Counties can expect to see a major change in how the new Local Maintenance and Improvement Grant (LMIG) funds will be distributed in 2024. This week, the House redistributed the $200 million in LMIG funding to a program named Local Roads and Administration. This move eliminates the local match requirement for the 2024 supplemental LMIG funding. Under this arrangement, the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) will administer funding through the LMIG program without the requirement of a local match. The allocation of additional dollars in the 2024 supplemental budget will be available beginning April 1, and counties must submit applications for this funding by June 30, 2024. Additionally, counties have the option to request GDOT to hold the funding for up to three years, including the proposed $200 million in the FY 2024 amended budget. If a county chooses this option, it must make the request on the LMIG request form.

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

House Bill 1031, authored by Rep. Dale Washburn and recently approved by the Ways and Means Committee, takes a proactive approach to safeguarding taxpayer interests. In addition to alleviating confusion, it addresses concerns stemming from the Department of Audits and Accounts (DOAA) sales ratio study. This study has contributed to rapidly increasing property valuations and heavier tax burdens on property taxpayers.

Across the hall, Senate Bill 349, sponsored by Sen. Chuck Hufstetler and endorsed by Lieutenant Governor Jones, cleared the Senate Finance Committee as a comprehensive property tax reform proposal. SB 349 creates a statewide floating homestead exemption for all local governments and imposes a 3% cap on annual assessment increases for homesteaded properties. 

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

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

This week, House Bill 1177 and House Bill 1185 were introduced by Rep. Ron Stephens and Rep. Beth Camp, respectively. Both pieces of legislation create a permissive statewide floating homestead exemption which local governments may choose to opt into via ordinance or resolution without the need for a local Act of the General Assembly first. Both measures allow for an inflationary increase in the base-year value using an inflation rate established by the Department of Revenue (DOR), which may use the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Both bills have companion resolutions, House Resolution 1021 and House Resolution 1022, respectively, which call for the required constitutional amendment to allow this type of statewide floating homestead exemption.      

A new property tax proposal was introduced this week to prevent value increases. House Resolution 1041, authored by Rep. Dale Washburn, calls for a constitutional amendment to authorize the county to adopt an alternative method of appraisal and assessment within the county. This new method would lock the fair market value at the most recent sale price until a subsequent sale occurs. This could lock a property’s value for decades, and would apply to all types of property, including commercial and industrial properties. ACCG is opposed to this legislation.  

House Bill 1019, carried by Rep. Matt Reeves, passed the House on a unanimous vote. This bill doubles the statewide $2,000 homestead exemption to $4,000, which will reduce the property tax burden on homesteaded properties throughout the state. This increased exemption is not funded by the state and may result in a loss of local property tax revenue.

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

On Wednesday, House Bill 424 passed out of the House Public Safety Committee. This bill requires that a candidate running for the office of sheriff be in good standing with the Georgia Peace Officers Standards and Training Council. The new version of the bill reduces the number of salary supplements a sheriff can receive for serving one or more courts from three to two total salary supplements. Sheriffs are given an annual salary supplement of $4,630.80 for each trial court that they serve beyond the superior court. This bill will allow sheriffs to receive a total of $9,261.60 in salary supplements for the service of two courts.  Additionally, that salary would not be increased by any state Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) or general performance-based increases. 

House Bill 1105, introduced by Rep. Jesse Petrea, would require the Georgia Department of Corrections, as well as county sheriffs and city jailers to maintain an online database detailing the immigration status, offenses, and home countries of non-U.S. citizen inmates. This bill has been assigned to the House Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee. 

Senate Bill 63, introduced by Chairman Randy Robertson, restricts judges’ ability to permit an unsecured release of any person charged with a bail-restricted offense. This bill also expands the definition of “bail-restricted offenses” to include additional criminal charges. Furthermore, no individual, corporation, organization, charity, nonprofit corporation, or group in any jurisdiction may post more than three cash bonds per year.

House Bill 1188, by Rep. Jodi Lott, requires any state, county, and municipal law enforcement agencies that hire a peace officer from another agency prior to 36 months after their mandated training, must provide reimbursement to that agency for the total cost of training. This reimbursement covers various expenses such as equipment, materials, housing, meals, transportation, and salary incurred during the officer's basic or field training course.

In the amended FY 2024 budget, the House Appropriations Committee provided a $2 per diem increase for housing state prisoners in county correctional institutions (CIs). This budget, House Bill 915, passed in the House. Please reach out to your senators on the Senate Public Safety Appropriations Subcommittee to request they keep this item in the AFY 2024 budget.

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

House Bill 1170, sponsored by Chairman Lee Hawkins, mandates that all state and government buildings be equipped with a defibrillator and maintain a supply of at least three “opioid antagonists”, which counteract the effects of opioids. Each government entity is required to establish and implement an internal training and implementation policy for opioid antagonist administration.

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

House Bill 946 by Rep. Lee Hawkins passed both the House Sales Tax Subcommittee and the House Ways & Means Committee unanimously. This bill makes changes to the current TSPLOST law by adding language from the Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) law so that once a city or cities making up more than 50% of the municipal population sign the IGA, the tax may be levied up to the full 1%. 

ACCG Associate Director of Governmental Affairs Martha Revelo and GMA Assistant General Counsel testify in favor of HB 946 before the House Ways & Means Sales Tax Subcommittee

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

House Bill 300, by Rep. Trey Kelly passed out of the Energy, Utilities, and Telecommunications Committee and is scheduled to be up for vote Monday on the House floor. HB 300 seeks to establish provisions in solar facility agreements regarding the responsibilities of the grantee concerning the decommissioning of solar power equipment upon termination of the lease. The bill outlines for financial assurance to cover the costs associated with removing solar power facilities from the property and restoring it to its original condition. The company operating the solar power facilities, or grantee, is responsible for obtaining and providing financial assurance (by a third-party) to ensure that the amount is adequate to cover the costs of the removal. SB 300 preempts local governments from imposing additional financial assurance requirements in cases where the landowner and solar farm operator are different and are operating under a lease. 

Counties across the state have been adopting ordinances that similarly require posting bonds for decommissioning, and this bill would preempt that authority.

If you have a solar farm ordinance and have any concerns, please contact us.

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

Senate Bill 189, by Sen. Max Burns, passed the Senate this week, requiring that the text portion of a ballot marked by a ballot marking device or voting machine be considered the official vote for purposes of vote tabulations. Currently, QR codes are used for vote tabulation.             

In the opposite chamber, House Bill 974, by Rep. John LaHood, passed out of the House Governmental Affairs Committee. This legislation requires the Secretary of State to establish and maintain a statewide system for the posting of scanned paper ballots, making it possible for election enthusiasts statewide to count the ballots themselves following each election.       

     

Both bills have undergone revisions to make them more administratively feasible. Please contact your legislators directly with any concerns you may have about election legislation.    

House Bill 1207, introduced by Rep. Tim Fleming, requires election superintendents to better ensure the ballot for each precinct contains the correct contests for that precinct and no other contests. Furthermore, superintendents are required to create ballot proofs and send them to all candidates appearing on the ballot to ensure accuracy before ballots are printed. Candidates then have 24 hours to verify that their information is correct.    

Join us at the 2024 Legislative Breakfast to get the latest updates and learn more about trending state issues. Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities (DBHDD) Commissioner Kevin Tanner and Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) Commissioner Russell McMurry are the latest confirmed speakers that will address county officials during this year's Legislative Breakfast.

Visit the ACCG website for updates on the agenda and registration.

It is time for counties to review and update, if necessary, their ACCG County Legislative Coordinator (CLC). The CLC’s primary responsibilities are to relay pertinent information about current legislation to county commissioners and county management and to maintain an open line of communication with ACCG to ensure county-specific information is readily available for legislators. ACCG encourages all counties to participate in this network and designate a CLC prior to the legislative session. To confirm, update, or appoint your county’s CLC, please contact Tottianna Davis at tdavis@accg.org or 404-522-5022.

Click here to review your county's CLC from the 2023 session.

Watch the replay of the Virtual Legislative Update here. As a reminder, join the ACCG Governmental Affairs team every Friday at 9:00 a.m. during the legislative session. This is a recurring event, so county officials can access the meeting each week through this link.

Don't forget about the various communications tools that will help keep you informed and engaged. Click here to read all about them!

Georgia Recorder - February 9, 2024

Georgia Recorder - February 7, 2024

The Current - February 6, 2024