---
title: HB 1386. Local government; county development authorities for certain counties shall not operate within certain municipalities; provide
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/hb1386
cite_as: HB 1386, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1386
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1386.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1386/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/73423
date: 2026-03-03
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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previous: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1385.md
next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1387.md
index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md
omitted: votes and history
omitted_chars: 185
omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1386.md?full=1
bill_number: HB 1386
session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
session_slug: 2025-2026
chamber: House
bill_type: bill
status_date: 2026-02-19
last_action: House Committee Favorably Reported
sponsors:
- Robert Dawson
- Bryce Berry
- Sheila Jones
- Lydia Glaize
- Mekyah McQueen
- Jan Jones
text_version: Introduced
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB1386/2025
upstream_id: 2120624
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
- development authorities
- local government
- economic development
- Fulton County
- property tax incentives
---
# HB 1386. Local government; county development authorities for certain counties shall not operate within certain municipalities; provide
## Text
House Bill 1386
By: Representatives Dawson of the 65th, Berry of the 56th, Jones of the 60th, Glaize of the 67th,
McQueen of the 61st, and others
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Chapter 62 of Title 36 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to
development authorities, so as to provide that county development authorities for certain
counties shall not operate within certain municipalities; 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 62 of Title 36 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to development
authorities, is amended by revising Code Section 36-62-4.1, relating to massively
municipalized county and acceptance of title in connection with certain property tax
incentive project, as follows:
"36-62-4.1.
(a) As used in this Code section, the term 'massively municipalized county' means any
county without a consolidated or unified government in which the corporate limits of two
or more municipalities cover 95 percent or more of the land area of the county.
(b) No county development authority for a massively municipalized county shall purchase
or accept title to any real or personal property in connection with a property tax incentive
project within the parts of such county that are within the corporate limits of any
municipality that is located north of the northernmost corporate limit of the municipality
in which the county site of such county is located if the governing authority of the
municipality in which such property is located has adopted a resolution to limit such
development authority from operating within such municipality.
(c) The provisions of this Code section shall not apply to any project approved by a
development authority within a municipality prior to January 1, 2026, the adoption of a
resolution pursuant to subsection (b) of this Code section by such municipality nor shall
any amendments, refinancing, renewals, or the transfer of any property related to such prior
projects be affected by this Code section."
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 more cities within heavily municipalized counties, like Fulton County, block the county development authority from operating inside their limits, not just cities north of the county seat.
### Plain-language summary
Current Georgia law lets certain 'massively municipalized' counties, those where cities cover 95 percent or more of the county's land, have their county development authority blocked from handling property tax incentive projects inside a city, but only if that city is located north of the northernmost limit of the municipality containing the county seat and the city passes a resolution against the authority. This bill removes that geographic 'north of' limitation, so any municipality within such a county could pass a resolution to keep the county development authority from purchasing or accepting property for tax incentive projects within its limits.
The bill also changes the grandfather clause for existing projects. Instead of protecting only projects approved before January 1, 2026, it protects any project a development authority approved within a municipality before that municipality adopted its own blocking resolution. Existing amendments, refinancing, renewals, or property transfers tied to those earlier projects stay unaffected. Section 2 repeals conflicting laws.
### What it does
- Removes the requirement that a blocking municipality be located north of the northernmost limit of the city containing the county seat, letting any municipality in a massively municipalized county pass a blocking resolution.
- Keeps the rule that a county development authority cannot purchase or accept title to property for a tax incentive project inside a municipality that has passed such a resolution.
- Changes the grandfather clause so projects are protected if approved before a municipality's own resolution, instead of before a fixed date of January 1, 2026.
- Preserves protection for existing project amendments, refinancing, renewals, or property transfers tied to previously approved projects.
### Who it affects
County development authorities in Georgia's massively municipalized counties (counties without a consolidated government where cities cover 95 percent or more of the land), the municipalities within those counties, and businesses or developers involved in property tax incentive projects that rely on county development authority involvement.
### Why it matters
By dropping the geographic restriction, more cities within a heavily municipalized county could vote to keep the county development authority out of their limits for tax incentive projects, potentially shifting control over economic development deals from the county authority to individual city governments.
### Key provisions
- Section 1 revises O.C.G.A. ยง 36-62-4.1, striking the language limiting blocking resolutions to municipalities located north of the northernmost limit of the municipality containing the county site.
- Section 1 keeps the core rule that a development authority cannot purchase or accept property in a municipality that has adopted a resolution against it.
- Section 1 changes the grandfather protection for prior projects from a fixed date (January 1, 2026) to the date each municipality adopts its own resolution.
- Section 2 repeals any conflicting laws.
## Status
- Status: Introduced (2026-02-19)
- Last action: House Committee Favorably Reported (2026-03-03)
- Sponsors: Robert Dawson, Bryce Berry, Sheila Jones, Lydia Glaize, Mekyah McQueen, Jan Jones
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/73423
> The history, votes, and amendments (185 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1386.md?full=1