Georgia Official and Statistical Register 1983-84 - the Digital Library ...

SECTION 111.INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONSParagraph I. Intergovernmental contracts, (a) The state,or any institution, department, or other agency thereof, andany county, municipality, school district, or other politicalsubdivision of the state may contract for any period not exceeding SO years with each other or with any other public agency,public corporation, or public authority for joint services, for theprovision of services, or for the joint or separate use of facilitiesor equipment; but such contracts must deal with activities,services, or facilities which the contracting parties are authorized by law to undertake or provide.(b) Subject to such limitations as may be provided bygeneral law, any county, municipality, or political subdivisionthereof may, in connection with any contracts authorized inthis Paragraph, convey any existing facilities or equipment tothe state or to any public agency, public corporation, or publicauthority.(c) Any county, municipality, or any combination thereof,may contract with any public agency, public corporation, orpublic authority for the care, maintenance, and hospitalizationof its indigent sick and may as a part of such contract agree topay for the cost of acquisition, construction, modernization, orrepairs of necessary land, buildings, and facilities by such publicagency, public corporation, or public authority and provide forthe payment of such services and the cost to such public agency,public corporation, or public authority of acquisition, construction, modernization, or repair of land, buildings, andfacilities from revenues realized by such county, municipality,or any combination thereof from any taxes authorized by thisConstitution or revenues derived from any other source.Paragraph II. Local government reorganization, (a) TheGeneral Assembly may provide by law for any matters necessary or convenient to authorize the consolidation of thegovernmental and corporate powers and functions vested inmunicipalities with the governmental and corporate powersand functions vested in a county or counties in which suchmunicipalities are located; provided, however, that no suchconsolidation shall become effective unless separately approvedby a majority of the qualified voters of the county or each of thecounties and of the municipality or each of the municipalitieslocated within such county or counties containing at least 10percent of the population of the county in which located votingthereon in such manner as may be prescribed in such law. Suchlaw may provide procedures and requirements for the establishment of charter commissions to draft proposed charters forthe consolidated government, and the General Assembly isexpressly authorized to delegate its powers to such chartercommissions for such purposes so that the governmental consolidation proposed by a charter commission may becomeeffective without the necessity of further action by the GeneralAssembly; or such law may require that the recommendation ofany such charter commission be implemented by a subsequentlocal law.(b) The General Assembly may provide by general law foralternatives other than governmental consolidation as authorized in subparagraph (a) above for the reorganization ofcounty and municipal governments, including, but not limitedto, procedures to establish a single governing body as thegoverning authority of a county and a municipality or municipalities located within such county or for the redistribution ofpowers between a county and a municipality or municipalitieslocated within the county. Such law may require the form ofgovernmental reorganization authorized by such law to beapproved by the qualified voters directly affected thereby voting in such manner as may be required in such law.(c) Nothing in this Paragraph shall be construed to limit theauthority of the General Assembly to repeal municipal charterswithout a referendum.SECTION IV.TAXATION POWER OF COUNTYAND MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENTSParagraph I. Power of taxation, (a) Except as otherwiseprovided in this Paragraph, the governing authority of anycounty, municipality, or combination thereof may exercise thepower of taxation as authorized by this Constitution or bygeneral law.(b) In the absence of a general law:(1) County governing authorities may be authorized bylocal law to levy and collect business and occupational licensetaxes and license fees only in the unincorporated areas of thecounties. The General Assembly may provide that the revenuesraised by such tax or fee be spent for the provision of servicesonly in the unincorporated areas of the county.(2) Municipal governing authorities may be authorized bylocal law to levy and collect taxes and fees in the corporatelimits of the municipalities.(c) The General Assembly may provide by law for the taxation of insurance companies on the basis of gross direct premiums received from insurance policies within the unincorporated areas of counties. The tax authorized herein may beimposed by the state or by counties or by the state for countypurposes as may be provided by law. The General Assemblymay further provide by law for the reduction, only upon taxable property within the unincorporated areas of counties, of thead valorem tax millage rate for county or county school districtpurposes or for the reduction of such ad valorem tax millagerate for both such purposes in connection with imposing orauthorizing the imposition of the tax authorized herein or inconnection with providing for the distribution of the proceedsderived from the tax authorized herein.Paragraph II. Power of expenditure. The governing authority of any county, municipality, or combination thereof mayexpend public funds to perform any public service or publicfunction as authorized by this Constitution or by law or toperform any other service or function as authorized by thisConstitution or by general law.Paragraph III. Purposes of taxation; allocation of taxes. Nolevy need state the particular purposes for which the same wasmade nor shall any taxes collected be allocated for any particular purpose, unless otherwise provided by this Constitution orbylaw.SECTION V.LIMITATION ON LOCAL DEBTParagraph I. Debt limitations of counties, municipalities,and other political subdivisions, (a) The debt incurred by anycounty, municipality, or other political subdivision of this state,including debt incurred on behalf of any special district, shallnever exceed 10 percent of the assessed value of all taxableproperty within such county, municipality, or political subdivision; and no such county, municipality, or other political subdivision shall incur any new debt without the assent of amajority of the qualified voters of such county, municipality, orpolitical subdivision voting in an election held for that purposeas provided by law.(b) Notwithstanding subparagraph (a) of this Paragraph, alllocal school systems which are authorized by law on June 30,1983, to incur debt in excess of 10 percent of the assessed valueof all taxable property therein shall continue to be authorizedto incur such debt.23