COVINGTON, Ga. — Voters in the Nov. 3 General Election will have a chance to tell the state government if fees collected for specific purposes should be used only for what was intended by including it in the Georgia Constitution.
They also can vote whether to amend the state Constitution to allow residents to sue the government for state law or constitutional violations.
And they also can choose whether to exempt nonprofits like Habitat for Humanity from paying property taxes on land they own for houses they will eventually sell with zero interest loans in Georgia.
The two constitutional amendments and a statewide referendum are on the ballot for Newton County voters.
Proposed Constitutional Amendment 1
“Shall the Constitution of Georgia be amended so as to authorize the General Assembly to dedicate revenues derived from fees or taxes to the public purpose for which such fees or taxes were intended?”
This proposal asks voters if they want to include in the state Constitution a requirement that the state government only use fees it collects for such purposes as cleanup of illegal tire dumps or hazardous waste to be used for those purposes and not placed into the state budget for other uses.
However, it also allows the state to use the money in the event of an economic
downturn and prohibits the General Assembly from dedicating money for a specific purpose if it exceeds 1% of total state revenues from the previous year.
It requires establishment of a special fund to include identification of its specific purpose, naming the state agency to administer the funds, providing annual reports of revenues and expenses, and ending the fee or tax within 10 years.
Environmental groups have praised the proposed amendment as “an important step toward cleaning up Georgia” after years of uncertainty about whether dedicated funds could be steered to other purposes.
Proposed Constitutional Amendment 2
“Shall the Constitution of Georgia be amended to waive sovereign immunity and allow the people of Georgia to petition the superior court for relief from governmental acts done outside the scope of lawful authority or which violate the laws of this state, the Constitution of Georgia, or the Constitution of the United States?”
This would remove sovereign immunity protections from state and local governments, and allow lawsuits against them for alleged violations of state laws and state and U.S. constitutions.
Sovereign immunity is a concept Georgia carried over from British common law that states the government legally can do no wrong.
District 110 State Rep. Andy Welch, R-McDonough, whose district included part of Newton County, sponsored the resolution for the constitutional amendment in reaction to previous vetoes of similar legislation by two governors.
It would allow lawsuits against governments in superior courts and authorizes superior courts to order state and local officers and employees to cease violations beginning Jan. 1, 2021.
It also requires that such legal actions be against the state or local government entity and not an elected official or individual working in the government.
The amendment also prohibits any type of monetary award unless the Georgia General Assembly approves it.
The Georgia Supreme Court ruled in 2017 that sovereign immunity protected public officials from being sued.
Statewide Referendum
“Shall the Act be approved which provides an exemption from ad valorem taxes for all real property owned by a purely public charity, if such charity is exempt from taxation under Section 501(c)(3) of the federal Internal Revenue Code and such real property is held exclusively for the purpose of building or repairing single-family homes to be financed by such charity to individuals using loans that shall not bear interest?”
This proposed law applies to nonprofits like Habitat for Humanity. It will exempt from property taxes land owned by a nonprofit if the property is only used for construction or repair of single-family homes financed by the nonprofit with zero interest loans for individuals.
