Catoosa County, GA Business Licensing & Operations: Pawnbrokers (2026)
Key Facts
- Category
- Pawnbrokers, Sec. 70-175(1)(h)
- Fee amount
- Table 1.3: 'None at this time'
- Due / delinquent
- Jan. 1 due, delinquent Mar. 1
- Notice
- County manager notifies required payers
- Late penalty
- 10% plus 1.5%/month interest
- Enforcement court
- Magistrate court of the county
Summary
Catoosa County lists pawnbrokers among the businesses subject to a regulatory fee under Sec. 70-175(1)(h), collected because the county customarily inspects or investigates such operators to protect public health, safety and welfare. The fee is due each January 1 and delinquent after March 1.
(1)Applicability. ... Pursuant to the authority granted in O.C.G.A. § 48-13-8(a), there is hereby imposed a regulatory fee upon the following categories of businesses, professions, practitioners and occupations transacting business within the unincorporated areas of the county: ... (h)Pawnbrokers; ... The county manager (or such other county officer as designated by the board from time to time) shall notify any business, profession, practitioner or occupation required to pay a regulatory fee. ... (b)The regulatory fee due hereunder shall be paid each calendar year. The regulatory fee shall be paid on an annual basis on January 1 of each year and shall be delinquent if not paid by March 1 of each year.
Full Breakdown
Sec. 70-175 imposes a regulatory fee, separate from the general occupation tax, on a list of businesses the county customarily investigates or inspects, and pawnbrokers are named at item (h) alongside categories like firearms dealers, scrap metal processors and dealers in precious metals. Under Sec. 70-175(1), the county manager or a designated county officer notifies any pawnbroker required to pay the fee. Sec. 70-175(3)(b) sets the payment schedule: the fee is due annually on January 1 and becomes delinquent if unpaid by March 1, and a new pawnbroker opening during the year must pay in full within ten days of starting business.
The fee is meant only to offset the county's actual cost of regulatory activity, not to raise general revenue, per Sec. 70-175(2). Catoosa County's fee schedule for this category, Table 1.3 in Sec. 70-180, currently shows no dollar amount ('None at this time'), so while the regulatory category and notification duty are in force, no fee is presently being billed against it. A pawnbroker operating at more than one location in the unincorporated county is treated as a separate business at each location for fee purposes under Sec. 70-175(4).
Violations & Fines
The general occupation-tax-article penalties apply to a delinquent regulatory fee: Sec. 70-177(2) adds a ten percent penalty plus interest at one and one-half percent per month on any fee unpaid 90 days past due. The county manager may inspect the pawnbroker's business records on 30 days' notice under Sec. 70-177(1), and Sec. 70-178 routes enforcement to the magistrate court, with each day of noncompliant operation counted as a separate violation and business barred until fees are current.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Catoosa County charge pawnbrokers a special licensing fee?
Who enforces the pawnbroker regulatory-fee requirement in unincorporated Catoosa County?
What if a pawnbroker has more than one location in the county?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Catoosa County
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