Lawmakers on Wednesday shot down a plan to allow local governments to levy a special local option sales tax at smaller rates.
House Bill 153, by Rep. John Carson, R-Marietta, failed 92-78.
The bill would not have affected local governments that already levy a 1-cent SPLOST. But, when that tax expired, or for areas that don’t have a SPLOST, the local government could charge a sales tax in increments of 0.20 cents.
“We’re not changing what you can spend the SPLOST on, only changing what the county could opt to charge,” Carson said.
It would have given “cities and counties the ability to scale to local government projects,” Carson said.
But fellow Republicans said it would create accounting problems for local jurisdictions to deal with fractions of pennies.
The bill has a chance of being revived. Carson asked that the House reconsider its vote, a procedural move that sets up a final decision Monday.
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