Purpose
- Show the data for Summary of Laws Pertaining to Local Government Autonomy and Local EMS Funding Mechanisms, in Effect as of January 31, 2022.
Data sources
Alabama | California | Georgia | Massachusetts | Ohio | |
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Permitted Local Taxes |
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Special Districts Authorized |
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Local Fees Authorized |
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Local Tax Restrictions |
Alabama | California | Georgia | Massachusetts | Ohio |
Authorized Public Purposes for Local Property Taxes |
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(None Identified) |
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Property Taxes Assessed | Annually | Annually | (None Identified) | Annually | Annually |
Maximum Tax Assessment Rate | (For Countiesa)
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Circuit Breaker Programs |
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Split Rate Land Tax | (None Identified) | For Improvements Only | (None Identified) | (None Identified) | (None Identified) |
Other Limitations |
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(None Identified) | (None Identified) | (None Identified) | (None Identified) |
Local Government Bond Restrictions |
Alabama | California | Georgia | Massachusetts | Ohio |
Permitted Local Government Bonds |
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Authorized Public Purposes for Local Government Bonds |
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Bond/Debt Percent to Not Exceedb |
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Other Limitations |
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(None Identified) |
Voter Overrides, Voter Approval, and Public Awareness |
Alabama | California | Georgia | Massachusetts | Ohio |
Override Limits |
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Requires Voter Approval |
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(None Identified) |
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Requires Public Hearings and Notices | Public hearings and notices required for debt and for the creation of “emergency assistance programs,” including those related to ambulance services. | Public hearings and notices required for mutual aid contracts for services such as emergency medical services and police, and fire suppression assessments. Public notices required for short term borrowing. | Public hearings and notices required for municipal bonds. Public notices required for development impact fees which can pay for emergency, rescue, and other facilities. |
Public hearings required prior to issuance of local bonds. |
(None Identified) |
a Municipal assessment rate varies by municipality, but often is higher than county rates.
b Some limits described in this table may apply to a specific type of bond only.
c ALA. CONST. art. XI, § 215.03 (West, Westlaw through 2021 amendments)
d Some statutes will limit the amount of bonds based on the anticipated revenue or income of the local government. See CAL. GOV'T CODE § 53822 (West 1980) (tax anticipation warrants/notes may not exceed 50% of county's revenue); CAL. GOV'T CODE § 53858 (West 1982) (bond including interest cannot exceed 85% of the estimated taxes, income, revenue, cash receipts, and other moneys of the local agency).
e Percentages vary per statute. For example, see CAL. GOV'T CODE § 29909 (West 1968) (bond cannot exceed 5% of the county's taxable property); CAL. GOV'T CODE § 43605 (West 1955) (bonds for public improvements cannot exceed 15% of county's assessed property value); CAL. GOV'T CODE § 61126 (West 2005) (general obligation bond cannot exceed 15% of assessed taxable property within the district); CAL. HEALTH & SAFETY CODE § 13906 (West 1987) (bond cannot exceed 3 times the district's actual income from property taxes); CAL. GOV'T CODE § 53841 (West 1957) (bond cannot exceed 85% of levied taxes).
f See GA. CONST. art. IX, § 5, ¶ I (West, Westlaw through 2021 amendments) (debt cannot exceed 10% of county's assessed property value); GA. CONST. art. IX, § 5, ¶ II (West, Westlaw through 2021 amendments) (total debt for special district purposes cannot exceed 10% of assessed taxable property value in the county). Debt to fund schools may be exempted in certain cases.
g See GA. CONST. art. IX, § 5, ¶ V (West, Westlaw through 2021 amendments) (total amount of temporary loans cannot exceed 75% of county's gross tax revenue).
h These limits apply to cities, towns, and districts, which are the primary local government units in Massachusetts responsible for providing services.
i See MASS. GEN. LAWS ANN. ch. 44 § 4 (West 1992) (temporary loans cannot exceed the county's aggregate tax levies from preceding year for county purposes; however, for district purposes, a county's temporary loan cannot exceed the taxes, rates, and services from proceeding year (debt limit for new districts is fixed by vote of the district)).
j See MASS. GEN. LAWS ANN. ch. 44 § 10 (West 2004) (a city's indebtedness cannot exceed 5% of the equalized valuation of the city or town. A city may authorize debt greater than 5% [not to exceed 10%] provided that the excess debt be authorized by the municipal finance oversight board).
k See OHIO REV. CODE ANN. § 513.08 (West 1991) (debt for hospital purposes cannot exceed 2% of the district/county's tax valuation); OHIO REV. CODE ANN. § 513.081 (West 1991) (debt for hospital purposes cannot exceed 3% of the hospital district's tax valuation).
l See OHIO REV. CODE ANN. § 5705.193 (West 1991) (tax anticipation note cannot exceed 75% of estimated special taxes).
m Kleinman, AJ. Tax Limits and the Future of Local Democracy. Harvard Law Review. 2020; 133:1884–1962. https://harvardlawreview.org/2020/04/tax-limits-and-the-future-of-local-democracy/. The term "hard ceiling" is used to describe the local tax override limits in Alabama. It was not used in this study's coding protocols and datasets.
n School tax limits can be overridden, but they are excluded from this study since they do not apply to emergency medical services.