update - Week 2 - Budget Hearings, Guns, Vintage Cars

Budget Hearings

This week the House and Senate Appropriation Committees met in joint hearings for budget presentations from the Governor and leaders of state agencies. Though once again, the proposed state budget is lean, with spending at 17% less per capita than a decade ago, and includes cuts to various programs, the overall budget is proposed to grow approximately 2.6% from $19.3 billion to $19.8 billion in state funds.

Additional funding is included for education – pre-K program expansion, fully-funding the Quality Basic Education formula, and salary increases for teachers based on training and experience. The Governor’s proposal includes $50 million to continue Georgia’s commitment to expanding the Port of Savannah and $85 million for water and transportation infrastructure projects.

The Governor’s proposal also includes $246 million in additional Medicaid funding and a proposal to permit the Department of Community Health to administer a Hospital Provider Fee to leverage federal dollars in this program.

The state’s “Rainy Day Fund” or reserve fund is slowly returning to a more reasonable level and is now $378 million. Georgia maintains its’ Triple A bond rating and administers state government with 9,000 fewer employees than five years ago.

I am carefully reviewing the budget document and information on the various state programs. While I appreciate that the rate of growth has slowed this year versus last, I remain concerned that certain programs are on a course that may not be sustainable.

I welcome your input and comments on how Georgia spends and invests your tax dollars.

Second Amendment / Gun Rights

I am receiving numerous calls and emails regarding protecting our liberties with regard to individual gun ownership and one’s ability to carry the firearm of their choosing. Please be assured I am a strong supporter of both our U.S. and Georgia Constitutional rights with regard to firearms. I will support legislation that protects and expands those rights.

Taxing Vintage / Hobby Vehicles

I am also hearing from you on HB 80 that purports to levy an ad valorem tax on vintage and hobby vehicles. As one that hopes to be the heir of a fully restored 1955 Thunderbird, will oppose efforts to increase taxation on these vehicles.

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Stormwater schemes appetite outpaces revenue

Regrettably, my February 2008 comedic blog on Snellville’s implementation of a Stormwater Utility has come true and more horrific than I had anticipated. This horror story became worse at 7 p.m. on Friday night, June 29, when the City met to adopt a new budget fueling the monster’s appetite to greater heights of taxpayer carnage.

With the news from the U.S. Supreme Court this week that mandated health care coverage is indeed a tax, not a penalty or fee, we readily understand, as we always have, that mandated stormwater is also a tax, not a fee. So, the politicians that set up this segregated fund, established the tax, while promising not to raise your taxes treated you little better than the Feds. At least the Feds don’t threaten to lien your home, as the city does, if you fail to buy health insurance – at least not yet.

As anticipated at inception and suggested in my prior article on this subject, administrative costs are excessive, yet the City bureaucracy fails to efficiently execute the improvement program presented to justify the tax in the first place. The scare tactics used to justify this monstrosity packaged as an immediate need for $1.9 million in repairs have not been completed, nor has the City crumbled as a result. As feared, the program is growing as evident by the City's planned transfer of nearly $100,000 more from the General Fund in addition to the $530,000+ per year collected in the Stormwater Utility fund this year to feed the growing monster. [More reasonable heads prevailed and prevented the transfer, not the growth.]

Even more frightening is my prediction for where this monster will feed four years from now. I firmly believe the next sequel to this horror story will be a stand-alone Stormwater Department in the City with a Director level bureaucrat and full-time staff focused solely on spending those tax dollars funneled needlessly into their department. The Department will require more people, more benefits, more equipment, more fuel [Interestingly, staff nearly failed to budget fuel for the growth in equipment acquired this year.], more overhead, more office space, more tools, and much, much more of your money. Unfortunately, you’ll realize little difference in benefit as the result.

February 2008 article reprinted below:

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2008

Stormwater scheme spreads to Snellville

Our city fathers (and mothers) are set to adopt a Stormwater Utility Ordinance on Monday, February 25, 2008 at 7:30 p.m. at City Hall. The consultant that prepared the research in support of the tax [I apologize, it is a fee. Well that certainly feels much better to my wallet.], will make a presentation at 5:30 p.m. in advance of the meeting.

I have many issues with these so-called stormwater fees and I've voiced my concerns to elected, staff, and consultants. Rather than rant on my philosophical objections to such a revenue scheme, I'll address a few issues specific to Snellville's proposal. My comments are in response to details contained in three documents available at the City of Snellville website titled Stormwater part 1, Stormwater part 2, and Stormwater part 3. They're quite similar to a horror movie with increasingly frightening sequels.

In Stormwater part 1, the monster first appears in the grotesque form of stormwater runoff. Our hero, the City responds, however, not by attacking runoff, rather by taxing [darn it, sorry again, levying a fee on] impervious surface (that's the roof above your head). What is really scary is that the fee is determined by adding up staff time (the City Manager will spend three times as much time on stormwater issues than the Public Works Director if you believe the research - I don't), administration and regulatory costs, operations and maintenance, and capital investment (that doesn't increase a cent from existing investment according to the initial proposal). Stormwater part 1 concludes with a most frightening scene claiming 55% of fees go to capital investment, operations and maintenance. The remaining 45% of fees going to overhead, regulatory compliance, and bureaucracy that sustains the creature to terrorize again.

And terrorize he does. In Stormwater part 2, we are frantically attempting to escape failing pipes, damaged catch basin lids, sinkholes, and illegal dumping. This monster we've created requires an estimated$1.9 million in immediate repair or replacement. See, isn't it getting scarier?

As our terrorizing trilogy ends, Stormwater part 3, scares the beejeebees out of me and I haven't gotten beyond the title yet, "Future SWMP Funding Strategy". This monster is planning future expenditures that will mandate future fee increases [I did not say tax increases - I'm catching on to the lingo now]. Most horrific is that the scheme raises only $271,000 more than current revenues to address the immediate needs as it dangerously replaces existing general fund investment in public works with the new stormwater utility fund thereby increasing the monster's appetite by over$400,000 for new general fund spending on as yet unaware victims.

One thing is for sure, this Stormwater Utility Ordinance is scary stuff and not for the "little ones."