ATLANTA – Georgia tax collections continued strong last month, the state Department of Revenue reported Monday.
The state agency brought in nearly $2.71 billion in October, an increase of $230.2 million, or 9.3%, compared to October of last year.
Since the start of fiscal 2023 in July, tax revenues are up 7.8% over the first four months of the last fiscal year.
Individual income taxes rose 18.4%, spurred by a 29.4% increase in tax return payments. Net sales tax receipts were up 16.6% over October 2021.
Corporate income tax collections rose by 12%, driven in large part by a 59.3% decline in tax refunds issued.
Once again, revenues from the state tax on gasoline and other motor fuels were virtually non-existent – down 99% – with the temporary suspension of the tax still in effect.
Georgia tax revenues have been on the rise for more than a year, as the state built a record $6.6 billion budget surplus coming out of the coronavirus pandemic.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
ATLANTA – The group Georgia Conservation Voters (GCV) is running a digital ad calling attention to a controversial proposal to mine titanium near the Okefenokee Swamp.
The 18-second ad, which is appearing on Facebook and Instagram, shows video footage of the Okefenokee with a written script describing the importance of the swamp and the potential harm a nearby mine could wreak on wildlife, the environment, and tourism. It features an instrumental music track but no narration.
The ad also refers to $40,000 in campaign contributions Republican Gov. Brian Kemp has received from executives with Alabama-based Twin Pines Minerals and its lobbyists.
“The Okefenokee is a national treasure that belongs to our country and the people of Georgia, not private companies,” GCV spokesman Abraham Park said Friday. “The mine proposed by Twin Pines not only puts the integrity of the swamp at risk, but also endangers the communities that depend upon it for their livelihood.
“We need a governor who will protect the Okefenokee, not sell it out for campaign contributions from an Alabama mining company run by former coal miners with a history of pollution.”
Twin Pines is seeking permits from the Georgia Environmental Protection Division to mine titanium dioxide at a site three miles from the swamp.
Environmental groups including the Georgia Conservancy say the mine could damage adjacent wetlands by lowering water levels, permanently affecting the hydrology of the largest black water swamp in North America.
Georgia Rep. Darlene Taylor, R-Thomasville, introduced bipartisan legislation this year to ban mining near the Okefenokee. While the bill failed to make progress in the House, lawmakers did adopt a nonbinding resolution during the final week of the 2022 legislative session calling for protecting the swamp as a valuable tourism resource.
While Kemp has declined to weigh in on the debate over the mine, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams has said she opposes the project.
The Kemp campaign did not respond immediately to a request for comment on the ad.
ATLANTA – In late September, Georgia Power executives explained during several days of hearings before the state Public Service Commission (PSC) why the Atlanta-based utility needs a nearly 12% rate increase over the next three years.
Starting Tuesday – coincidentally, Election Day – environmental and consumer advocates as well as other “intervenors” representing business groups and local governments will get a chance to present their side of the rate case.
What has the intervenors especially worried is what is not officially at stake in the current hearings. Besides the requested hike in base rates, Georgia Power is expected to ask the PSC for three other increases over roughly the next year to recover higher fuel costs and the expense of bringing into service two additional nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle.
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Liz Coyle, executive director of the Atlanta-based consumer advocacy group Georgia Watch. “It’s like a tsunami if the commission goes along with this.”
If the PSC votes next month to approve the full increase in base rates Georgia Power is seeking, the average residential customer’s bill would go up by $16.29 a month starting Jan. 1.
While Georgia Power hasn’t indicated how much the other three increases would affect customers, intervenors doing the math have estimated the total impact including the hike in base rates would come to $30 a month on the low end and potentially up to $50 or more.
“That’s a lot for people with the price of groceries and gasoline going up,” said Jill Kysor, a lawyer representing the Atlanta-based Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC). “That’s definitely going to hit hard.”
Chris Womack, Georgia Power’s chairman, president, and CEO testified during the September hearings that the company needs the proposed increase in base rates to strengthen its electric grid, add more renewable energy to its power-generation portfolio and improve customer service.
Kysor said the SELC is asking the commission to take steps to reduce the amount of the rate hike where they can, including lowering the return on equity (ROE) Georgia Power is allowed.
The company is seeking an ROE of 11%, up from the current 10.5%.
“Does Georgia Power need a profit rate higher than any of their peers?” Kysor asked. “The commission could approve a much lower ROE. That could save hundreds of millions of dollars a year.”
Kysor said Georgia Power also could be required to develop a more aggressive rooftop solar program. The company currently limits the program to 5,000 customers, and the PSC has declined to increase that cap.
One way to encourage more rooftop solar would be for Georgia Power to offer net metering, which allows homeowners to sell unused energy produced by their rooftop solar panels back to the company to help offset their monthly bills.
“[Georgia Power] has made a lot of strides on renewables, but there’s a long way to go,” Kysor said.
Georgia Power spokesman Jacob Hawkins said net metering shifts costs from homeowners participating in the program to all other customers.
“As more customers invest in renewable resources like rooftop solar at their homes and businesses, Georgia Power is committed to working with the Georgia Public Service Commission to implement policies that support the growth of behind-the-meter generation while also protecting non-participating customers from increased costs,” he said.
On the ROE issue, Hawkins said Georgia Power needs a healthy return to ensure favorable financing terms for capital investments needed to serve its 2.7 million customers and the state’s growing economy.
“As we continue to make critical investments necessary to providing clean, safe, reliable, and affordable energy, the company’s financial integrity must be maintained to ensure that our ability to raise capital at reasonable cost and upon reasonable terms for the benefit of our customers remains intact,” he said.
Coyle said Georgia Power can’t expect to get everything it wants from the PSC.
In the utility’s last rate case three years ago, the commission ended up approving a flat service fee for residential customers of $14 a month. Georgia Power had proposed a monthly fee of $17.95.
“The company always asks for more than the commission authorizes, and the commission always gives them less than they ask for,” Coyle said. “The question is how much less?”
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation
Georgia House Speaker David Ralston (Photo by Beau Evans)
ATLANTA – Georgia House Speaker David Ralston announced Friday he will not seek another term as leader of the legislative chamber in January, citing a health issue.
“Serving as speaker of the Georgia House of Representatives has been the honor of a lifetime, and I owe a heartfelt thank you to my colleagues for the trust and confidence they placed in me 13 years ago,” said Ralston, R-Blue Ridge.
“I need to take time to address a health challenge which has arisen recently, and the House needs a speaker who can devote the necessary time and energy to the office.”
House members elect a speaker every two years on the first day of the General Assembly session following the November elections. Ralston was elected speaker in 2010 and has been reelected every two years since then, usually with only token opposition if that.
Friday’s announcement will not affect Ralston’s representation of the 7th House District in Northwest Georgia. He is running for reelection next week unopposed and said he will continue to serve his district during the 2023-24 session.
“I love the House and want to see the honorable men and women who serve in it succeed,” he said. “I will work the remainder of my term as speaker to ensure a smooth transition for my successor.”
Ralston was elected to the House in 2002 after spending six years in the state Senate during the 1990s. He ran for attorney general in 1998, losing to Democrat Thurbert Baker.
Highlights of Ralston’s time as speaker include his backing of the largest state income tax cut in Georgia history, a $900 million transportation funding bill that has helped the state plug a backlog of critical bridge and highway improvements, adoption reform, and the first-ever paid parental leave policy for teachers and state employees.
Most recently, Ralston led the way this year to passage of legislation overhauling Georgia’s mental health-care system.
“David Ralston has been a steadfast leader for Georgia throughout his time as speaker, and our state is better off thanks to his wisdom and commitment to all Georgians while guiding the House through challenging times,” Gov. Brian Kemp said Friday. “While his service as speaker is coming to a close, I know I will continue to ask my friend for his advice and counsel.”
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation
ATLANTA – Democrat Kwanza Hall, who served on the Atlanta City Council and briefly as a congressman, has endorsed two Republicans – Gov. Brian Kemp and state Sen. Burt Jones, the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor.
“Over the last four years, I’ve witnessed Governor Kemp make tough decisions – ones that weren’t always popular at the time – in unprecedented circumstances,” Hall said in backing Kemp’s reelection bid over Democrat Stacey Abrams.
“While we don’t agree on every issue, it’s abundantly clear that Brian Kemp is a man of character, a strong leader, and someone who Georgians can trust to put them and their interests first.”
Hall was part of a crowded field of candidates in last May’s Democratic primary for lieutenant governor. After finishing first but failing to garner a majority of the vote, he lost his party’s nomination in a runoff to Charlie Bailey.
Rather than back Bailey, Hall threw his support Friday behind Jones.
“Burt is the only candidate in the race with a plan to invest in our communities, lower costs, improve our K-12 education system and reduce crime,” Hall said. “Burt Jones has a proven track record of delivering results for every person in Georgia.”
Jones’ campaign cited Hall’s endorsement as demonstrating Jones is resonating with Democrats and independents as well as Republicans.
Hall served three terms on the Atlanta City Council before launching an unsuccessful bid for mayor.
He then served briefly in the U.S. House of Representatives following the death of longtime Congressman and civil rights leader John Lewis two years ago. Current Rep. Nikema Williams, D-Atlanta, won a full two-year term in Georgia’s 5th Congressional District in November 2020.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
