The Gwinnett Municipal Association has come out against the Homestead Option Sales Tax — known as HOST — that was proposed in June by Gwinnett County Commissioner Lorraine Green.

The GMA, a group representing 14 mayors, raised its collective voice Friday to urge voters to view "the alphabet soup of new sales taxes" with caution.

JOHNNY CRAWFORD/AJC (ENLARGE)

Lorraine Green

THE HOST DEBATE: The Homestead Option Sales Tax is a permanent penny sales tax directed specifically at relieving the county's portion of a person's property tax bill. Recent headlines: Gwinnett residents could face $500 fine for not recycling  Fleeing suspect nearly runs over Norcross police chief, again  Ethics settlement may be near for accused Gwinnett commissioner     • Gwinnett County news

"I think all Gwinnett citizens, if they have time, are smart enough to know that there is no free lunch," said GMA chairwoman Lois Salter, the longtime mayor of Berkeley Lake. "When you take one tax off, what's coming in behind it to take a bite out of them in a different way?"

Salter said HOST has "failed to deliver on the hype" in Rockdale and DeKalb — the only two counties that implemented the permanent penny sales tax. The group fears HOST would "inflict great damage on Gwinnett County for years to come," Salter said, by taxing commercial property owners at higher rates, "shifting taxes around" and encouraging development "that doesn't pay for itself."

Green, running for chairman of the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners against incumbent Charles Bannister and Buford electrical contractor Glenn Pirkle, said Gwinnett's successful history with the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax proves HOST would do better locally than elsewhere.

"We're talking apples and oranges," Green said.

For starters, she said, Gwinnett is a destination retail center, unlike DeKalb or Rockdale: "When's the last time," she said, "anyone went shopping in Rockdale?"

Green said Gwinnett's retail power is one reason the county's popular SPLOST taxes — one of which pays for projects such as parks, roads and public safety, and the other for schools — have been repeatedly approved by voters.

"We have a tremendous amount of revenue from people who do not even live here," Green said. "We also have a large rental component. These people do not generally pay an equitable share of property taxes, but consume more resources than a typical property owner. We have a tremendous amount of experience collecting the penny sales tax from SPLOST — and DeKalb and Rockdale didn't."

Green unveiled a plan to raise $157 million annually with the penny sales tax — if the state legislature were to approve a referendum to put the measure before Gwinnett voters, and if voters were to support it.

It would eliminate the portion of a homeowner's property tax bill that funds county government, Green said, and raise enough money to create a county-run transit system and eliminate the stormwater fee.

Bannister has proposed a different kind of penny sales tax — the Local Option Sales Tax, or LOST. More commonly used around the state, LOST rolls back millage rates so homeowners pay less in property taxes.