Fulton House and Senate Delegation Consider Multiple Bills Aimed at Changing Fulton County
The 2013 session of the Georgia General Assembly began on January 14, 2013. The following bills have been introduced which will have an effect on the operations and governance of Fulton County Government, its constitutional officers and affiliate organizations:
HB170 - Sponsors: Rep. Jan Jones, Rep. Edward Lindsey, Rep. Lynne Riley, Rep. Joe Wilkinson, Rep. Chuck Martin
This bill proposes a referendum to increase Fulton County’s Homestead Exemption from the current amount of $30,000 to $60,000. HB170 also proposes to cap the Fulton County General Fund millage rate.
HB 171 - Sponsored by Rep. Lynne Riley, Rep. Joe Wilkinson, Rep. Wendell Willard, Rep. Harry Geisinger, Rep. Jan Jones and others
HB 171 seeks to change the current commission district lines for the Fulton County Board of Commissioners. This bill would increase the number of district commission seats and eliminate the second at-large seat that currently exists. This bill changes the distribution and layout of the current geographic commission districts. It also establishes staggered terms for Fulton County Commissioners.
HB 172 - Sponsored by Rep. Chuck Martin, Rep. Lynne Riley, Rep. Joe Wilkinson, Rep. Wendell Willard, Rep. Harry Geisinger. HB 172 seeks to make changes to Fulton County’s civil service system for employees. Any employee who is hired after the adoption of this bill would be automatically placed in unclassified status. Any current employee who is in classified status but who accepts another position within Fulton County Government will be placed in unclassified status. Positions that are currently unclassified will remain unclassified.
HR 275 through HR 279 - Sponsored by Representatives Jan Jones, Lynne Riley, Wendell Willard, Harry Geisinger, Chuck Martin, and Tom Rice. This group of bills seeks to re-create Milton County.
HB 264 - Revisions of MARTA Act. Sponsored by Representative Mike Jacobs, Chairman of the MARTA Oversight Committee (MARTOC), along with co-sponsors from the Fulton County Delegation - Representatives Harry Geisinger, Lynne Riley, Wendell Willard, and Edward Lindsey. This bill suspends the restriction of 50% of sales and use taxes as the maximum amount allowed for the operations of MARTA for an additional 3 years, and alters the powers of the Fulton County Board of Commissioners to appoint members to the MARTA Board, among other revisions.
South Fulton MARTA Board Member (1)
• Appointed by a majority vote of a caucus of the Chairman of the Board of Commissioners, the Commissioners representing districts of Fulton County south of the corporate limits of Atlanta, and mayors of the municipalities lying south of the corporate limits of Atlanta - Chattahoochee Hills, College Park, East Point, Fairburn, Hapeville, Palmetto, and Union City.
North Fulton MARTA Board Members (2)
• Appointed by a majority vote of a caucus of the mayors of the municipalities lying north of the corporate limits of Atlanta - Alpharetta, John's Creek, Milton, Mountain Park, Roswell, and Sandy Springs.
• Neither the Commissioners from districts representing North Fulton County, nor the Chairman of the Board of Commissioners, will have a vote in the appointment of the North Fulton MARTA Board members.
These changes will go into effect January 1, 2014. In addition, Board members will transition to staggered appointments - six members will serve four-year terms, while five will serve initial two-year terms. The successors of those five members will serve four year terms going forward.
Additional revisions in this bill would also require privatization of some of MARTA's operations as recommended in the recent KPMG audit, allows
the Governor to appoint an arbitrator in any labor dispute between MARTA and the Amalgamated Transit Union, and transition MARTA to a defined contribution system or 401(k) for new employees
HB 346 - Effective January 1, 2017, the Fulton County Tax Commissioner shall be nominated by the Chairperson of the Board of Commissioners subject to the approval of the Board. The appointee will have a 4-year term. The Tax Commissioner is prohibited from receiving compensation from any source for performing the duties of his or her office other than the salary, expense reimbursements, and benefits paid to the Tax Commissioner by Fulton County.
HB 347 - The Fulton County Board of Elections shall remain 5 members. The Fulton County House and Senate Delegation in the Georgia General Assembly shall appoint 1 person, who will be the chairperson of the Board of Elections. Two members will be appointed by the Chairperson of the Fulton County Republican Party executive committee, and two members will be appointed by the Chairperson of the Fulton County Democratic Party executive committee. (This is defined in the bill by the political parties receiving the most votes and second-most votes for the Georgia General Assembly in a preceding General Election.) The Fulton County Board of Commissioners will not have an independent role in appointing anyone to the Board of Elections.