2020 Georgia Code
Title 36 - Local Government
Chapter 70 - Coordinated and Comprehensive Planning and Service Delivery by Counties and Municipalities
Article 2 - Service Delivery
§ 36-70-27. (See Editor's notes.) Limitation of Funding for Projects Inconsistent With Strategy

1. 1. No state administered financial assistance or grant, loan, or permit shall be issued to any local government or authority which is not included in a department verified strategy or for any project which is inconsistent with such strategy; provided, however, that a municipality or authority located or operating in more than one county shall be included in a department verified strategy for each county wherein the municipality or authority is located or operating.
   2. Paragraph (1) of this subsection shall not apply to any drinking water project of the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority or of any local government or authority if such project is a proposed drinking water supply reservoir or any water withdrawal, treatment, distribution, or other potable water facility associated with such reservoir and the project shall furnish potable water to wholesale users in incorporated areas in one or more counties. Within one year after such proposed drinking water supply reservoir becomes operational, the local governments and authorities in the affected county or counties shall update their service delivery strategy or strategies to be consistent with water supply arrangements resulting from the operation of such reservoir.
2. 1. If a municipality containing fewer than 500 persons within the county fails to establish a process to resolve disputes as required by subparagraph (C) of paragraph (4) of Code Section 36-70-24, the sanctions specified in subsection (a) of this Code section shall not be imposed upon:
      1. The county within which any such municipality or portion of any such municipality is located; or
      2. Any other municipality located in such county.
   2. The provisions of this subsection shall apply only if a process to resolve disputes required by subparagraph (C) of paragraph (4) of Code Section 36-70-24 has been established between the county and each municipality containing 500 or more persons within the county.
3. Any local government or authority which is subject to the sanctions specified in subsection (a) of this Code section shall become eligible for state administered financial assistance or grants, loans, or permits on the first day of the month following verification by the department that the requirements of Code Section 36-70-26 have been met.

(Code 1981, §36-70-27, enacted by Ga. L. 1997, p. 1567, § 1; Ga. L. 1999, p. 789, § 2; Ga. L. 2000, p. 1439, § 2; Ga. L. 2010, p. 1088, § 1/HB 406.)

- Pursuant to Code Section 28-9-5, in 2010, "Georgia Environmental Finance Authority" was substituted for "Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority" in the first sentence of paragraph (a)(2).

A listing of Executive Orders issued in 2020 can be found at https://gov.georgia.gov/executive-action/executive-orders/2020-executive-orders.

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Scope of trial court's authority.

- Trial court's ruling that sovereign immunity did not bar claims under the Service Delivery Strategy Act, O.C.G.A. § 36-70-20 et seq., specifically O.C.G.A. § 36-70-25.1(d)(2), was affirmed because sovereign immunity was waived only to the extent of the statute, which extends no further than the remedies specifically authorized by the Act and the trial court could not exceed the scope of § 36-70-25.1(d)(2) by granting relief not provided therein for claims brought under the Act. City of Union Point v. Greene County, 303 Ga. 449, 812 S.E.2d 278 (2018), overruled on other grounds by City of College Park v. Clayton County, 830 S.E.2d 179, 306 Ga. 301 (2019).

- County board's claims against a state agency commissioner and individual board members was properly dismissed as barred by sovereign immunity as the county board's pleadings and briefs demonstrated that the state agency was the real party in interest as the complaint alleged that the state agency was the entity who posted the information on its website preventing the county board from receiving state administered financial assistance. Bd. of Comm'rs v. Mayor & Council of Valdosta, 352 Ga. App. 391, 834 S.E.2d 890 (2019).

Cited in Upper Chattahoochee Riverkeeper Fund, Inc. v. City of Atlanta, 701 F.3d 669 (11th Cir. 2012); Bd. of Comm'rs of Lowndes County v. Mayor & Council of Valdosta, Ga. , S.E.2d (Sept. 28, 2020).