Georgia § 48-8-92 - Referendum election to decide discontinuing imposition of tax; procedure; resolution; call for election; publication; ballot; result; subsequent elections; declaration and certification of result; expense.

§ 48-8-92. Referendum election to decide discontinuing imposition of tax; procedure; resolution; call for election; publication; ballot; result; subsequent elections; declaration and certification of result; expense.

Whenever the governing authority of any county and the governing authorities of at least one-half of qualified municipalities located wholly or partially within a special district in which the tax authorized by this article is being levied wish to submit to the electors of the special district the question of whether the tax authorized by Code Section 48-8-82 shall be discontinued, such governing authorities shall notify the election superintendent of the county whose geographical boundary is conterminous with that of the special district by forwarding to the superintendent a copy of a joint resolution of the governing authorities calling for the referendum election. Upon receipt of the resolution, it shall be the duty of the election superintendent to issue the call for an election for the purpose of submitting the question of discontinuing the levy of the tax to the voters of the special district for approval or rejection. The election superintendent shall issue the call and shall conduct the election on a date and in the manner authorized under Code Section 21-2-540. The election superintendent shall cause the date and purpose of the election to be published once a week for two weeks immediately preceding the date of the election in the official organ of the county. The ballot shall have written or printed thereon the following: "( ) YES Shall the 1 percent retail sales and use tax being levied within the special district within __________ ( ) NO County be terminated?" All persons desiring to vote in favor of discontinuing the tax shall vote "Yes," and all persons opposed to discontinuing the tax shall vote "No." If more than one-half of the votes cast are in favor of discontinuing the tax, then the tax shall cease to be levied on the first day of the second calendar quarter following the month in which the commissioner receives the certification of the result of the election; otherwise, the tax shall continue to be levied, and the question of the discontinuing of the tax shall not again be submitted to the voters of the special district until after 24 months immediately following the month in which the election was held. It shall be the duty of the election superintendent to hold and conduct such elections under the same rules and regulations as govern special elections. It shall be such superintendent's further duty to canvass the returns, declare and certify the result of the election, and certify the result to the Secretary of State and to the commissioner. The expense of the election shall be borne by the county whose geographical boundary is conterminous with that of the special district holding the election. (Ga. L. 1979, p. 446, § 1; Code 1933, § 91A-4616, enacted by Ga. L. 1979, p. 446, § 2; Ga. L. 2010, p. 958, § 4/HB 991.)