Fiscal Responsibility, Budgeting, and Procurement
Fiscal questions test whether you can read a millage rate, follow the budget calendar, and make a purchase without splitting it to dodge a threshold.
Budgets, O.C.G.A. § 36-81-1 et seq.
- Every county and city must adopt an annual, balanced budget by ordinance or resolution after a public hearing with notice.
- The budget is a spending limit, not a suggestion: expenditures may not exceed appropriations, and transfers need governing body approval.
- A copy must be filed with the Department of Community Affairs, and local governments meeting the statutory revenue threshold must obtain an annual audit; the audit is public.
Property tax math
- Assessed value is 40 percent of fair market value (O.C.G.A. § 48-5-7).
- One mill produces $1 of tax per $1,000 of assessed value.
- The tax commissioner bills and collects; the governing body sets the millage rate after required hearings. If the proposed rate exceeds the rollback rate, the Taxpayer Bill of Rights (O.C.G.A. § 48-5-32.1) requires advertised tax-increase hearings.
Procurement
- Local purchasing is governed by the charter and purchasing ordinance, so know your own dollar thresholds.
- Public works construction over $100,000 falls under the Georgia Local Government Public Works Construction Law, O.C.G.A. § 36-91-1 et seq.: sealed competitive bids, newspaper advertisement, a bid bond, and 100 percent performance and payment bonds.
- Never split a purchase into smaller pieces to stay under a threshold; that is the most-tested procurement violation.
- General obligation debt generally requires a referendum; revenue bonds repaid from project revenues do not (Ga. Const. art. IX, § V).
Worked example
A house has a fair market value of $300,000 and the city levies 20 mills. Assessed value = $300,000 × 0.40 = $120,000. Tax = ($120,000 ÷ 1,000) × 20 = $2,400. If the rollback rate were 18 mills, the city must advertise a tax increase and hold the required hearings before adopting 20.
Traps that cost marks
Using market value instead of assessed value; forgetting the 40 percent factor; assuming the tax commissioner sets the rate when the governing body does; splitting purchases; treating a bid bond as a performance bond.