Fiscal Research Program¹
at the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies

The Fiscal Research Program (FRP) provides nonpartisan research, technical assistance and education in the evaluation and design of state and local fiscal and economic policy, including both tax and expenditure issues. The FRP mission is to promote the development of sound public policy and public understanding of issues concerning state and local governments. Established in 1995, the program helps provide information to state and local governments so they can make informed decisions about complex fiscal issues. The program has a full-time staff and affiliated faculty from throughout Georgia State University and elsewhere who lead its research projects.

One of the objectives of the FRP is to help inform and stimulate debate on fiscal policy. The program publishes Policy Briefs, which are widely distributed summaries of longer reports, as well as essays on issues confronting the state. The program also organizes periodic Seminars, Workshops, Luncheons and Conferences during which fiscal policy makers, administrators, and faculty discuss fiscal policy issues. David L. Sjoquist is director of the Fiscal Research Program, and Sally Wallace is Associate Director.

In This Page

• Research Agenda
• Reports
• Visitors and Other Activities
• Projects
• Technical Assistance

Research Agenda

The research agenda of the Fiscal Research Program is composed of three broad categories: Intergovernmental Issues, Tax Policy, and the Georgia Economy. Each category is comprised of a set of projects that are FRP focus areas for state policy. Lead researchers for each project are identified.

Intergovernmental Issues:

Education Finance Project. Ross Rubenstein. Explores issues associated with education financing and delivery of education in Georgia.

Georgia Intergovernmental Forum. Sally Wallace. Explores issues inherent in relationships between state and local governments.

Tax and Expenditure Policy:

Business Tax Project. Martin Grace. Addresses the taxation of banking, insurance, and corporations.

Income Tax Project. Sally Wallace. Analyzes the structure and impact of income taxation.

Property Tax Project. David L. Sjoquist. Focuses on the structure, administration, and effects of property taxation.

Sales and Excise Tax Project. Roy Bahl. Studies the structure, administration, and effects of sales and excise taxation.

Tax Modeling Project. Kelly Edmiston. Involves the development of a sophisticated computer-based model for use in the analysis of tax policy proposals.

Telecommunication/Public Utilities Project. Bruce Seaman. Focuses on alternatives in the taxation of public utilities.

State Budget Project. David L. Sjoquist. Concerns policy issues associated with government budgeting.

The Georgia Economy:

Economic Development Project. Jeanie Thomas. Addresses the many issues relevant to the state's economic development efforts.

Georgia Data Project. Julie Hotchkiss. Involves development of a database built on the Unemployment Insurance records from the Department of Labor, welfare records for the Department of Human Resources, and other agency databases.

Georgia Economy Project. David L. Sjoquist. Studies various sectors and aspects of the Georgia economy such as banking, changes in the distribution of income, and changes in the location of retail sales.

Reports

Does Growth Pay For Itself? Property Tax Trends for School Systems in Georgia. Richard Hawkins.** This report examines the relationship between economic growth and Georgia school property tax bases. January 2002.

Georgia’s Taxes: A Summary of Major State and Local Government Taxes, 8th Edition. Jack Morton and Richard Hawkins.** A handbook on taxation that provides a quick overview of all state and local taxes in Georgia. January 2002.

Revenue Implications for Georgia of Tax Changes Since 1987. Kelly Edmiston, Alan Essig, Catherine Freeman, Richard R. Hawkins,** David L. Sjoquist, William J. Smith, Sally Wallace and Laura Wheeler. This report provided estimates of the state revenue impacts of all tax changes since 1987. January 2002.

Residential Mobility, Migration and Georgia’s Labor Force. Amy Helling and Nevbahar Ertas. This report examines the characteristics of workers who recently moved into and within Georgia and focuses particularly on who is employed in newly created jobs. February 2002.

How Much Preference: Effective Personal Income Tax Rates for the Elderly. Barbara Edwards** and Sally Wallace. This report analyzes the effect of differential income tax treatment of the elderly in Georgia and in the United States. April 2002.

The Net Economic Impact of Large Firm Openings and Closures in the State of Georgia. Kelly Edmiston. This report estimates the net employment impact of large firm openings and closures in the State of Georgia. New high technology firms are found to generate considerably more spillover employment than non-high-tech firm openings, and the spillovers are greater the more narrowly high technology is defined. May 2002.

Do Local Sales Taxes for Education Increase Inequities? The Case of Georgia’s ESPLOST. Ross Rubenstein and Catherine Freeman. This report examines the equity effects of Georgia’s use of the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax for Education (ESPLOST). June 2002.

Local Land Use Policy and Investment Incentives. Geoffrey Turnbull. This report discusses how the threat of land use regulation affects the pace and pattern of urban development and how legal constraints on policymakers can alter the intended effects of land use controls. June 2002.

Firm-Level Effects of Apportionment Formula Changes. Kelly D. Edmiston and F. Javier Arze.* This report utilizes Georgia corporate income tax returns from 1992-1998 to examine the effects of its 1995 change in apportionment formula on the levels of sales, payroll, and property in the state. October 2002.

Local Tax Base Sharing: An Incentive for Intergovernmental Cooperation. Geoffrey Turnbull. This report develops and explains the principles for designing effective tax base sharing among local governments as a means of coordinating development incentives. October 2002.

Job Creation by Georgia Start-Up Businesses. Lakshmi Pandey and Jeanie Thomas. This report examines the success rate of start-up companies in Georgia by industry and by region between 1986 and 2000. November 2002.

Racial Segregation in Georgia Public Schools, 1994-2001: Trends, Causes and Impact on Teacher Quality. Catherine Freeman, Benjamin P. Scafidi, Jr. and David L. Sjoquist. This report looks at recent trends in segregation and its impact on teacher quality in the state of Georgia. November 2002.

The Effect of State Income Tax Structure on Interstate Migration. Sally Wallace. This report analyzes the effect of state income taxes on individual migration among states. December 2002.

Georgia’s Corporate Income and Net Worth Taxes. Martin Grace. This report examines the Georgia Corporate Income Tax and Net Worth Tax and examines some possible reforms. December 2002.

The Geography of Age. Sally Wallace and Lakshmi Pandey. FRP/Atlanta Regional Commission Census Report, available on the joint Web site, http://atlantacensus2000.gsu.edu.

The Geography of Race. David L. Sjoquist and Lakshmi Pandey. FRP/Atlanta Regional Commission Census Report, available on the joint Web site, http://atlantacensus2000.gsu.edu.

Research and Briefing Memoranda

Debt Management Plan for Georgia. Roy Bahl, Ross Rubenstein, David L. Sjoquist, and Sally Wallace. Prepared for the Governor's office, this work examines the tradeoff between factors affecting state board ratings.

Double Taxation of Corporate Net Income. Kelly Edmiston. Prepared for Georgia Representative Mac Collins, this work examines the double-taxation of corporate net income and considers ways of eliminating the double-taxation.

Economic Impact of Proposed Bond Funded Capital Spending. Kelly Edmiston. Prepared for Georgia Governor’s Office, this work estimates the economic impact of proposed bond funded capital spending.

Economic Impact of Proposed Sales Tax Holiday. Richard Hawkins.** Prepared for Georgia Governor’s Office, this work provides an estimate of the revenue effect of the sales tax holiday on computers and school supplies.

The Economy and Tax Policy. Roy Bahl, David L. Sjoquist, and Sally Wallace. Prepared for the State of Georgia General Assembly, this work examines the relationship between the current tax structure and the Georgia economy.

Estimated Cost of City of Atlanta Sanitation Services. John Matthews and William J. Smith.* Prepared for the City of Atlanta, this work estimates the unit cost of selected sanitation services for the City of Atlanta.

Investment and the Alternative Minimum Tax. Kelly Edmiston. Prepared for Georgia Representative Mac Collins, this work examines the effect of the alternative minimum tax on business investment.

Revenue Options for Municipal Governments in Georgia. David L. Sjoquist and Sally Wallace. Prepared for the Georgia Municipal Association, this work examines options for local revenue.

Sales Tax Exemption for Vending Machines. William J. Smith* and David L. Sjoquist. Prepared for Georgia Representative Richard Royal, this work estimates the revenue loss from a state sales tax exemption for food sold through vending machines.

Visitors and Other Activities

Richard Hawkins** (Assistant Professor, Department of Marketing and Economics at the University of West Florida) visited during the year. He worked with the Fiscal Research Program on projects of fiscal importance, assisted in writing the Eighth Edition of “Georgia Taxes: A Summary of Major State and Local Government Taxes,” and conducted research related to the revenue effect of the sales tax holiday on computers and school supplies.

The Fiscal Research Program participated in several presentations to international visitors to the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, briefing them on various economic development research conducted in the FRP.

FRP Lecture Series:

May 2002 Roundtable:

In May, the Fiscal Research Program sponsored a roundtable discussion, "Equity, Compliance and Efficiency of Georgia's State and Local Tax System." Participants included a select group of informed individuals including the Department of Revenue Commissioner, representatives from government, the private sector, and academia.

Discussions included:

• William Fox (University of Tennessee) on Sales Taxation in Georgia
• David Sjoquist (Georgia State University) on Property Taxation
• Sally Wallace (Georgia State University) on Personal Income Taxation
• Kelly Edmiston with Martin Grace (Georgia State University) on Corporate Income Taxation

Discussants for the sessions included:

• Paige Brown (tax consultant) and Jim Davis (Georgia Southern University)
• John Coalson (Alston and Bird)
• Al Outland (Georgia Municipal Association)

Participants in the program included appointed and elected state government officials, business leaders, government agencies, lawyers, and faculty from the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies. Sally Wallace organized the conference.

Projects

Country/Segment Study of Direct Foreign Assessment. Robert Moore and Bruce Seaman. This project, funded by the Georgia Department of Industry, Trade and Tourism (GDITT) will assist GDITT in better targeting countries and regions so as to improve the “returns” to incentive plans by better understanding the country-specific and industry-specific macroeconomic determinants of firm relocation and direct investment. ($62,952)

Development of Logic Models. Julia Melkers. This project, funded by the Georgia Department of Industry, Trade and Tourism will develop a comprehensive performance monitoring system with methods and processes for collection, maintenance and reporting of data. ($38,359)

Evaluation of Economic Development. David L. Sjoquist and Kelly Edmiston. This project, funded by the Georgia Department of Industry, Trade and Tourism, will evaluate a proposal to implement in Georgia an economic development incentive based on an incentive employed by the State of Kentucky. ($39,744)

Evaluation of Performance and Impact of HOPE VI Community Revitalization (Harris Homes). David L. Sjoquist, James Wolk, Fred Brooks, and Benjamin P. Scafidi, Jr. This project will conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the impact of the HOPE VI revitalization program at Harris Homes for the Housing Authority of the City of Atlanta, Georgia. ($491,937)

Framework for Forecasting Welfare Caseloads in Georgia. David L. Sjoquist and Shif Gurmu. This project, being conducted for the Georgia Department of Human Resources, proposes alternative modeling approaches to the development of a framework for generating monthly and quarterly forecasts of welfare caseloads in Georgia. ($17,169)

Georgia Administrative Data Project. Julie L. Hotchkiss. Funded by the Atlanta Private Industry Council, this grant supports research on evaluation of the role of geography (space) in successful transition from welfare to work. ($54,006)

Georgia Administrative Data Project. Julie L. Hotchkiss. This grant, from the U.S. Department of Labor through the University of Baltimore, provides research on the evaluation of trends in transitions from welfare to work as part of a multi-state research project. ($46,035)

Georgia Administrative Data Project. Julie L. Hotchkiss and Lakshmi Pandey. This grant, also from the U.S. Department of Labor through the University of Baltimore, matches adult AFDC/TANF recipients with quarterly wage earning for January 1995 through December 1996. ($2,500)

Information Needs and Availability Issues. Julia Melkers. This project, funded by the Georgia Department of Industry, Trade and Tourism, evaluates how well Georgia is providing information that is important and useful to business prospects. ($49,406)

Roles and Authority of School Boards. Catherine Freeman. This project, funded by Georgia Power, investigated the roles and authority of local school boards across the country. ($5,000)

Student Industry Study. Julia Melkers. This project will provide research for the Department of Industry, Trade, and Tourism (GDITT) and will coordinate a statewide student competition for best industry studies in specific industries and countries to be defined by GDITT. ($13,500)

Welfare and Employment. Lakshmi Pandey. This project provided data on welfare and employment for Portland State University. ($1,645)

Technical Assistance

Alan Essig provided assistance to the State of Georgia Governor’s Office, the State of Georgia Senate Research Office, and the State of Georgia Office of Planning and Budget, which includes his membership and work with the Georgia Occupational Review Council.

Kelly Edmiston provided research assistance to State of Georgia legislative offices and the State of Georgia Governor's Office.

Catherine Freeman and Benjamin P. Scafidi, Jr. provided ongoing assistance to the Georgia Governor’s Education Review Commission.

Martin Grace provided ongoing research assistance to the State of Georgia Senate and House Insurance Legislative Committees and to the House Insurance Premium Study Committee.

Richard Hawkins provided research assistance to the State of Georgia Governor's Office.

Julie L. Hotchkiss provided ongoing technical assistance to the Georgia Department of Human Resources and the Georgia Department of Labor.

Julie L. Hotchkiss and Lakshmi Pandey provided ongoing assistance to Armstrong State University working with ES202 data from 1979 to 1997. They also work with the State of Georgia Budgetary Responsibility Oversight Committee on the TANF recipients project.

John Matthews provided research assistance to the City of Atlanta.

Bruce Seaman continued research support for the Joint Study Committee on Franchise Fees and Conditions, Rights of Way, and Tax Implications of Competitive Markets, and published the report, “An Analysis of Franchise Fees in Georgia” for the committee.

David Sjoquist provides ongoing assistance to the State of Georgia Governor’s Office, the State of Georgia Research Office, the State of Georgia Office of Planning and Budget and the Georgia Municipal Association. Additionally he served on the board of the Atlanta Regional Commission, the Atlanta Urban League, and Kids Voting Georgia.

William Smith provided research assistance to the City of Atlanta and to State of Georgia legislative offices.

Jeanie Thomas serves as a member of the Technical Advisory Council (TAC) to the Georgia Rural Development Council and participates in the Georgia Quality Growth Partnership (and its Legislative Committee). The Partnership was initiated by the Georgia Department of Community Affairs (DCA) and the Atlanta Regional Commission. Jeanie also served on the board of the Georgia Economic Developers Association and as chair of its Public Policy Research committee. She was appointed to Governor-Elect Sonny Perdue's transition team and also provides technical assistance to the University of Georgia and the Board of Regents.

Sally Wallace and David L. Sjoquist provided ongoing assistance to the State of Georgia Department of Revenue, the Governor’s Office, the state legislature on Tax Proposals, and the Georgia Muncipal Association.