SB33: SB33 "Georgia Hemp Farming Act"; total THC concentration of consumable hemp products; provide limits

This bill touches several parts of Georgia law dealing with property taxes, sales taxes, school funding, and elections, despite its short title referencing hemp. It creates a new option for counties and cities called the Local Homestead Option Sales Tax (LHOST), a 1 percent sales tax that local governments can adopt by referendum starting January 1, 2028, to fund property tax exemptions on primary homes. It also changes how proceeds from an existing special district sales tax (FLOST) must be used, requiring them to go toward reducing property taxes. The bill excludes certain homestead exemption amounts from the calculation used to determine state school equalization funding, raises the cap on local school reserve funds from 15 percent to 25 percent, and limits the dates on which local governments can hold special elections asking voters to raise revenue. It also makes Georgia's state-wide base year homestead exemption mandatory statewide, revises how that exemption is calculated, and bars county tax officials from retroactively billing homeowners for mistakenly applied exemptions that were not the homeowner's fault. The law would take effect as soon as the Governor signs it.

• Creates a new Local Homestead Option Sales Tax (LHOST), a 1 percent local sales tax counties can adopt by voter referendum starting in 2028 to fund property tax exemptions on primary homes.
• Requires proceeds from the existing special district sales tax known as FLOST to be applied directly to reduce property tax bills rather than used for other purposes.
• Raises the cap on reserve funds (savings) that local school systems can hold from 15 percent to 25 percent of their budget.
• Restricts the dates local governments can hold special elections asking voters to approve tax or revenue increases, limiting them to specific dates in odd and even years.
• Makes the state-wide base year homestead exemption, which limits how fast a home's taxable value can rise, mandatory for every city, county, and school system in Georgia and revises how it is calculated.
• Prohibits county tax officials from retroactively charging a homeowner extra property taxes because of a homestead exemption that was applied by mistake through no fault of the homeowner.

Georgia homeowners who claim homestead exemptions, county and city tax commissioners and boards of tax assessors, local school systems and school boards, county and municipal governments deciding whether to adopt the new sales tax, and voters who would decide on local referendums and special elections under the new date restrictions.

Homeowners in counties that adopt the new local sales tax could see part of their property tax bill offset by sales tax revenue instead, while homeowners statewide would get a mandatory cap on how fast their home's taxable value rises. Local governments and school systems would also gain more budget flexibility, and taxpayers would be protected from retroactive tax bills caused by administrative mistakes.

• Section 2-3 creates a new Article 2C in the tax code establishing the LHOST, defining eligible local governments as those with a homestead exemption in effect by local Act, and setting the tax rate at 1 percent beginning January 1, 2028.
• Section 2-3 (Code Section 48-8-109.54) limits any LHOST to a maximum of ten years, renewable by the same process used to adopt it initially.
• Section 2-2 revises Code Section 48-8-109.42 to require FLOST proceeds collected before July 1 to reduce property taxes for that year, and proceeds collected after July 1 to reduce taxes the following year.
• Section 3-1 excludes certain homestead exemption values from the equalized adjusted school property tax digest used to calculate state equalization grants and the local five mill share.
• Section 3-2 raises the cap on local school system reserve funds from 15 percent to 25 percent of the prior year's budget.
• Section 4-1 restricts special elections on local revenue increases to specific dates: the third Tuesday in March or the Tuesday after the first Monday in November in odd years, and the general primary date or the Tuesday after the first Monday in November in even years.
• Section 5-1 revises the definitions and calculation method for the state-wide base year homestead exemption and repeals subsections (h) and (i) of the governing code section.
• Section 5-3 bars county tax officials from retroactively assessing additional property taxes when a homestead exemption was mistakenly applied through no fault of the taxpayer.

1. 2026-05-11Effective Date 2026-05-11
2. 2026-05-11Act 461
3. 2026-05-11Senate Date Signed by Governor (Senate)
4. 2026-04-10Senate Sent to Governor (Senate)
5. 2026-04-02House Agreed Senate Amend or Sub (House)
6. 2026-04-02Senate Agreed House Amend or Sub As Amended (Senate)
7. 2026-03-31House Passed/Adopted By Substitute (House)
8. 2026-03-31House Third Readers (House)

• Kay Kirkpatrick (R, SD-032)Primary sponsor
• Ben Watson (R, SD-001)
• Bill Cowsert (R, SD-046)
• Sam Watson (R, SD-011)
• Elena Parent (D, SD-044)
• Chuck Hufstetler (R, SD-052)
• John Kennedy (R, SD-018)
• John Albers (R, SD-056)
• Michael Rhett (D, SD-033)
• Mike Hodges (R, SD-003)
• Max Burns (R, SD-023)
• Ed Harbison (D, SD-015)
• Randy Robertson (R, SD-029)
• Steve Gooch (R, SD-051)
• Marty Harbin (R, SD-016)
• Robert Dickey (R, HD-134)

1. PassedSenate voteMarch 6, 2025

   50 yea, 6 nay

   Passage By Substitute: Senate Vote #168

2. PassedHouse voteMarch 31, 2026

   151 yea, 14 nay (3 not voting, 8 absent)

   Passage: House Vote #819

3. PassedSenate voteApril 2, 2026

   32 yea, 21 nay (0 not voting, 1 absent)

   Motion For The Previous Question: Senate Vote #979

4. PassedSenate voteApril 2, 2026

   32 yea, 21 nay (0 not voting, 1 absent)

   Agree To House Substitute As Amended: Senate Vote #980

5. PassedHouse voteApril 3, 2026

   97 yea, 72 nay (5 not voting, 2 absent)

   Agree To Senate Amend To House Sub: House Vote #879

• property taxes
• homestead exemptions
• local sales taxes
• school funding
• special elections