Currently, there are several bills of great significance to Georgia’s counties in the Senate Rules Committee. ACCG urges county commissioners to contact members of this Committee and ask that they please add the bills below, which ACCG supports, to the Rules Calendar, meaning they will be voted on in the Senate chamber before the legislative session ends. Otherwise, these bills are dead for this session. 

House Bill 290 - creates a uniform, three-party contract between the county government, tax commissioner, and municipal government to specify how revenues from processing city property taxes are distributed.  

House Bill 946 - modifies the Single-County TSPLOST threshold, shifting from requiring 100% of qualified cities to sign the intergovernmental agreement to cities representing more than 50% of the municipal population to levy the 1% tax.

House Bill 1044 - increases the dollar amount threshold (from $100,000 to $250,000) at which counties and cities must bid out public works projects. 

House Bill 1407 – makes several procedural changes to Service Delivery Strategy (SDS) negotiations and allows counties to use additional unincorporated revenues to fund unincorporated services.   

The Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) is currently accepting applications for LRA funds, which will be administered and distributed through GDOT’s (LMIG) application system. The new LRA funds will not require a local match. Eligible activities and projects mirror those of the LMIG program. Applications will be accepted until June 15, 2024. More information can be found here.

Staff Contact: Governmental Affairs Associate Dante Handel; dhandel@accg.org  

House Bill 1185, originally a permissive floating homestead exemption bill, was stripped in the Senate Finance Committee and replaced with language from the original Senate Bill 349. This revised bill now includes three of ACCG’s Property Tax Legislative Priority items for the 2024 session, as well as a floating homestead exemption for all jurisdictions with a 3% allowance for inflation. ACCG supports this bill. 

ACCG Governmental Affairs Associate Dante Handel and GMA Deputy General Counsel Ryan Bowersox testify in the Senate Finance Committee.

House Bill 912, by Rep. Victor Anderson, passed the Senate Transportation Committee without amendment. This legislation exempts side-by-side multi-purpose off-highway vehicles from ad valorem taxation. ACCG opposes this bill.

House Resolution 1021, by Rep. Ron Stephens, passed the Senate Finance Committee this week. This legislation proposes a constitutional amendment to allow seniors to perform volunteer work for local governments in exchange for a homestead credit. ACCG is neutral on this resolution. 

House Bill 1192, by Rep. John Carson, passed the Senate this week and is now headed to the Governor’s desk. This bill places a two-year pause on new sales tax exemption certificates for high-tech data center equipment. ACCG is neutral on this bill. 

House Resolution 96, by Rep. Noel Williams, proposes a constitutional amendment to adjust the severance tax for timber down to 40% of its value, with the same reimbursement formula as the Forestland Protection Act (FLPA) to make the local governments whole. This bill was heard in the Senate Finance Committee but did not pass. However, a proposed amendment was made to remove the solar exemption for Conservation Use Value Assessment (CUVA). ACCG is neutral on this resolution. 

Senate Bill 349, by Sen. Chuck Hufstetler, was stripped in the Ways and Means Committee and replaced with modified versions of House Bill 1031 and House Bill 1115. This new bill combines several property tax measures with several sales tax measures, including the optional Flexible Penny Local Option Sales Tax (FLOST) for property tax relief. ACCG supports this bill. 

Senate Bill 340, originally a sales tax exemption on firearm safety devices, was stripped in the Ways and Means Committee and replaced with language from Rep. Joe Campbell’s House Bill 1459. This bill adds diesel exhaust fluid (DEF), an additive for diesel engines, to the list of items eligible for the Georgia Agriculture Tax Exemption (GATE) program. ACCG is neutral on this bill. 

Staff Contact: Associate Director of Governmental Affairs Martha Revelo; mrevelo@accg.org

House Bill 1312, by Rep. Rick Jasperse, changes the date when the Department of Agriculture will begin regulating and taxing the use of electric vehicle (EV) charging stations to January 1, 2026. The language of this bill was added to House Bill 516. ACCG is monitoring this bill.

Staff Contact: Associate Director of Governmental Affairs Martha Revelo; mrevelo@accg.org

House Bill 300, by Rep. Trey Kelly, specifies decommissioning requirements between a landowner and a solar farm operator or grantee. Local governments are preempted from imposing any additional financial assurance requirements, such as bonding, for decommissioning costs when the landowner and grantee have an agreement. The bill is now in the Senate Rules Committee. Please contact your Senators regarding concerns about this bill.

House Bill 1146, by Rep. Ron Stephens, requires the Environmental Protection Division (EPD) to issue water permits to private companies when public service cannot be provided within 18 months. This hinders the ability of local governments or water providers to plan for and direct growth through the provision of utility services. This bill is now in the Senate Rules Committee. ACCG opposes this bill and continues to encourage counties to reach out to their Senators about their concerns.

House Bill 1223, by Rep. Rob Leverett, amends the Georgia Soil Amendment Act of 1976. It includes a provision prohibiting the distribution of soil amendments on a site that is subject to a consent order or under existing enforcement action by the Department of Agriculture or the EPD. ACCG supports this bill. 

Staff Contact: Governmental Affairs Associate Gabriel Carter; gcarter@accg.org

House Bill 1105 passed out of the Senate Public Safety Committee this week. This bill establishes penalties for local governments, officials, employees, and jailers who enact or adopt sanctuary policies or practices or who do not cooperate with federal immigration officials. ACCG is working with the author on this bill.

House Bill 935 passed out of the Senate Insurance and Labor Committee this week. This bill creates a fund that will be generated by voluntary contributions and disbursed equally among all 159 sheriffs as bonuses. ACCG supports this bill. 

Senate Bill 533 passed out of the House Judiciary Committee and gives the Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities (DBHDD) the sole discretion to determine the best treatment route for those deemed incompetent to stand trial. Among the options is a jail-based competency restoration program, which sheriffs can choose to implement. ACCG is requesting that language be included to allow the county board of commissioners to help decide whether this program is implemented in the county jail. ACCG is neutral on this bill. 

Staff Contact: Deputy Director of Governmental Affairs Todd Edwards; tedwards@accg.org    

House Bill 1407, by Rep. John LaHood, passed the Senate State and Local Governmental Operations Committee. This bill makes several procedural changes to the service delivery strategy (SDS) law and authorizes counties to use additional unincorporated revenues to fund unincorporated services. Current law only allows counties to use special district taxes, insurance premium taxes, assessments, or user fees for unincorporated services. ACCG supports this bill.               

Senate Bill 19, by Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick, has now passed both chambers and awaits action by the Governor. This bill requires clerks of court or probate judges to report the amount of passport application processing fees they collect to the county governing authority. ACCG supports this bill. 

House Bill 1149, by Rep. Mesha Mainor, passed the Senate State and Local Governmental Operations Committee. This bill requires county constitutional officers (probate judge, tax commissioner, clerk of superior court and sheriff), to annually report their discretional funds and activities to the county governing authority. The county must then report these financial statements in its annual audits. ACCG supports this bill. 

House Bill 461, by Rep. Brad Thomas, prohibits local governments from calculating building inspection fees based on the cost of the project. All other methods of calculating permitting fees remain in law. It also requires that the proceeds from permitting fees be used to fund the permitting administrative process and not the local government's general operations. ACCG is neutral on this bill.