Cobb County hears education on Georgia local-option sales taxes, including new FLOST option

Dante Bridal of the Association County Commissioners of Georgia briefed the Cobb County Board of Commissioners in an education session on the state's local-option sales-tax options after passage of House Bill 581. Bridal told the commission the current maximum local sales-tax rate under state law is 5% and described the different pennies that counties may levy and how those pennies interact with homestead exemptions and municipal agreements.

Why it matters: Local-option sales taxes provide counties a way to raise revenue without raising property taxes, or alternatively to use sales-tax proceeds to roll back millage rates for property-tax relief. Which sales taxes a county can use affects how revenues are split between county and cities and what uses are permitted by law.

Bridal explained the primary types of sales taxes available under the law. He said two pennies are available to every local government and three additional pennies come from separate buckets (examples: LOST, SPLOST, HOST, and the FLOST) to reach the 5% maximum. He described SPLOST (special-purpose local-option sales tax) as a 1% penny for capital projects specified to voters, with level 1…