SB368: SB368 "Northeast Regional Water Authority Act"; enact

This bill would establish the Northeast Regional Water Authority as a new political subdivision of Georgia. It would start with six members appointed by the governing bodies of Banks County, Franklin County, Madison County, the City of Commerce, the City of Elberton, and the Jackson County Water and Sewer Authority, covering the water needs of Banks, Elbert, Franklin, Jackson, and Madison counties. The authority could acquire land, build and operate regional water reservoirs and related facilities, sell water wholesale to member entities and other retail water providers, and add recreational facilities around reservoirs. It could issue revenue bonds under Georgia's Revenue Bond Law (O.C.G.A. Title 36, Chapter 82, Article 3) to pay for projects, with those bonds repaid only from project revenues, not general tax dollars. Other counties or cities could later join or withdraw, and the authority must make annual payments to any local government hosting a reservoir it builds.

• Creates the Northeast Regional Water Authority as a new political subdivision with six initial members from Banks, Franklin, and Madison counties, Commerce, Elberton, and the Jackson County Water and Sewer Authority.
• Authorizes the authority to build, own, and operate regional water reservoirs and related water treatment and distribution facilities, and to sell water wholesale only, not directly to individual retail customers.
• Allows the authority to issue revenue bonds to pay for reservoir and facility projects, repayable solely from project revenues rather than taxpayer funds.
• Requires the authority to make annual payments to any city or county where it builds a reservoir or acquires property, based on estimated property tax value.
• Sets rules for other counties or cities to join or withdraw from the authority, including a two-thirds vote of current members to approve new members.
• Grants the authority the power to condemn (take through eminent domain) private property needed for its water projects, subject to existing condemnation laws.

The bill directly affects the governing bodies and residents of Banks, Franklin, and Madison counties, the cities of Commerce and Elberton, and the Jackson County Water and Sewer Authority. It also affects other counties and municipalities in the Northeast region that might later join, property owners near potential reservoir sites, and bondholders who would purchase the authority's revenue bonds.

If enacted, local governments in this part of northeast Georgia would gain a shared entity able to build large water infrastructure and borrow money for it without pledging local tax revenue. Landowners near future reservoir sites could face condemnation, while host communities would receive annual payments in place of property taxes.

• Section 2 creates the authority as a body corporate and politic with six initial members and rules for quorums and officer elections.
• Section 3 defines key terms including 'project,' 'member entity,' and 'site jurisdiction,' and limits water sales to wholesale distribution.
• Section 6 bars the authority from obligating member entities to guarantee bonds without their approval and restricts it to wholesale water distribution only.
• Section 8 requires annual payments to site jurisdictions hosting authority facilities, calculated using agricultural property values and current millage rates.
• Section 9 sets conditions for other counties or municipalities to join by a two-thirds vote of the authority, or for members to withdraw by resolution.
• Section 13 states that revenue bonds are not a debt of the state or any member entity and are payable only from project revenues.
• Section 26 grants the authority and its employees the same tort immunity as a Georgia county.

1. 2025-04-02Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
2. 2025-03-31Senate Hopper (Senate)

• Frank Ginn (R, SD-047)Primary sponsor

• water supply
• regional authorities
• reservoirs
• local government
• northeast Georgia