Wells v. City of Baldwin

565 S.E.2d 439, 275 Ga. 228, 2002 Fulton County D. Rep. 1400, 2002 Ga. LEXIS 380
CourtSupreme Court of Georgia
DecidedMay 13, 2002
DocketS02A0356
StatusPublished

This text of 565 S.E.2d 439 (Wells v. City of Baldwin) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Wells v. City of Baldwin, 565 S.E.2d 439, 275 Ga. 228, 2002 Fulton County D. Rep. 1400, 2002 Ga. LEXIS 380 (Ga. 2002).

Opinion

Hunstein, Justice.

The City of Baldwin is located partly in Banks County and partly in Habersham County. In 1980 a majority of Banks County voters chose to impose a local option sales tax (“LOST”) within their “special district,” i.e., the geographical area whose boundaries are conterminous with those of Banks County. See Article IX, Section II, Paragraph VI, Ga. Const, of 1983; see also OCGA § 48-8-81. Both Banks County and the City of Baldwin, as a qualified municipality located partially within the special district, passed resolutions providing for the tax. See OCGA § 48-8-86. The City of Baldwin uniformly assessed the property values and tax liability of its Banks and Habersham County residents; computed the millage rate for ad valorem taxation of tangible property within the City limits; and then, after ascertaining the revenues produced by the Banks County LOST, reduced or “rolled back” the millage for those City residents whose properties were within the special district subject to the tax, namely the “Baldwin in Banks” residents. This rollback reduced the millage rate of the Baldwin in Banks residents to zero. The surplus of the Banks County LOST was then applied to the millage rate assessed against the Baldwin in Habersham residents, reducing but not eliminating their tax liability.

The City of Baldwin followed this procedure from 1980 until 1999 when the City enacted Ordinance 991129, pursuant to which [229]*229the Banks County LOST was applied to roll back the millage rate for all City residents, regardless of their county of residence. Harriett Wells and other Baldwin in Banks homeowners, confronted with an ad valorem property tax liability for the first time in nearly two decades, filed suit challenging the ordinance. The trial court, construing OCGA § 48-8-91, upheld the constitutionality of the City’s ordinance and the Baldwin in Banks homeowners appeal. We reverse the trial court because the plain language of the Joint County and Municipal Sales and Use Tax Act (the Act), OCGA § 48-8-66 et seq., limits the application of the rollback provision in OCGA § 48-8-91 to those residents of the special district where the tax is imposed and this construction of the Act, which is consistent with the special district clause, Art. IX, Sec. II, Par. VI, does not violate the uniformity clause of the State Constitution, Art. VII, Sec. I, Par. III.

Art. IX, Sec. II, Par. VI, provides that

special districts may be created for the provision of local government services within such districts; and fees, assessments, and taxes may be levied and collected within such district to pay, wholly or partially, the cost of providing such services therein and to construct and maintain facilities therefor.

(Emphasis supplied.) <£[T]he Special District Clause of the constitution limits the expenditure of revenue derived from the special district tax to the provision of local governmental services within the special district. [Cit.]” (Emphasis supplied.) Youngblood v. State of Ga., 259 Ga. 864, 865 (2) (388 SE2d 671) (1990).

The Legislature expressly relied upon the constitutional authority granted in the special district clause when it created the special districts for purposes of the Joint County and Municipal Sales and Use Tax Act. OCGA § 48-8-81. The Act created 159 special districts within the State, with the geographical boundary of each county corresponding to and conterminous with the geographical boundary of one of the 159 special districts. Id. The Legislature then authorized each special district, consisting of one county and any qualified municipalities located wholly or partially within that county, to impose a joint sales and use tax to be levied by the governing authorities of the political subdivisions within the special district. OCGA § 48-8-82. However, the Legislature provided, as a “condition precedent for authority to levy” the tax, that

the county whose geographical boundary is conterminous with that of the special district and each qualified municipality therein receiving any proceeds of the tax shall adjust [230]*230annually the millage rate for ad valorem taxation of tangible property within such political subdivisions as provided in this subsection. The governing authority of each such political subdivision shall compute the millage rate necessary to produce revenue from taxation of tangible property in its respective political subdivision which . . . would provide revenues sufficient to defray the expenses of the political subdivision for the year. The millage rate so ascertained shall then be reduced by a millage rate [according to the calculation in the statute].

OCGA § 48-8-91 (a).

Language throughout the Act reflects the Legislature’s understanding that there are municipalities which are located only “partially” within special districts in the State. E.g., OCGA §§ 48-8-82, 48-8-84, 48-8-85, 48-8-86, 48-8-87.1 The Act contains provisions which limit application of the Act only to that percentage of a qualified municipality which lies within a special district. See OCGA § 48-8-89.3 (d), which provides that “[flor the purpose of all population based calculations under this Code section, only that portion of the population of a qualified municipality which is located within the special district shall be computed.” See also OCGA §§ 48-8-89 (b), 48-8-89.3 (b) (2). Accord City of Atlanta v. Collins, 262 Ga. 261 (2) (417 SE2d 141) (1992) (under the Act, only the portion of a city’s population that resides within the special district may be included when calculating a qualified municipality’s pro rata share of the LOST proceeds in that district).

The City of Baldwin argues that its ordinance is mandated by the uniformity clause, which provides, in pertinent part, that “all taxation shall be uniform upon the same class of subjects within the territorial limits of the authority levying the tax.” Art. VII, Sec. I, Par. Ill (a). While the uniformity clause may be violated by improper discrimination in the imposition of taxes, Decatur Tax Payers League v. Adams, 236 Ga. 871, 874 (226 SE2d 69) (1976), that is not the situation here. Under OCGA § 48-8-91

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Related

City of Atlanta v. Collins
417 S.E.2d 141 (Supreme Court of Georgia, 1992)
Martin v. Ellis
249 S.E.2d 23 (Supreme Court of Georgia, 1978)
Nielubowicz v. Chatham County
312 S.E.2d 802 (Supreme Court of Georgia, 1984)
Decatur Tax Payers League, Inc. v. Adams
226 S.E.2d 69 (Supreme Court of Georgia, 1976)
Youngblood v. State of Ga.
388 S.E.2d 671 (Supreme Court of Georgia, 1990)

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Bluebook (online)
565 S.E.2d 439, 275 Ga. 228, 2002 Fulton County D. Rep. 1400, 2002 Ga. LEXIS 380, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/wells-v-city-of-baldwin-ga-2002.