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Georgia Amendment 3, Forest Land Conservation and Timberland Properties Amendment (2018)
- General election: Nov. 6
- Voter registration deadline: Oct. 9[1]
- Early voting: Oct. 15 - Nov. 2
- Absentee voting deadline: Nov. 6
- Online registration: Yes
- Same-day registration: No
- Voter ID: Photo ID required
- Poll times: 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
| Georgia Amendment 3 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date November 6, 2018 | |
| Topic Property and Natural resources | |
Status Approved | |
| Type Constitutional amendment | Origin State legislature |
Georgia Amendment 3, the Forest Land Conservation and Timberland Properties Amendment, was on the ballot in Georgia as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment on November 6, 2018. It was approved.
| A "yes" vote supported amending the state constitution to allow the legislature to change the formula used to calculate the tax on forest land conservation use property and create a new land designation for commercial timberland and to establish a percentage of local grant assistance funding that could be retained by the state for administration. |
| A "no" vote opposed amending the state constitution to allow the legislature to change the formula used to calculate the tax on forest land conservation use property and create a new land designation for commercial timberland and to establish a percentage of local grant assistance funding that could be retained by the state for administration. |
Election results
|
Georgia Amendment 3 |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
|
|
2,275,659 | 62.18% | ||
| No | 1,384,369 | 37.82% | ||
Measure design
Amendment 3 removed the constitutional requirement that the state legislature use a "formula based on current use, annual productivity, and real property sales data" to calculate the tax on forest land conservation use property (FLCUP). The class of property called forest land conservation use property was created in 2008, when voters approved Amendment 1. The class was created to allow for the special assessment and taxation of forested land exceeding 200 acres to encourage conservation of the state’s forests.[2]
Amendment 1 in 2008 established assistance grants to local governments to help them address lost revenue due to the special assessment and taxation of FLCUP. This 2018 amendment was designed to allow the legislature to pass a law to keep up to 5 percent of an assistance grant's value for the purpose of administering the program.
Amendment 3 authorized the legislature to create a new class of property, titled timberland property, for tangible real property used for growing trees for commercial timber. The legislature was tasked with developing an ad valorem taxation assessment for timberland property.
Text of measure
Ballot title
The ballot title for Amendment 3:[2]
| “ | Shall the Constitution of Georgia be amended so as to revise provisions related to the subclassification for tax purposes of and the prescribed methodology for establishing the value of forest land conservation use property and related assistance grants, to provide that assistance grants related to forest land conservation use property may be increased by general law for a five-year period and that up to 5 percent of assistance grants may be deducted and retained by the state revenue commissioner to provide for certain state administrative costs, and to provide for the subclassification of qualified timberland property for ad valorem taxation purposes?[3] | ” |
Ballot summary
The ballot summary for Amendment 3 was as follows:[4]
| “ |
This proposal revises provisions subclassifying forest land conservation use property for ad valorem taxation purposes. It revises the methodology for establishing the value of forest land conservation use property and related assistance grants. The proposal also permits the subclassification of qualified timberland property for ad valorem taxation purposes. It amends Article V1I, Section I, Paragraph III of the Georgia Constitution by revising subparagraph (f) and by adding a new subparagraph (f.1). A copy of this entire proposed constitutional amendment is on file in the office of the judge of the probate court and is available for public inspection.[3] |
” |
Constitutional changes
The measure amended subparagraph (f) of Paragraph III of Article VII of the Georgia Constitution. The full text of the proposed constitutional changes is available here.[2]
Readability score
- See also: Ballot measure readability scores, 2018
| Using the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL and Flesch Reading Ease (FRE) formulas, Ballotpedia scored the readability of the ballot title and summary for this measure. Readability scores are designed to indicate the reading difficulty of text. The Flesch-Kincaid formulas account for the number of words, syllables, and sentences in a text; they do not account for the difficulty of the ideas in the text. The state legislature wrote the ballot language for this measure.
In 2018, for the 167 statewide measures on the ballot, the average ballot title or question was written at a level appropriate for those with between 19 and 20 years of U.S. formal education (graduate school-level of education), according to the FKGL formula. Read Ballotpedia's entire 2018 ballot language readability report here. |
Sponsors
Governor Nathan Deal said, "Georgia's working forests generate significant economic investment in our local communities due to the contributions of those who replenish and protect our natural resources. This legislation supports our timber growers and lessens the economic burden of producing quality products that sustain numerous industries, from construction to manufacturing."[5]
Rep. Jay Powell (R-Camilla), a primary sponsor of Amendment 3 in the legislature, said, "Our private forest owners are consistently supporting our state's economy and environment, using their own resources. This legislation helps to address several issues in the conservation use assessment of timberland to create a fair system for forest landowners while maintaining funding for counties throughout the state."[5]
Andres Villegas, president and CEO of the Georgia Forestry Association, said, "For more than 100 years, the Georgia Forestry Association has been instrumental in timber tax legislation, which has positioned the state as a global leader in forestry. Thanks to the leadership of our elected officials and Governor Deal, we can, once again, ensure that our tax policy supports the growth and vitality of our working forests and the communities that depend on them."[5]
Campaign finance
| Total campaign contributions: | |
| Support: | $0.00 |
| Opposition: | $0.00 |
Ballotpedia had not identified any committees registered in support of or in opposition to the measure.
Background
Implementing legislation
The implementing legislation for the amendment was House Bill 85, a companion bill to the proposed constitutional amendment that outlines specific details in the Official Code of Georgia Annotated regarding the revision of the methodology used to establish forest land fair market value.[6]
Under HB 85, tangible real property that qualifies as forest land conservation use property or qualified timberland property will be assessed at 40 percent of its forest land conservation use value. Timberland property was defined in HB 85 as "tangible real property that has as its primary use the bona fide production of trees for the primary purpose of producing timber for commercial uses."[6]
This legislation was designed to allow the state revenue commissioner to deduct and retain 3 percent of an assistance grant's value for the purpose of administering the program.[6]
The full text of HB 85 can be read here.[6]
The legislation was signed by Governor Deal on May 2, 2018, and was contingent on voter approval of the constitutional amendment on November 6, 2018.[6]
Path to the ballot
- See also: Amending the Georgia Constitution
In Georgia, a constitutional amendment must be passed by a two-thirds vote in each house of the state legislature. The 2017 legislative session ran from January 9, 2017, through March 31, 2017. The 2018 legislative session ran from January 8, 2018, through March 29, 2018. Bills carryover from odd to even-numbered years in Georgia.
On January 23, 2017, the amendment was introduced into the legislature as House Resolution 51. On March 1, 2017, the House of Representatives approved the measure 162 to 2, with 16 members not voting or excused. On March 23, 2018, the state Senate voted 52 to 1, with three senators excused, to approve the amendment.[2]
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See also
External links
- Georgia House Resolution 51
- 2018 Proposed Constitutional Amendments and Statewide Referendum Questions
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 The registration deadline was extended to October 16, 2018, in Clay, Grady, Randolph, and Turner counties by executive order of Gov. Nathan Deal in response to Hurricane Michael.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Georgia Legislature, "House Resolution 51 Overview," accessed March 2, 2017
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Georgia Secretary of State, "Proposed Constitutional Amendments and State-Wide Referendum Questions General Election November 6, 2018," accessed September 12, 2018
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Benzinga, "Governor Deal Signs Critical Timber Tax Reform Legislation," accessed May 21, 2018
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 Georgia Legislature, "House Bill 85," accessed May 12, 2018
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