--- title: HB 1233. Local government; waive development impact fees for certain projects related to development of affordable or workforce housing; authorize collection: bills id: 2025-2026/hb1233 cite_as: HB 1233, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1233 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1233.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1233/text source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/72954 date: 2026-02-10 status: introduced corpus_version: bills-2026-09-13 license: Public record of the Georgia General Assembly, via LegiScan; see about.md publisher: Georgia Commons, an independent project of Georgia Civic Data. Not the State of Georgia. Not legal advice. up: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026.md previous: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1232.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1234.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md omitted: votes and history omitted_chars: 129 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1233.md?full=1 bill_number: HB 1233 session: 2025-2026 Regular Session session_slug: 2025-2026 chamber: House bill_type: bill status_date: 2026-02-06 last_action: House Second Readers sponsors: - Kasey Carpenter - Clint Crowe - Rob Clifton - Spencer Frye - Dale Washburn text_version: Introduced has_text: true legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB1233/2025 upstream_id: 2111493 summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 topic_tags: - affordable housing - workforce housing - development impact fees - local government finance --- # HB 1233. Local government; waive development impact fees for certain projects related to development of affordable or workforce housing; authorize ## Text House Bill 1233 By: Representatives Carpenter of the 4th, Crowe of the 118th, Clifton of the 131st, Frye of the 122nd, and Washburn of the 144th A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT To amend Chapter 71 of Title 36 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to development impact fees, so as to authorize local governments to waive development impact fees for certain projects related to the development of affordable or workforce housing without increasing other impact fees to offset such lost funds; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA: SECTION 1. Chapter 71 of Title 36 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to development impact fees, is amended in Code Section 36-71-4, relating to calculation, by revising subsection (l) as follows: "(l) A municipal or county development impact fee ordinance may exempt all or part of particular development projects from development impact fees if: (1) Such projects are determined to create extraordinary economic development and employment growth or affordable housing; (2) The public policy which supports the exemption is contained in the municipality's or county's comprehensive plan; and (3) The exempt development project's proportionate share of the system improvement is funded through a revenue source other than development impact fees; provided, however, that, if a development project creates workforce housing consisting of single-family residences intended primarily for owner occupancy and meets the requirements of paragraph (2) of this subsection, then a municipal or county development impact fee ordinance may waive the requirements of this paragraph; and provided, further, that, if a municipality or county waives the requirements of this paragraph for a project that creates workforce housing, the municipality or county is prohibited from increasing development impact fees on other projects for the sole purpose of offsetting the loss of development impact fee revenue resulting from the exempted workforce housing project." SECTION 2. All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed. ## Summaries written by Georgia Commons The following was written by claude-sonnet-5 from the text above and is not part of the bill. Quote the text, not the summary. A Georgia House bill would let cities and counties waive development impact fees for certain workforce housing projects, and it bars them from raising other impact fees to make up the lost money. ### Plain-language summary Georgia law lets local governments charge developers 'development impact fees,' one-time charges meant to cover the cost of new roads, water lines, and other infrastructure needed because of new construction. Current law already lets local governments exempt some projects from these fees if they spur major economic growth or affordable housing, but only if the local government funds the project's share of infrastructure costs from some other source. This bill adds a new option: if a project builds workforce housing made up of single-family homes meant mainly for owner occupancy, and the exemption fits the local comprehensive plan, a city or county can waive that funding-replacement requirement entirely. The bill also says that if a local government uses this waiver, it cannot raise impact fees on other developments just to make up for the fee revenue it gave up on the workforce housing project. ### What it does - Lets municipal or county impact fee ordinances waive fee exemption funding requirements specifically for workforce housing projects of owner-occupied single-family homes. - Requires that the workforce housing exemption still align with the local government's comprehensive plan before it can be granted. - Prohibits local governments from raising impact fees on other development projects solely to offset revenue lost from an exempted workforce housing project. - Leaves the existing option of granting impact fee exemptions for major economic development or affordable housing projects unchanged, still requiring outside funding to cover those exempted costs. ### Who it affects Home builders and developers who build owner-occupied, single-family workforce housing; city and county governments that set development impact fee policy; and other developers or property owners who might otherwise see their impact fees raised to cover a workforce housing exemption. ### Why it matters Local governments could offer a financial incentive, an impact fee waiver, to encourage more workforce housing construction without needing to find replacement funding elsewhere. Other developers are also protected from seeing their own fees raised to cover that lost revenue, which could affect how much infrastructure funding local governments collect overall. ### Key provisions - Section 1 amends O.C.G.A. ยง 36-71-4(l), which governs when local impact fee ordinances can exempt projects from development impact fees. - Adds a new provision letting local governments waive the requirement that exempted projects fund their infrastructure share from another source, but only for workforce housing consisting of owner-occupied single-family homes. - Requires that such workforce housing exemptions still meet the existing requirement that the exemption's public policy basis appear in the local comprehensive plan. - Bars local governments from increasing impact fees on other projects for the sole purpose of offsetting revenue lost from an exempted workforce housing project. - Section 2 repeals conflicting laws, a standard provision with no independent substantive effect. ## Status - Status: Introduced (2026-02-06) - Last action: House Second Readers (2026-02-10) - Sponsors: Kasey Carpenter, Clint Crowe, Rob Clifton, Spencer Frye, Dale Washburn - Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/72954 > The history, votes, and amendments (129 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1233.md?full=1