Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Meeting held for public input in Rome

1. Spokesman for the Georgia Cattlemen’s Association made a presentation

                His presentation included the following points:

·         1% to 1 ½% of the population of the U.S. is involved in agriculture

·         agriculture is an industry that is very capital intensive

·         sales tax exemptions for agriculture should be preserved

Economist David Sjoquist asked him what sales tax for agriculture is not exempted.

·         He answered that the sales tax on energy is not exempted

Economist Roger Tutterow asked him how it is documented whether or not someone who purchases agricultural equipment and supplies are qualified to get the sales tax exemptions.

·         He was not sure if it is documented, or how it is documented

·         Don Parsons note: A presenter at the meeting in Gainesville two nights later said that the purchaser is required to sign an affidavit saying he/she is a farmer. That has not been verified.

2.  Chairman A.D. Frazier emphasized that the recommendations from the council will ultimately be related to the big three taxes: sales, personal income tax, and corporate income tax.

3. Jet Toney, lobbyist for the Georgia Affordable Housing Coalition made a presentation

                His presentation included the following points:

·         In 2000, the coalition told the General Assembly that if Georgia would provide sales tax exemptions like the federal government to build low-cost housing,  that thousands of high quality units for low income families would be built, and that the majority of them would be built outside of the City of Atlanta.

·         He said the exemptions were approved, and that the promises have been kept.

·         165 properties created

·         Over 12,000 units built

·         70% of the properties outside Atlanta

·         Housing for working people with low-income – not for  “no-income” individuals

·         For every $1.00 exempted from sales tax, $8.36 generated in the economy

·         Developer who wins award to build the housing must keep the property for at least 15 years

·         There are incentives for the developer to stay with the property for an additional 15 years

4.  John Lowry, a Floyd County farmer offered the following comments

·         Losing sales tax exemptions for farming would cost him an additional $10,000.00 per year

·         If farmers go out of business due to losing sales tax exemptions, many other businesses would be negatively impacted

5.  Richard Keith, a WWII veteran offered the following comments

·         Property tax relief needed in Floyd County

·         Anybody on Social Security should not have to pay taxes

·         He lives on less than $16,000.00 per year

6.  Ed Schlumper of Mohawk Industries offered the following comments

·         Carpet industry employs 12,000 people in Georgia

·         $1/2 b annual payroll

·         Competition is fierce world wide

·         Energy costs are high

·         Sales tax on energy costly, need sales tax exemption on energy

·         Georgia losing good jobs to neighboring states

·         The industry needs lower taxes, less distortions in taxation policy

·         In his industry, cost of energy second only to payroll

7. Eric Pugliese, retired teacher and farmer offered the following

·         Average farmer 65 years of age or older

·         Spoke against inheritance tax

·         Spoke in favor of restoring sales tax on food

8.  John Heavener spoke on behalf of the Georgia Retailers Association

·         1 of 5 workers in Georgia employed in retail

·         Supports sales tax holidays

·         Spoke against inventory tax

·         Sales tax collection process cumbersome for Georgia retailers

·         In favor of collecting sales tax on out of state sales

9.  A senior citizen from Floyd County spoke (did not get his name)

·         Said property tax is a burden on the citizens

·         Acknowledged that schools, etc., need revenue to operate, but does not believe property tax is the proper way for funding

·         In favor of sales tax being collected by local government

·         Believes seniors should be exempt from school portion of property taxes

10.  A senior citizen from Floyd County who identified herself as Serpent Foot offered the following

·         Spoke against property tax

·         Spoke against tax on college text books

·         Said our state used to have trains, buses, steam boats, but now we are back to the way it was centuries ago when you just have to walk to get anywhere

·         Wants higher tax on fuel

·         In favor of more mass transit

·         She is in favor of legalizing drugs and the state getting the revenue from the sales tax on those items

11.  Dr. Dan Axe, Jr. offered the following

·         In reference to taxing services, he said it would be problematic to collect sales tax on medical services because the patient does not normally pay, a third part pays

·         In health services, price is set by the buyer (insurance companies) not the seller

12.  The owner of a Cigar shop in Floyd County offered the following (did not get his name)

·         Believes taxes are too high, and are not fair

·         Said that he pays 52% sales tax on products that he receives that are damaged (in other words, he pays the initial 26% sales tax, then cannot sell the damaged products, then has to pay another 26% sales tax on the replacement product)

13.  A lady spoke in reference to the Amazon tax (Rebecca Matten?)

·         Spoke on the issue of internet affiliate advertisers

·         Expressed concern that if internet affiliate advertising is used to establish nexis for the big companies like Amazon, they would stop using the affiliate advertisers, thus having a negative effect on that local industry

14.  Economist David Sjoquist on the Council said he wants to know what other ways are used to establish nexis

·         He said Oklahoma is having success collecting tax from out of state vendors

15.  Matt Mumber, an Oncologist offerd the following

·         In favor of raising the tax on cigarettes by $1.00

16.  Vanette Bryan, President-Elect of the Georgia Cattlewomen Association offered the following

·         Proud of their product, beef, hay, soybeans

·         Consider input cost to farmers

·         In reference to how it is verified that a person is qualified for a sales tax exemption for purchasing farm related products (whether or not they are really a farmer) she said that Florida issues a Farmer ID, and that it might work in Georgia

17.  Leo Grazer offered the following

·         Said the council needs to look at why we have taxes to begin with, only the basics, school, safety, etc., should be considered.

·         Spoke in favor of zero-based budgeting

·         Thinks money is wasted left and right in transportation

·         Thinks charter schools allow local school systems to spend money any way they want

18.  Brad Russell spoke in favor of sales tax exemptions for farmers

19.  Chad Whitefield, a Floyd County Commissioner offered the following

·         Spoke against unfunded mandates (Don Parsons editorial note: Speaking against what they call unfunded mandates must be part of the secret ritual all local elected officials must go through when elected – they do not seem to understand that every ordinance that they pass is an unfunded mandate of some kind on every citizen in their jurisdiction.)

·         Said that the counties don’t have the fat in their budgets that the state has (are you kidding me?) what fat?

·         Said DOR has a bad reputation in Floyd County

Return to Special Tax Council Page

Go To Main Page