Overview of Proposed Constitutional Amendments – 2018 General Election

Amendment 1: Creates the Georgia Outdoor Stewardship Trust Fund to protect water quality, wildlife habitat, and parks.
Question: “Without increasing the current state sales tax rate, shall the Constitution of Georgia be amended so as to create the Georgia Outdoor Stewardship Trust Fund to conserve lands that protect drinking water sources and the water quality of rivers, lakes, and streams; to protect and conserve forests, fish, wildlife habitats, and state and local parks; and to provide opportunities for our children and families to play and enjoy the outdoors, by dedicating, subject to full public disclosure, up to 80 percent of the existing sales tax collected by sporting goods stores to such purposes without increasing the current state sales tax rate?”

Overview: The Georgia Outdoor Stewardship Trust Fund (“the Trust Fund”) is established pursuant to House Bill 332 and House Resolution 238 – both sponsored by Rep. Sam Watson (R-172). Subject to voter approval of Amendment 1, the state is authorized to dedicate up to 80% of the state portion of sales and use tax collected on sporting goods equipment to the Trust Fund. This dedication totals approximately $40 million. However, under the provisions of the enabling legislation, HB 332, the General Assembly provided that only 40% of the state portion of sales and use tax collected on sporting goods equipment may be dedicated to the Trust Fund at this time. Effectively, this limits the fund to approximately $20 million per year. The Trust Fund’s resources are to be used to provide grants in support of state parks and trails, local parks and trails, the stewardship of conservation lands, and the limited acquisition of land to support clean, water, wildlife, hunting and fishing, and natural resource-based recreation across Georgia.

Commentary: Advocates lobbied for 10 years to persuade lawmakers to put this question before voters. They’re asking to set aside 80 percent of existing sales taxes on sporting goods for conservation efforts. These taxes are expected to raise $200 million over the next 10 years. The measure would sunset after 10 years, although it could be extended through a future public vote. The Nature Conservancy of Georgia, working with other nonprofits, is advocating that the tax proceeds be spent: buying and preserving large riverfront acreage, as well as large acreage in rural areas with potential public access and thousands of wildlife species; preserving and enhancing existing wildlife management areas; and offering matching grants to local governments in metro Atlanta to create parks and trails.

Amendment 2: Creates a state-wide business court to lower costs, enhance efficiency, and promote predictable judicial outcomes.
Question: “Shall the Constitution of Georgia be amended so as to create a state-wide business court, authorize superior court business court divisions, and allow for the appointment process for statewide business court judges in order to lower costs, improve the efficiency of all courts, and promote predictability of judicial outcomes in certain complex business disputes for the benefit of all citizens of this state?”

Overview: Amendment 2 was proposed pursuant to House Resolution 993 – sponsored by Rep. Chuck Efstration (R-104). A product of Governor Deal’s Court Reform Council, HR 993 provides for the creation of a statewide Business Court to handle complex business litigation matters under certain circumstances, including those cases with a significant minimum dollar in controversy threshold. For more than 10 years, as part of a “model project” authorized by the General Assembly and the Supreme Court, certain complex business litigation cases have been sent to the Atlanta Business Court (or the Gwinnett Business Court) for quicker, more efficient handling than the cases could receive in the superior or state courts of Georgia. Currently, at least 23 states have some type of business court at the city, county, or statewide level.

Commentary: Billed as a pro-business and cost-saving measure, this proposal would create statewide business courts. Judges in these courts would be appointed by the governor to five-year terms with the approval of the Senate Judiciary Committee and its counterpart in the House. The amendment cuts voters out of the process, as it is voters who currently elect all trial court and appeals court judges. Admittedly, some judges are appointed by the governor but must stand for election to stay in office.

Amendment 3: Encourages the conservation, sustainability, and longevity of Georgia’s working forests through tax subclassification and grants.
Question: “Shall the Constitution of Georgia be amended so as to revise provisions related to the subclassification for tax purposes of and the prescribed methodology for establishing the value of forest land conservation use property and related assistance grants, to provide that assistance grants related to forest land conservation use property may be increased by general law for a five-year period and that up to 5 percent of assistance grants may be deducted and retained by the state revenue commissioner to provide for certain state administrative costs, and to provide for the subclassification of qualified timberland property for ad valorem purposes?”

Overview: Amendment 3 was proposed pursuant to House Resolution 51 and House Bill 85 – sponsored by Rep. Jay Powell (R-171). This legislation seeks to create a uniform valuation process for timberland for property taxation purposes by giving qualified landowners the opportunity for their land to be assessed as “Qualified Timberland Property” at fair market value as determined by the Department of Revenue rather than 159 different county tax assessors. In addition, this amendment increases the acres eligible for conservation under the Forest Land Protection Act (FLPA). Currently, land enrolled in FLPA must be 200 contiguous acres and landowners must sign a 15-year conservation covenant. Under the new legislation, an aggregate of 200 acres across the state may qualify (if parcels exceed 100 acres in any given county) and the covenant length is reduced to 10 years. Finally, the FLPA formula used in calculating local assistance grants to counties and school boards is adjusted; however, a five-year phase in mechanism will be established to ease the transition for counties that received unfair over-payments.

Commentary: Tax proposals are complicated, and this one is no exception. The amendment has several missions. One is to lower the tax burden on timberland owners. To understand what the bill does, you need to know a little history. Large timberland owners have been receiving tax breaks since the state constitution was amended in 2008, creating the Forest Land Protection Act. For almost a decade, the state has been sending millions of dollars to local school boards and county governments to make up a majority (97 percent) of what they are not collecting in taxes from these property owners. (Note: Qualifying for the 2008 tax break are owners of 200-plus acres of timberland who agreed to place a restrictive covenant on their property for 15 years. With the 2018 amendment, that would change from 15 years to 10 years. Through the years, these properties have been assessed as forestland, not on the fair market value. The proposal would allow local governments to be reimbursed at rates closer to a property’s current values. Some local governments came out winners under that 2008 methodology, and some were losers. Under the proposed amendment and the new formula, that could flip — with those government winners becoming losers.

Amendment 4: Provides rights for victims of crime in the judicial process.
Question: “Shall the Constitution of Georgia be amended so as to provide certain rights to victims against whom a crime has allegedly been perpetrated and allow victims to assert such rights?”

Overview: Amendment 4 was proposed pursuant to Senate Resolution 146 and Senate Bill 127 – sponsored by Senator John Kennedy (R-18). Both SR 146 and SB 127 – better known as Marsy’s Law – seek to protect the rights of crime victims to receive certain information and to participate in the prosecution of the accused person. For reference, Marsy’s Law has been adopted by 36 other states and seeks to compel the judicial system to consider the safety of crime victims as well as their family members. Victims and their families are afforded specific rights under Marsy’s Law, including: reasonable, accurate, and timely notice of court proceedings involving the alleged act; reasonable and timely notice upon the release or escape of the accused; inclusion in any scheduled court proceedings; and the opportunity to be heard at any scheduled proceedings involving the release, plea, or sentencing of the accused.

Commentary: Georgia law already provides for notification of crimes victims on hearings and other proceedings in their cases. But advocates hope by making this part of the state constitution, the protections will have more weight. The proposal also would give the victim the right to demand a court hearing if he or she feels proper notice has not been given about developments in the case. This proposed amendment, known as Marsy’s law, mirrors legislation passed in several states and being pushed in others.

Amendment 5: Authorizes fair allocation of sales tax proceeds to county and city school districts.
Question: “Shall the Constitution of Georgia be amended so as to authorize a referendum for a sales and use tax for education by a county school district or an independent school district or districts within the county having a majority of the students enrolled within the county and to provide that the proceeds are distributed on a per student basis among all the school systems unless an agreement is reached among such school systems for a different distribution?”

Overview: Amendment 5 was proposed pursuant to Senate Resolution 95 – sponsored by Senator Ellis Black (R-8) – and seeks to allow for a special education sales and use tax referendum to be called by a county school district or independent school district or districts having a majority of the students enrolled within the county. The proceeds of the tax are to be split between the districts based either upon an agreement made between the districts, the ratio of enrollment in each school district, or upon a distribution formula authorized by local law
Under current law, if a county has more than one independent school district, all districts must agree to pass a resolution calling for an E-SPLOST referendum. In certain cases, the independent school district has refused to call for an E-SPLOST unless they receive a disproportionately large share of the funding compared to their FTEs. This legislation seeks to ensure that an E-SPLOST can be called for as long as the districts serving the majority of students agree and, in the absence of an agreement among systems, that E-SPLOST funds will be distributed to districts per FTE.

Commentary: This would remove the requirement that a county school district and a city school district within the county’s boundaries must agree before calling a referendum to raise sales taxes for education. The measure was proposed because there were situations across Georgia where independent school districts serving a small portion of a county’s students would “hold the larger districts hostage” on the referendum in hopes of obtaining a larger share of the tax proceeds.