1. Show Me the Money!
EQ: How is government revenue generated in Georgia, and how are these funds used?

2. Revenue Money that a government takes in (income)
The Georgia General Assembly decides what types of revenue should be collected
Where does it come from?
Taxes
Income tax (both federal and state levels)
Sales tax (collected at all levels—state, county, municipal)
Property tax (provides most of a county’s revenue)
Federal grants
Fees
Lottery

3. Expenditures Money spent or paid out Where does it go?
To fund the state budget. Most of the budget is spent providing services for its citizens
The largest expense is education.

4. How are budgets created?
Our state constitution requires that Georgia have a balanced budget. (The state cannot spend more money than is available through revenues.)
The governor of Georgia is our state’s budget director.
The General Assembly determines sources for revenue and how money is spent.

5. How are budgets created?
Step one – departments make requests to the governor
Step two- requests are evaluated on a cost-benefit basis
Step three – the governor submits the budget to the legislature
Step four – the budget becomes a bill and follows the same steps to becoming a law as any other bill (more about that later!)