HB129: HB129 Ad valorem tax; bona fide conservation use property; remove a limitation on leased property as to certain entities

Georgia law gives landowners a lower property tax assessment if their land is used for farming, timber, or other conservation purposes, but current law disqualifies a property if it is leased to someone who wouldn't personally qualify for that break. This bill carves out exceptions to that leasing rule for certain business entities, such as corporations, partnerships, and LLCs, that are owned only by natural citizens, exist mainly to produce farm or timber products, and earn most of their income from conservation-qualifying activities in Georgia. It also allows entities where a member with at least a 25 percent ownership stake would personally qualify for the tax break. Separately, the bill revives Georgia's tax credit for film and TV postproduction expenditures, which had expired for tax years starting in 2023. It restarts the credit for tax years 2026 through 2030, capping it at $10 million per year, and requires postproduction companies to report employment data to the state. The law would take effect once the Governor signs it and would apply to tax years starting on or after January 1, 2026.

• Removes the leasing restriction on the conservation-use property tax break for qualifying family-owned corporations, partnerships, and LLCs engaged mainly in farming or timber production.
• Requires such entities to be owned only by natural or naturalized citizens and to earn at least 80 percent of their income from conservation-qualifying uses in Georgia.
• Allows leased property to still qualify if a member holding at least 25 percent ownership would personally be entitled to the conservation use tax break.
• Renews the film and TV postproduction tax credit (O.C.G.A. § 48-7-40.26A), which had lapsed after 2022, for tax years 2026 through 2030.
• Caps the renewed postproduction tax credit at $10 million per year and requires companies to report full-time employee data to the Department of Revenue.
• Sets the effective date as the date the Governor signs the bill, applying to tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2026.

Georgia landowners who lease farmland or timberland, especially family-owned corporations, partnerships, and LLCs seeking the conservation use property tax break; county tax assessors who evaluate these applications; and film and television postproduction companies that claim the state's postproduction tax credit.

Farm and timber businesses organized as corporations or LLCs that lease land could keep a lower property tax bill they previously risked losing under the leasing rule. Postproduction companies would again be eligible for a state tax credit worth up to $10 million a year starting in 2026, after several years without it.

• Section 1 amends O.C.G.A. § 48-5-7.4(b)(4) to exempt certain qualifying entities from the rule that leasing to a non-qualifying party disqualifies conservation use property.
• The exemption applies to entities owned only by natural citizens whose primary purpose is producing farm or timber products and that earn 80 percent or more of income from bona fide conservation uses in Georgia.
• An alternative exemption applies if at least one member with a 25 percent or greater ownership interest in the leased property would personally qualify for conservation use assessment.
• Section 2 amends O.C.G.A. § 48-7-40.26A to restart the postproduction tax credit for tax years 2026 through 2030 with an annual cap of $10 million.
• Section 2 requires postproduction companies to report monthly average full-time employee counts to the Department of Revenue, with the Commissioner reporting annually to House Ways and Means and Senate Finance Committees.
• Section 3 sets the effective date as approval by the Governor (or becoming law without approval), applying to tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2026.
• Section 4 repeals conflicting laws.

1. 2025-05-14Effective Date 2025-05-14
2. 2025-05-14Act 251
3. 2025-05-14House Date Signed by Governor (House)
4. 2025-04-10House Sent to Governor (House)
5. 2025-04-02House Agreed Senate Amend or Sub (House)
6. 2025-04-02Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute (Senate)
7. 2025-04-02Senate Third Read (Senate)
8. 2025-04-02Senate Engrossed (Senate)

• Charles Cannon (R, HD-172)Primary sponsor
• James Burchett (R, HD-176)
• Robert Dickey (R, HD-134)
• John Corbett (R, HD-174)
• David Huddleston (R, HD-072)
• Jaclyn Ford (R, HD-170)
• Sam Watson (R, SD-011)

1. PassedHouse voteMarch 4, 2025

   165 yea, 7 nay (6 not voting, 2 absent)

   Passage: House Vote #156

2. PassedSenate voteApril 2, 2025

   31 yea, 24 nay (0 not voting, 1 absent)

   Motion To Engross: Sb 214, Hb 66, Hb 79, Hb 129, Hb 134, Hb 141, Hb 370, Hb 397, Hb 445, Hb 463, Hb 532, Hb 586, Hb 652: Senate Vote #383

3. PassedSenate voteApril 2, 2025

   44 yea, 9 nay (2 not voting, 1 absent)

   Passage By Substitute: Senate Vote #387

4. PassedHouse voteApril 2, 2025

   149 yea, 13 nay (4 not voting, 14 absent)

   Agree To Senate Substitute: House Vote #398

• property taxes
• conservation use land
• farming and timber
• film tax credits
• agricultural tax breaks