HB 1457: Ad valorem tax; preferential assessment of affordable home use property; provide

Georgia already allows special lower property tax assessments for certain land uses, like conservation land, through covenants where an owner agrees to keep the property in that use for years in exchange for a lower taxable value. This bill creates a similar program for what it calls 'affordable home use property': a single-family residential property of five acres or less that is sold to a low-income family owner. To qualify, the owner must sign a ten-year covenant with the county promising to keep the property in that qualifying use. The bill spells out how counties process applications, what happens if the covenant is broken (a penalty equal to twice the tax savings), how refunds and back taxes are handled, and requires the Department of Community Affairs to create standard forms and a statewide registry of participating properties. The bill only takes effect on January 1, 2027, and only if Georgia voters approve a related constitutional amendment at the November 2026 general election authorizing this kind of special property tax treatment. If voters reject the amendment, the bill is automatically repealed on that same date.

• Creates a new preferential property tax assessment (a lower taxable value) for small residential properties sold to low-income family owners, defined as five acres or less.
• Requires owners to sign a ten-year covenant with the county promising to keep the property in the qualifying use, renewable for additional ten-year terms.
• Sets a penalty for breaking the covenant equal to twice the tax savings received, plus interest, collected like unpaid property taxes.
• Directs the Department of Community Affairs to create standard application and covenant forms and maintain a statewide registry of participating properties.
• Establishes appeal rights and refund or additional-billing procedures when a county board of tax assessors' valuation decision is challenged in court.
• Makes the entire law contingent on voters approving a companion constitutional amendment in November 2026, with automatic repeal if the amendment fails.

Low-income individuals or families who purchase qualifying small residential properties, county tax commissioners and boards of tax assessors who administer the program, the Department of Community Affairs, which must create forms and a registry, and county clerks of superior court, who must record the covenants.

If both this bill and the related constitutional amendment pass, some low-income homeowners could see significantly lower property tax bills on their primary residence for as long as they keep the property in the qualifying use, while counties would take on new administrative duties and could lose some tax revenue from participating properties.

• New O.C.G.A. § 48-5-7.8(a) defines 'affordable home use property' as single-family residential property of five acres or less sold to a low-income family owner.
• Subsection (b) requires a ten-year ownership covenant with the county, renewable for additional ten-year periods, with the county required to mail expiration notices in advance.
• Subsection (g) sets application deadlines matching the county's regular tax return filing deadline and requires covenants to be recorded with the clerk of superior court.
• Subsection (j) imposes a penalty of twice the tax savings for breaching the covenant, applied to the whole property for each year of the covenant.
• Subsection (l) requires the Department of Community Affairs to keep a statewide registry of qualifying properties indexed by owner.
• Section 2 makes the entire Act effective January 1, 2027 only if voters ratify a companion constitutional amendment in November 2026, and repeals the Act automatically if they do not.

1. 2026-03-03House Second Readers (House)
2. 2026-02-26House First Readers (House)
3. 2026-02-25House Hopper (House)

• Marvin Lim (D, HD-098)Primary sponsor
• Karen Lupton (D, HD-083)
• David Wilkerson (D, HD-038)
• Kasey Carpenter (R, HD-004)

• property taxes
• affordable housing
• constitutional amendment
• tax assessment