HB168: HB168 Sales and use tax; SPLOST; require enactment of a local Act for reimposition of such tax

Under current Georgia law, counties can renew, or reimpose, their special purpose local option sales tax (SPLOST) once it expires by following the same local approval steps used to create the tax in the first place, such as a county resolution and a voter referendum. This bill adds an extra step to that process. HB 168 amends O.C.G.A. § 48-8-112 so that after a county meets the existing requirements for reimposing a SPLOST, whether the county acted while the old tax was still in effect or after it expired, the tax cannot actually be reimposed until the General Assembly passes a specific local Act authorizing that reimposition. The bill does not change the 1 percent cap on SPLOST rates or the emergency waiver provision allowing uninterrupted collection during administrative emergencies. It repeals any conflicting laws.

• Adds a new requirement that a county cannot reimpose an expiring SPLOST until the General Assembly enacts a local Act authorizing that specific reimposition.
• Applies this new requirement whether the county starts the reimposition process before the old tax expires or after it has already expired.
• Leaves in place the existing 1 percent cap on SPLOST rates within a special district at any given time.
• Leaves in place the existing emergency waiver that lets the state revenue commissioner permit uninterrupted tax collection if a county cannot hold a timely referendum.
• Repeals any existing state laws that conflict with this new local Act requirement.

County governments across Georgia that rely on SPLOST revenue for local projects, county voters who approve these taxes through referendums, and state lawmakers, who would need to pass a local Act each time a county wants to renew an expiring SPLOST.

Counties that want to keep collecting SPLOST revenue after a tax expires would need the Georgia General Assembly's direct approval through a local Act, adding a legislative step beyond the county's own resolution and voter referendum, which could affect timing and continuity of local sales tax revenue for county projects.

• Section 1 revises subsection (c) of O.C.G.A. § 48-8-112 to add paragraph (4), conditioning SPLOST reimposition on the enactment of a local Act by the General Assembly.
• The revision applies to reimpositions initiated while a tax is still in effect under paragraph (2) and to reimpositions initiated after a tax has expired under paragraph (3).
• The bill keeps the existing rule limiting a special district to a single 1 percent SPLOST at any time.
• The bill keeps the existing emergency provision letting the commissioner waive certain timing limits if a county cannot hold a referendum without interruption.
• Section 2 repeals all laws and parts of laws that conflict with the Act.

1. 2025-04-04House Withdrawn, Recommitted (House)
2. 2025-03-03House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
3. 2025-02-03House Second Readers (House)
4. 2025-01-30House First Readers (House)
5. 2025-01-29House Hopper (House)

• Mitchell Horner (R, HD-003)Primary sponsor
• Trey Kelley (R, HD-016)
• Charles Cannon (R, HD-172)
• Jason Ridley (R, HD-006)
• Beth Camp (R, HD-135)
• Jordan Ridley (R, HD-022)

• SPLOST
• sales tax
• county government
• local option sales tax
• Georgia General Assembly