Fiscal Research Center¹
at the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies

The Fiscal Research Center (FRC) 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 FRC 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 FRC is to help inform and stimulate debate on fiscal policy. The Center 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 Center, 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 Center is composed of three broad categories: Intergovernmental Issues, Tax and Expenditure Policy, and The Georgia Economy. Each category is comprised of a set of projects that are FRC focus areas for state policy.

Intergovernmental Issues:

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

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

Tax and Expenditure Policy:

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

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

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

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

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

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

State Budget Project. Concerns policy issues associated with government budgeting.

The Georgia Economy:

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

Georgia Data Project. 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. 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

One of the objectives of the FRC is to help inform and stimulate debate on fiscal policy. The Center releases publications (policy briefs, reports, and a variety of research and briefing memoranda) which are widely distributed essays and reports on issues confronting the state.

Jack Morton and Richard Hawkins. Georgia’s Taxes: A Summary of Major State and Local Government Taxes, 10th Edition, a handbook on taxation that provides a quick overview of all state and local taxes in Georgia, January 2004.

Martin Grace. Does Georgia Need a Unitary Tax? This report discusses the advantages and disadvantages of two approaches to corporate income taxation, February 2004.

Laura Czohara* and Julia Melkers. Performance Measurement in State Economic Development Agencies: Lessons and Next Steps for GDITT. The purpose of this project was to develop the basis for a comprehensive performance monitoring system for the Georgia Department of Industry, Trade and Tourism, February 2004.

Laura Czohara*, Julia Melkers and Kouassi Dagawa*. Firm Location Decisions and Information Needs. This report documents the information needs of businesses seeking to relocate to Georgia and perceptions of the usefulness of information provided in that process, March 2004.

David L. Sjoquist and Laura Wheeler. Alternative Formulas for Allocating LOST Revenue to Counties and Municipalities. This study explores the procedure for allocating LOST revenue and suggests alternatives, April 2004.

Bruce A. Seaman. “The Economics of Cigarette Taxation: Lessons for Georgia,” State Tax Notes, May 31, 2004.

Robert L. Collins* and William J. Smith*. Distribution of Per Capita Income in Georgia: 1969-2000. This paper examines major changes in the county-level distribution of per capita income between 1969 and 2000. The analysis focuses on income convergence and geographic shifts in per capita income over the 31-year period, September 2004.

Amy Helling. The Advantage of Accessibility to Goods and People: Transportation and Georgia’s Economic Development, Fiscal Research Center Report No. 96, November 2004.

Peter Bluestone**, David L. Sjoquist, William J. Smith*, and Sally Wallace. Financing Georgia's Future. This report explores how Georgia finances its expenditures through various revenue sources and compares Georgia's taxes across states and over time on multiple dimensions, December 2004.

David L. Sjoquist, John W. Matthews*, and William J. Smith*. An Initial Evaluation of a Proposed Statewide Education Sales Tax. This report provides a preliminary analysis of a proposal to replace education property taxes with a statewide sales tax, December 2004.

Research and Briefing Memoranda

The Fiscal Impact is distributed to the State of Georgia General Assembly and staff. During 2004, The Fiscal Impact covered these topics:

• Education Revenue Sources Per Pupil in Georgia
• Income Tax Revenue Impact of Single Factor Apportionment

Fiscal Notes are revenue estimates of proposed legislation. In October 2004, the FRC became responsible for preparing these for the State government.

Georgia Budget Notes is distributed to the State of Georgia General Assembly and staff. During 2004, Georgia Budget Notes covered the following topics:

• FY 2004 Revenue Estimate Update, Supplemental Budget
• FY 2004 Supplemental Budget
• Public School Teacher and Board of Regents Faculty Salaries
• FY 2005 Budget Brief: Governor's Proposed Budget FY 2004
• Governor's FY 2004 and 2005 Medicaid Budget Proposals
• Governor's FY 2004 Supplemental and 2005 PeachCare Budget Proposals
• FY 2004 Revenue Estimate Update
• Should Georgia’s Estate Tax End?

Additional research results and published memoranda are published as a part of the Atlanta Census 2000 project. During 2004, Atlanta Census 2000 published the following reports:

• Geography of Poverty
• Geography of Housing

FRC staff and associated faculty prepared the following Briefing Memoranda:

Taxation and the Elderly, Sally Wallace

State and Local Revenue Take from a Georgia Motion Picture Production, Kelly Edmiston

An Analysis of HB 1775, Kelly Edmiston

Revenue Estimate of an Exemption for Small Corporations, Lakshmi Pandey and David Sjoquist

Residential Property Tax Assessment Freeze in Fulton County, David Sjoquist

Education Sales Tax, David Sjoquist

The Adoption of an Education Sales Tax Statewide, John Matthews*, William J. Smith*, and David Sjoquist

Forecast of Revenue from the City of Atlanta’s Sales Tax, John Matthews*, William J. Smith*, and David Sjoquist

Revenue Estimate of Eliminating Those Over 62 from the Georgia Income Tax, Sally Wallace

Potential Revenue from Add-on Court Fees, John Matthews*

Revenue Estimate for Indigent Defense (HB 869), John Matthews*

Tax Revenue Forecast for FY04 and FY05, Kelly Edmiston, David Sjoquist, William J. Smith*, and Sally Wallace

Revenue Forecast for the State of Georgia for FY05 and FY06, David Sjoquist, William J. Smith*, Sally Wallace, and Mark Rider

Lottery Characteristics and Revenue, Peter Bluestone**

Fiscal Issues Associated with SSTP, David L. Sjoquist

Potential Sales Tax Loss from Exempting Natural Gas, Electricity and Capital Used in Manufacturing from the State Sales Tax, William J. Smith*

Capping the Increase in Property Tax Assessments, David L. Sjoquist

Expanding the Options for the Use of ESPLOST Revenue, David L. Sjoquist

The Revenue Effect of Changing the Corporate Income Tax Apportionment Formula, David Sjoquist and Lakshmi Pandey

Telecommute Tax Credit Program, John Matthews*

Analysis of Mixed Drink Fee and Tax Exemption for Underground Atlanta, John Matthews* and William Smith*

Coupling Georgia Income Tax to Federal Standard Deduction and Personal Exemption, Sally Wallace

Visitors and Other Activities

The Fiscal Research Center hosted visiting scholars who traveled to Georgia State University to conduct research.

The Fiscal Research Center participated in several presentations to international visitors to the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies. Visitors learned about various economic development research conducted in the FRC and the Young School.

The FRC hosted seminars and visiting lecturers on the following subjects:

Projects

African American Philanthropy. David L. Sjoquist. Funded by the Community Foundation, this project identifies trends in social capital related to philanthropy in Metro Atlanta. ($24,000)

Analysis of Georgia Tobacco Taxes. David L. Sjoquist. Funded by Georgia Healthcare, this project looks at the effects of taxation on cigarettes. ($5,000)

Analysis of Strategic Management. Theodore H. Poister. Funded by the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT), this project analyzes performance monitoring, reporting systems, and management practices of the GDOT in relation to comparative case studies of three other state DOTs. ($221,260)

Atlanta Outreach Consortium. David L. Sjoquist. The collaborative activity is supported with funding from Clark Atlanta University, Emory University, Georgia Institute of Technology, and Georgia State University. ($37,500)

Barriers to Employment and Welfare to Work. Shiferaw Gurmu. This project, funded by the University of Kentucky, examines the effect of access and various characteristics on the probability of employment and the time until recidivism for TANF cases. ($19,998)

Enhance Atlanta Census. David L. Sjoquist. Funded by the Community Foundation, this project further develops the Atlanta Census 2000 Web site in cooperation with the Atlanta Regional Commission. ($9,000)

Evaluation of Performance and Impact of HOPE VI Community Revitalization (Harris Homes). David L. Sjoquist, James Wolk, Fred Brooks, and Sally Wallace. 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)

Film and Video Impact Study. David L. Sjoquist. Funded by the Georgia Department of Industry, Trade and Tourism, this project examines the impact of the commercial music industry on Atlanta and the State of Georgia. ($4,500)

Framework for Forecasting Welfare Caseloads in Georgia. David L. Sjoquist and Shiferaw Gurmu. This project, 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. ($23,322)

Georgia Demographic Analysis to Measure Future Public Finances. Sally Wallace. This project, funded by the Healthcare Georgia Foundation, considers the impacts of an aging population on budgetary implications in Georgia. ($63,000)

Study of Liquid Asphalt Price Indices Applications to Georgia Pavement Contracting. Robert Eger III. This project, funded by the Georgia Institute of Technology, proposes applicability of asphalt indexing to Georgia Department of Transportation's contract management through the identification of liquid asphalt price adjustment practices, policies, and specifications in the five adjacent states to Georgia and generates a qualitative and quantitative evaluation of price adjustment practices for potential utilization by GDOT in hot mix asphalt bid pricing. ($41,222)

Welfare to Work Dynamics. Julie L. Hotchkiss. Funded by the University of Baltimore, Maryland, this grant supports research on evaluation of the transition from welfare to work. ($80,000)

Technical Assistance

The FRC staff and associated faculty provided technical assistance to numerous government officials and agencies. These included:

• Georgia Governor's Office
• Senate Research Office
• Georgia Occupational Review Council
• Georgia Governor's Education Review Commission
• Senate Insurance Committee
• House Insurance Committee
• House Insurance Premium Study Committee
• Georgia Department of Human Resources
• Georgia Department of Labor
• Armstrong State University
• State of Georgia Budgetary Responsibility Oversight Committee
• Joint Study Committee on Franchise Fees and Conditions, Rights of Way, and Tax Implications of Competitive Markets
• Technical Advisory Council (TAC) to the Georgia Rural Development Council
• Georgia Quality Growth Partnership (and its Legislative Committee)
• Georgia Economic Developers Association
• University of Georgia
• Board of Regents
• Georgia Department of Revenue
• City of Atlanta
• Georgia Municipal Association
• Georgia Department of Industry, Trade and Tourism
• Senate Appropriations Committee
• Senate Finance Committee
• House Ways and Means Committee
• Commission for a New Georgia, Rural Development Council
• Association County Commissioners of Georgia
• Healthcare Georgia Foundation

In addition, Alan Essig served as staff director for the State of Georgia House of Representative’s Appropriations Committee. Jeanie Thomas and Benjamin P. Scafidi Jr. served as policy staff for the State of Georgia Governor’s Office.

1. For a complete listing of AYSPS Active Research Sponsored Grants from CY2004, see the Appendix: Report on External Funding. All Andrew Young School of Policy Studies' author names are highlighted in bold. Graduate students are designated with an asterisk, former graduate students with a double asterisk, and visiting faculty with a triple asterisk.