---
title: HB 1333. Municipal corporations; calculation of costs of governmental affairs activities by municipalities which taxpayers may elect not to pay; provide
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/hb1333
cite_as: HB 1333, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1333
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1333.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1333/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/73264
date: 2026-02-19
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.
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omitted: votes and history
omitted_chars: 129
omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1333.md?full=1
bill_number: HB 1333
session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
session_slug: 2025-2026
chamber: House
bill_type: bill
status_date: 2026-02-17
last_action: House Second Readers
sponsors:
- Trey Kelley
text_version: Introduced
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB1333/2025
upstream_id: 2118572
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
- municipal taxes
- lobbying disclosure
- property taxes
- local government spending
---
# HB 1333. Municipal corporations; calculation of costs of governmental affairs activities by municipalities which taxpayers may elect not to pay; provide
## Text
House Bill 1333
By: Representative Kelley of the 16th
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Chapter 30 of Title 36 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to
general provisions applicable to municipal corporations only, so as to provide for the
calculation of the costs of governmental affairs activities by municipalities which taxpayers
may elect not to pay; to provide for definitions; 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 30 of Title 36 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to general
provisions applicable to municipal corporations only, is amended by adding a new Code
section to read as follows:
"36-30-14.
(a) As used in this Code section, the term:
(1) 'Costs of governmental affairs activities' means all costs, whether incurred directly
or indirectly, associated with governmental affairs activities by a municipality, including,
but not limited to, the salaries of all officials or employees of the municipality whose
jobs involve governmental affairs activities; payments to outside contractors who engage
in governmental affairs activities on behalf of the municipality; dues paid to
organizations which engage in governmental affairs activities on behalf of such
municipality individually or as a part of a larger group of municipalities; supplies and
materials used in governmental affairs activities; and similar expenses.
(2) 'Governmental affairs activities' means all functions and actions undertaken, directly
or indirectly, to support or oppose governmental action by another governmental entity
at the federal, state, county, municipal, or local level or to influence the actions or
decisions of officials of another governmental entity at the federal, state, county,
municipal, or local level.
(b) Each municipality shall calculate the costs of governmental affairs activities for each
fiscal year for such municipality and shall separately itemize such costs on each ad
valorem tax bill issued by such municipality on a pro rata basis for each tax parcel based
upon the assessed value of the tax parcel as a percentage of all assessed property in such
municipality. Such amount shall be optional for the taxpayer to pay and the tax bill shall
notify the taxpayer that the taxpayer may deduct such amount from the total tax due and
pay only the remaining amount of taxes due. The tax bill shall be designed in such a way
that the taxpayer may conveniently deduct such optional amount from the total tax due and
pay only the remaining amount of the taxes owed. The taxpayer shall not be penalized in
any way for deducting such pro rata costs of such municipality's governmental affairs
activities."
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 require every municipality to calculate its lobbying-related spending and let property taxpayers deduct their share of that cost from their tax bill without penalty.
### Plain-language summary
Georgia municipalities often spend money on staff, contractors, dues, and supplies used to influence decisions by other governments, sometimes called governmental affairs or lobbying activities. Currently there is no requirement that these costs be broken out separately on a resident's property tax bill. This bill would add a new section to Georgia law (O.C.G.A. Chapter 30 of Title 36) requiring each municipality to total up these costs every fiscal year.
Municipalities would then have to itemize that total on each property tax bill, dividing it among taxpayers based on the assessed value of their property compared to all property in the municipality. Taxpayers would be allowed to subtract their share of these costs from their total tax bill and pay only the remainder, with the bill designed so this deduction is easy to make. The bill states taxpayers cannot be penalized for choosing to deduct this amount.
### What it does
- Requires every Georgia municipality to calculate the total costs of its governmental affairs activities (lobbying and related efforts to influence other governments) each fiscal year.
- Defines governmental affairs activities broadly to include actions to support, oppose, or influence decisions by federal, state, county, or other municipal governments.
- Defines costs of governmental affairs activities to include staff salaries, outside contractor payments, membership dues, and supplies tied to those activities.
- Requires municipalities to itemize each taxpayer's pro rata share of these costs on their property tax bill, based on their property's assessed value relative to all property in the municipality.
- Makes payment of this itemized amount optional, letting taxpayers deduct it from their total tax bill and pay only the remaining tax owed.
- Prohibits municipalities from penalizing a taxpayer in any way for choosing to deduct this amount.
### Who it affects
Georgia municipal governments, which must calculate and itemize these costs; municipal officials and employees involved in governmental affairs work; outside contractors and organizations paid by municipalities for lobbying-type activities; and property taxpayers within municipalities, who gain the option to withhold this portion of their bill.
### Why it matters
Property owners in Georgia municipalities would see a new line item on their tax bill showing what portion pays for the municipality's efforts to influence other governments, and could choose not to pay that share without penalty, potentially reducing municipal revenue used for those activities.
### Key provisions
- Adds new Code section 36-30-14 to Chapter 30 of Title 36 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated.
- Subsection (a) defines 'costs of governmental affairs activities' and 'governmental affairs activities' broadly, covering salaries, contractor payments, dues, and supplies tied to influencing other governmental entities.
- Subsection (b) requires each municipality to calculate these costs annually and itemize a pro rata share on every ad valorem tax bill based on assessed property value.
- Subsection (b) makes payment of the itemized amount optional, requires tax bills to be designed for easy deduction of that amount, and bars penalties for taxpayers who deduct it.
- Section 2 repeals any conflicting laws.
## Status
- Status: Introduced (2026-02-17)
- Last action: House Second Readers (2026-02-19)
- Sponsors: Trey Kelley
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/73264
> The history, votes, and amendments (129 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1333.md?full=1