HB356: HB356 City of Doraville Building and Public Facilities Authority Act; enact

Doraville currently has no dedicated authority for financing and building city facilities outside its regular city government structure. This bill sets one up: the City of Doraville Building and Public Facilities Authority, a public corporation that is legally separate from the city but exists to serve it. The authority can acquire land, build and operate projects like government buildings, lease them to the city, and charge rent to cover costs. To pay for construction, the authority can issue revenue bonds, which are repaid from rents and project income rather than from city or state tax dollars, so no public debt is created in the constitutional sense. The bill lays out how the authority is governed (five members appointed by the Doraville City Council), how bonds are validated in DeKalb County Superior Court, how the authority is protected from lawsuits similarly to the city, and what happens to its property if it is ever dissolved (it goes to the city). The Act took effect upon passage.

• Creates a new public corporation, the City of Doraville Building and Public Facilities Authority, to build and manage government facilities for the city.
• Allows the authority to issue revenue bonds to pay for projects, with repayment coming only from rents and project revenue, not city or state taxes.
• Sets up a five-member board appointed by the Doraville City Council, with terms, a quorum rule, and no pay beyond expense reimbursement.
• Gives the authority broad powers to buy, lease, sell, and mortgage property, sign contracts, and hire staff to run its projects.
• Exempts the authority's bonds and most of its property from Georgia taxation, though not from sales and use tax on its purchases.
• Grants the authority the same immunity from lawsuits over accidents or negligence that the City of Doraville itself has.

The City of Doraville and its city council, who appoint the authority's board and can lease its facilities; residents who use city buildings; bondholders who buy the authority's revenue bonds; and DeKalb County Superior Court, which handles bond validation and legal disputes involving the authority.

Doraville gains a new financing tool to build facilities like offices or government buildings without directly borrowing city funds, since the bonds are repaid from project revenue rather than taxes. Residents could see new or renovated city facilities financed this way, while bondholders and contractors gain a defined legal structure for dealing with the authority.

• Section 2 establishes the authority as a state instrumentality with its principal office and legal residence in Doraville.
• Section 3 sets a five-member board appointed by the Doraville City Council, limits city council members to two of the five seats, and sets staggered three-year terms.
• Section 5 lists the authority's powers, including acquiring property, entering leases and contracts, and issuing revenue bonds.
• Section 6 states that authority bonds do not create city or state debt and cannot be enforced against city or state property.
• Section 9 and Section 10 set DeKalb County Superior Court as the exclusive venue for lawsuits and bond validation proceedings.
• Section 14 exempts the authority from most taxes on its property and income but not from sales and use tax on its purchases.
• Section 15 gives the authority and its employees the same immunity from tort and negligence lawsuits as the City of Doraville.
• Section 20 requires that if the authority is ever dissolved after paying off its bonds, its remaining property goes to the City of Doraville.

1. 2025-05-13Effective Date 2025-05-13
2. 2025-05-13Act 138
3. 2025-05-13House Date Signed by Governor (House)
4. 2025-04-07House Sent to Governor (House)
5. 2025-02-21Senate Passed/Adopted (Senate)
6. 2025-02-21Senate Committee Favorably Reported (Senate)
7. 2025-02-18Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
8. 2025-02-13House Passed/Adopted (House)

• Long Tran (D, HD-080)Primary sponsor

1. PassedHouse voteFebruary 13, 2025

   163 yea, 0 nay (11 not voting, 6 absent)

   Local Calendar : House Vote #32

2. PassedSenate voteFebruary 21, 2025

   46 yea, 0 nay (9 not voting, 1 absent)

   Local Consent Calendar: Senate Vote #78

• local government authorities
• municipal bonds
• Doraville
• public facilities financing