Fiscal Research Center

2007 Reports & Briefs

Growth in Expenditures and Property Taxes by Level or Type of Government (FRC, Georgia Budget and Policy Institute and Georgia Public Policy Foundation). This brief is a joint publication and provides a consistent set of numbers from which the growth in Georgia local revenues and expenditures can be estimated.  FRC Special Publication (November 2007)

Replacing All Property Taxes: An Analysis of Revenue Issues (John Matthews and David Sjoquist). This brief discusses the amount of revenue needed to replace all the property taxes in Georgia.  FRC Brief 171 (October 2007)

Revenue Estimates for Eliminating Sales Tax Exemptions and Adding Services to the Sales Tax Base (John Matthews, David Sjoquist, and John Winters). This report provides revenue estimates for alternative combinations of eliminating sales tax exemptions and adding services to the sales tax base.  FRC Report 170 (October 2007)

Report on the City of South Fulton: Potential Revenue and Expenditures (Revised) (Robert Eger and John Matthews). This report evaluates the fiscal consequences of incorporating a new city of South Fulton, using Fulton County revenue and expenditure data and benchmarks from other Georgia cities.  FRC Report 169 / Brief 169 (October 2007)

Selected Fiscal and Economic Implications of Aging (David Sjoquist, Sally Wallace, and John Winters). This report considers pressures and potential benefits of an increased elderly population in Georgia.  FRC Report 167 (October 2007)

Revenue Sources of State and Local Governments (Nikola Tasić). This report compares the reliance on various revenue sources across Georgia compared with eight other states. FRC Report 165 / Brief 165 (September 2007)

Tax Revenue Stability of Replacing the Property Tax with a Sales Tax (John Winters). This policy brief discusses the implications for tax revenue stability of proposals that would replace the property tax with an increased sales tax.  FRC Brief 164 (September 2007)

Potential Impact of the Great Plan on Georgia’s Tax Administration (John Matthews). This brief examines local property tax and sales tax implications for tax administrators. FRC Brief 163 (August 2007)

Is a State VAT the Answer? What's the Question? (Richard M. Bird). This report provides an overview of the differences between the retail sales tax and a value added tax and the potential use of a VAT in U.S. states.    FRC Report 162 (August 2007)

Budget Stabilization Funds: A Cross-State Comparison (Carolyn Bourdeaux).  This brief provides a discussion of the trends of budget reserves in Georgia and other states and state policy dicating the size of the reserves.  FRC Brief 161 (August 2007)

Four Options For Eliminating Property Taxes and Funding Local Governments (David Sjoquist). This brief outlines four alternative approaches to eliminating or reducing property tax while replacing the lost local revenue and retaining local fiscal discretion.  FRC Brief 160 (August 2007)

Economic Impact of the Commercial Music Industry in Atlanta and the State of Georgia: New Estimates (Nikola Tasić and Sally Wallace). This report documents the economic and fiscal impact of the industry, and changes in the impact from 2003 to 2007.  FRC Report 159 / Brief 159 (August 2007)

A Flat Rate Income Tax in Georgia (Sally Wallace and Shiyuan Chen).  This brief provides a distributional analysis for Georgia's current individual income tax and a 4 percent and 5.75 percent flat income tax rate structure.  FRC Brief 158 (July 2007)

Issues Associated with Replacing the Property Tax with State Grants (David Sjoquist).  This brief presents a list of issues and questions that should be considered in any proposal to replace the local property tax with state grants.  FRC Brief 157 (July 2007)

Overview and Comparison of the Value Added Tax and the Retail Sales Tax (Jorge Martinez-Vazquez, Sally Wallace and Laura Wheeler).  This brief summarizes the similarities and differences between a value added tax and the much recognized general sales tax, or retail sales tax.  This brief is one in a series of briefs and reports that relate to tax policy options for Georgia.  FRC Brief 156 (June 2007)

The Financial Position of Pennsylvania’s Public Sector: Past, Present, and Future (Robert P. Strauss  and Joshua L. Hart).  This report is the third of three reports that address the fiscal conditions of other states, explores the factors that explain the conditions, and the likely future trends.  FRC Report 155 (June 2007)

Alternative State Business Tax Systems: A Comparison of State Income and Gross Receipts Taxes (Laura Wheeler and Edward Sennoga).  This report provides a five-point comparison between a state corporate income tax and a state gross receipts tax.  FRC Report 154 / Brief 154 (May 2007)

Status of Women in Atlanta: A Survey of Economic Demographic, and Social Indicators for the 15-County Area (Rachel Ferencik, John Matthews, Christine Moloi, Lakshmi Pandey, Dawud Ujamaa, Sally Wallace).  This report provides a detailed overview of economic, demographic and social aspects of women and girls in the metro Atlanta region.  The report is currently only available from the Atlanta Women's Foundation by calling 404.577.5000.  FRC Report 153 (May 2007)

Forecasting Pre-K Enrollment in Georgia Counties (Nikola Tasić and Sally Wallace).  This report provides a manual that documents the forecasting methodology and provides the actual forecast of Pre-K enrollment by county for 2007-2011.  FRC Report 152 (April 2007)

A Description of the Proposed Comprehensive Revision of Georgia's Tax Structure: HR 900 (David L. Sjoquist).  This brief is a summary of the provisions of the comprehensive revision of Georgia's tax structure contained in HR 900.  FRC Brief 151 (April 2007)

Revenue Structures of States Without An Income Tax (David L. Sjoquist).  This report compares Georgia’s revenue structure to states without an income tax in order to explore how Georgia’s revenue structure would have to change if it were to eliminate its income tax.  FRC Report 150 / Brief 150 (April 2007)

Property Rights Reform: A Fiscal Analysis (Peter Bluestone).  This report analyzes the fiscal effects of a proposed statute revising the legal standard for regulatory takings in Georgia, as well as recent changes in Georgia’s eminent domain law.  FRC Report 149 (April 2007)

Self Sufficiency in Women in Georgia (Sally Wallace).  In this brief, we use one measure of self sufficiency to estimate the number of female headed households in metro Atlanta that fall below the self sufficiency standard.  FRC Brief 148 (March 2007)

An Analysis of the Implementation of Program Budgeting in Georgia (Carolyn Bourdeaux).  This report discusses the challenges faced by the State of Georgia in the transition to program budgeting.  FRC Report 147 / Brief 147 (March 2007)

Analysis and Recommendations for the Property Tax on Motor Vehicles in Georgia (Laura Wheeler).  This report discusses the economic effects, including revenue effects, of eliminating or reducing the state property tax in motor vehicles.  FRC Report 146 / Brief 146 (March 2007)

Georgia’s Economy: Trends and Outlook (Ken Heaghney).  This report tracks some of the key trends that have shaped and will continue to shape Georgia’s economy.  These include the decline in manufacturing employment, the aging of Georgia’s population, the importance of high tech and tourism industries and globalization.  FRC Report 145 (March 2007)

Financing Georgia’s Future II (Sally Wallace, David L. Sjoquist, Laura Wheeler, Peter Bluestone, William J. Smith).  This second release of a biennial report focuses on Georgia’s taxes, making cross-state comparisons of their structure and exploring revenue performance over time.  FRC Report 144 (March 2007)

The Price Effect of Georgia’s Temporary Suspension of State Fuel Taxes (James Alm and David L. Sjoquist).  This report explores the effect of the fuel tax suspension on the price of gasoline in Georgia.  FRC Report 143 / Brief 143 (February 2007)

An Analysis of the Financing of Higher Education in Georgia (Nara Monkam).  This report addresses the issue of the financing of higher education in Georgia by comparing financing in Georgia with other states and examining how financing affects the student population in terms of performance, and retention rates.  FRC Report 142 (February 2007)

Intergovernmental Fiscal Relations in Georgia (David L. Sjoquist, John Stavick and Sally Wallace).  This report documents the intergovernmental fiscal system in Georgia, with a focus on the expenditure, revenue, and intergovernmental grant system in the state.  FRC Report 141 (February 2007)

Comparing State Income Tax Preferences for the Elderly in the Southeast (Jonathan C. Rork).  This brief looks at the current state of these tax preferences in the Southeast for those states that impose a major income tax and estimates the dollar value of these preferences.  FRC Brief 140 (February 2007)

State Tax Incentives for Research and Development Activities: A Review of State Practices (Laura Wheeler).  This report documents state tax incentives offered around the country designed to encourage state level R&D activity.  This report also simulates the effect of various credit components in the value of the credit.  FRC Report 139 / Brief 139 (January 2007)

Transportation Funding Alternatives: A Preliminary Analysis (David L. Sjoquist, William J. Smith, Laura Wheeler and Justin Purkey).  This report explores issues associated with proposed alternative revenue sources for increasing transportation for funding.  FRC Report 138 / Brief 138 (January 2007)

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