§ 48-13-131 — Excise tax imposed; rate of taxation; establishment of Fireworks Trust Fund

Georgia § 48-13-131

• Jurisdiction: Georgia
• Title: 48

Text

(a) An excise tax, in addition to all other taxes of every kind imposed by law, is imposed upon the sale of consumer fireworks and any items provided for in paragraph (2) of subsection (b) of Code Section 25-10-1 in this state at a rate of 5 percent per item sold. (b) (1) (A) There shall be established a Fireworks Trust Fund as a separate fund in the state treasury. The commissioner shall be the trustee of the fund. (B) The state treasurer shall invest the money held in the Fireworks Trust Fund in the same manner in which state funds are invested as authorized by the State Depository Board pursuant to Article 3 of Chapter 17 of Title 50. Interest earned by the money held in the trust fund shall be accounted for separately and shall be credited to the trust fund to be disbursed as other moneys in the trust fund. (2) Under the authority granted and subject to the conditions imposed by Article III, Section IX, Paragraph VI(r) of the Constitution of Georgia, for the period beginning on July 1, 2022, and ending on June 30, 2032, all of the money collected pursuant to subsection (a) of this Code section shall be annually appropriated to the Fireworks Trust Fund established by paragraph (1) of this subsection and such funds shall not lapse as otherwise required by Article III, Section IX, Paragraph IV(c) of the Constitution of Georgia. Each annual appropriation shall be made through the General Appropriations Act and shall include all of the money collected from such source during the most recently completed fiscal year. (3) All of the money appropriated to the Fireworks Trust Fund pursuant to paragraph (2) of this subsection shall be dedicated for use and expended as follows: (A) The amount of 55 percent shall be provided to the Georgia Trauma Care Network Commission for purposes provided for under Code Section 31-11-102 ; (B) The amount of 40 percent shall be provided to the Georgia Firefighter Standards and Training Council to be exclusively used for the implementation of a grant program to improve the equipping and training of firefighters and to improve the rating of fire departments in this state by the Insurance Services Office; and (C) The amount of 5 percent shall be provided to local governments to be used solely for public safety purposes consisting of the operation of 9-1-1 systems under Part 4 of Article 2 of Chapter 5 of Title 46. The commissioner shall include such amount as a part of the 9-1-1 distribution made on or before October 15 of each year to such local governments. (4) The commissioner shall prepare an accounting of the funds expended pursuant to this subsection during the most recently completed fiscal year to be provided to the Office of Planning and Budget, the House Budget and Research Office, and the Senate Budget and Evaluation Office by January 1 of each year. (c) The excise tax imposed by this article shall be paid by the seller and due and payable in the same manner as would be otherwise required under Article 1 of Chapter 8 of this title.

Legislative History

Amended by 2021 Ga. Laws 290,§ 18, eff. 7/1/2022. Amended by 2016 Ga. Laws 387,§ 1, eff. on January 1, 2017, only if there is ratified at the 2016 general election an amendment to the Constitution of Georgia which authorizes the General Assembly to provide for the use, dedication, and deposit of revenues raised by an excise tax on the sale of fireworks or consumer fireworks for purposes of trauma care, fire services, and local public safety. Added by 2015 Ga. Laws 50,§ 9, eff. 7/1/2015.