Georgia's TSPLOST At The Pump

The House of Representatives of the Georgia General Assembly (the "House") passed a bill on March 5, 2015 known as the Transportation Funding Act of 2015 or House Bill 170 ("HB 170") to address critical transportation needs in the State of Georgia (the "State").  Following, a conference committee was appointed and subsequently the conference committee report was adopted and HB 170 was sent to and signed by the Governor.

The general provisions of HB 170 will allow cities, counties and schools, by referendum (for a maximum of 20 quarters), to continue to collect all local sales taxes at their current 1% rate on the sale of motor fuel. Beginning July 1 of this year (2015), local sales taxes may only be collected on the sale of motor fuel up to $3.00 per gallon. Any retail price above $3.00 per gallon would not be subject to any local sales taxes. While HB 170 phases out the State's 4% tax on gas, it raises the excise tax to 26 cents per gallon of gasoline, the