Thursday, October 21, 2010
Meeting held for public input in Blue Ridge
Introductions were made by Tax Council Chairman A.D. Frazier
House Speaker David Ralston made opening comments
1. Jim Tudor spoke on behalf of the Georgia Convenience Stores Association and offered the following:
· Convenience stores near state lines always must compete with those in neighboring states
· 80% of motor fuel and tobacco sold in convenience stores
· Tobacco accounts for 40% of inside sales at convenience stores
· Convenience stores are a major provider of jobs
· Convenience stores continue to add jobs, even in the down economy
· 43 new stores added in Georgia last year
· Convenience stores in Georgia have a $1.4b payroll
· When Florida increased its tobacco tax, Georgia had a 20% increase in tobacco sales in its border counties, and Florida had a 26% decrease in its border counties
· Customers will travel to get best price
· 20 tobacco taxes across the nation were raised in 2006, and only 5 have achieved their goals
· The cost to build a new convenience store is $2m
2. Dr. Stephen Miracle, CEO of Georgia Mountain Health offered the following:
· Spoke in favor of reinstating a tax exemption for charitable organizations
· His organization offers health care to people with no or limited healthcare insurance
· His organization receives no direct funds from the government
· Georgia saves 30% on medicaid due to these organizations
· The exemption saved these organizations $500m
3. Michael Burilla of St. Anthony’s Catholic Church spoke on behalf of St. Vincent de Paul and offered the following:
· income families pay taxes
· Spoke in favor of reinstatement of the Low Income Tax Credit
· His organization collects money mostly from their congregations
· 15% of people in Fannin County are below the poverty level
4. Harold Beavis from Delta Airlines offered the following:
· Current exemptions for airline industry mean 450,000 jobs in Georgia
· Texas has no taxes for airlines
· Current sales tax exemptions are set to expire in June, 2011
· Delta is the state’s largest private employer
5. John Haliburton spoke on behalf of the Georgia Independent Dealers Association and offered the following:
· There are over 3,000 used car dealers in Georgia
· Only Georgia and New Hampshire do not impose sales tax on casual sales of automobiles
· Georgia loses $290m annually by not imposing sales tax on the casual sales of automobiles
· Encouraged the Council to include a sales tax on the casual sales of automobiles
6. Tim Merciear spoke on behalf of Fannin County Apple growers and offered the following:
· Keep current sales tax exemptions for farming
7. Michael Pierce spoke on behalf of the Georgia Northeastern Railroad and offered the following:
· There are 106 miles of short-line railroad in Georgia
· Short-line railroad was spun off from the larger railroad companies
· Short-line infrastructure affects all the economy
· There is a 4% sales tax they have to pay for all diesel purchases, sees that as having to subsidize the trucking industry because that tax is used to build roads and highways, and not railroads
· Wants elimination of the sales tax on diesel purchases for railroads
8. Joe Webb, a citizen offered the following:
· There are too many taxing authorities, too many county governments
· Need consolidation of counties
· Wants small counties to be able to opt out of unfunded mandates
· Believes that transportation tax should be used for infrastructure in addition to roads
· Believes that rural development should address telecommuting and telecommunications
9. Eddie Bradley, a Towns County cattle farmer offered the following:
· Cattle farming has large capital costs
· Spoke in favor of keeping sales tax exemptions for farming
· Sales tax exemption for farming means $6k to $8k per year for him
10. Kim Anderson, CEO of families First offered the following:
· Criticized cut in the state budget
· Advocated for higher taxes
· Advocated for eliminating all sales tax exemptions
11. Richard Royal from the Coalition For A Competitive Georgia (former Chairman of the House W&M Committee offered the following:
· General Assembly has worked hard to keep AAA bond rating, and we must keep it
· Majority of the sales tax exemptions are still needed
· A sales tax exemption on energy is needed
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