HB753: HB753 Better Georgia Without Blight Act; enact

Blighted, or run-down and abandoned, properties can drain local government resources through added code enforcement, public safety, and social service costs. This bill responds by adding a new article to Chapter 8 of Title 50 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, creating the Better Georgia Without Blight Fund within the Department of Community Affairs. The fund would offer loans, loan guarantees, matching grants, and technical assistance to local, municipal, county, or consolidated governments trying to rehabilitate blighted properties. The commissioner of community affairs would run the fund, and the department would set eligibility criteria, including property inspections, notice to owners, and stakeholder meetings. The department must file an annual public report starting July 1, 2026, and the new article automatically expires on June 30, 2031 unless renewed. The whole Act only takes effect if the General Assembly appropriates specific funding for it.

• Creates the Better Georgia Without Blight Fund within the Department of Community Affairs to finance and support rehabilitation of blighted properties.
• Lets the department offer loans, loan guarantees, matching grants, and technical assistance to local, municipal, county, or consolidated governments.
• Requires the department to set eligibility criteria for applicants and properties, including inspections, owner notice, and a stakeholder meeting.
• Requires an annual public report to the Governor and General Assembly on the fund's implementation, starting July 1, 2026.
• Automatically repeals the new law on June 30, 2031 unless the General Assembly votes to continue it.
• Makes the entire Act contingent on the General Assembly separately appropriating money for it.

Local, municipal, county, and consolidated governments seeking help rehabilitating blighted properties; owners of properties identified as blighted; the Department of Community Affairs and its commissioner, who would administer the fund; and residents of communities with blighted properties.

If funded, the bill would give Georgia local governments a new source of loans, grants, and technical help to fix up abandoned or deteriorated properties, potentially reducing local costs for code enforcement and public safety while improving neighborhoods, but nothing happens unless the legislature also appropriates money for it.

• Section 2 lists legislative findings that blighted property increases government service burdens and that rehabilitation saves resources and improves communities.
• Section 3 adds new Code Sections 50-8-400 through 50-8-405, defining terms like 'blighted property' by reference to O.C.G.A. § 22-1-1 and 'commissioner' as the head of the Department of Community Affairs.
• Code Section 50-8-401 establishes the fund and names the commissioner as its director, authorizing the department to seek outside grants and funds.
• Code Section 50-8-402 requires the department to set eligibility criteria, including property inspection, written notice to owners, and at least one stakeholder meeting.
• Code Section 50-8-404 requires an annual public report to the Governor and General Assembly starting July 1, 2026, posted on the department's website.
• Code Section 50-8-405 automatically repeals the article on June 30, 2031 unless the General Assembly extends it.
• Section 4 makes the entire Act effective only if the General Assembly appropriates specific funding for its purposes.

1. 2025-04-04House Withdrawn, Recommitted (House)
2. 2025-03-20House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
3. 2025-03-13House Second Readers (House)
4. 2025-03-11House First Readers (House)
5. 2025-03-10House Hopper (House)

• Bryce Berry (D, HD-056)Primary sponsor
• Spencer Frye (D, HD-122)
• Tangie Herring (D, HD-145)
• Phil Olaleye (D, HD-059)
• Teddy Reese (D, HD-140)

• blighted property
• community development
• local government funding
• Department of Community Affairs
• property rehabilitation