HB 1473: Local government; prohibit elected officials of a county, municipal corporation, or any county-municipal consolidated government from entering into nondisclosure agreements with private entities relating to economic development

Local governments in Georgia sometimes negotiate economic development deals, such as tax incentives, rezoning, or utility commitments, with private companies, and those deals have sometimes included confidentiality or nondisclosure terms. HB1473 would add a new chapter to Georgia's local government code (Title 36) that bans elected officials of counties, cities, and consolidated city-county governments from entering into any agreement with a private entity, on or after July 1, 2026, that keeps the deal's terms secret. The bill also requires governing authorities to get an independent impact analysis before voting on or approving projects involving land use, annexation, rezoning, tax incentives, infrastructure, or utility commitments. That analysis must cover water demand, traffic, electrical grid impact, sewage capacity, and fiscal impact, must be paid for by the private company seeking the deal, and must be made public at least 14 days before any vote.

• Prohibits county, municipal, and consolidated government elected officials from signing agreements with private entities that contain confidentiality or nondisclosure terms about economic development deals made on or after July 1, 2026.
• Requires local governing authorities to obtain an independent impact analysis before voting on land use, annexation, rezoning, tax incentive, infrastructure, or utility decisions tied to economic development projects.
• Specifies the impact analysis must include a water demand and supply analysis, a traffic study, an electrical grid impact estimate, a sewage or wastewater capacity analysis, and a fiscal impact analysis.
• Requires the private company seeking the deal to pay all costs of the independent impact analysis, rather than the local government.
• Requires the completed analysis to be made publicly available at least 14 days before any official vote or action.

County commissioners, city council members, and officials of consolidated city-county governments who negotiate economic development deals; private companies and other entities seeking tax incentives, rezoning, or infrastructure commitments from local governments; and residents who would gain access to public impact studies before local votes.

Residents would be able to see the terms of local economic development deals and the projected effects on water, traffic, electricity, and sewage before officials vote, rather than learning about them after the fact or not at all if a nondisclosure clause had been used to keep terms secret.

• Section 1 creates new Chapter 93 in Title 36 of the Georgia Code, defining 'elected official,' 'governing authority,' and 'private entity' for the new rules (36-93-1).
• Bars confidentiality or nondisclosure clauses in economic development agreements between elected officials and private entities entered on or after July 1, 2026 (36-93-2).
• Requires an independent impact analysis before any vote on land use, annexation, rezoning, tax incentives, infrastructure, or utility decisions tied to an economic development project (36-93-3(a)).
• Lists five required components of the impact analysis: water, traffic, electrical grid, sewage/wastewater, and fiscal impact (36-93-3(b)).
• Requires the private entity applicant, not the government, to pay for the impact analysis, which must be conducted by a qualified third party chosen by the governing authority (36-93-3(c)).
• Requires the analysis to be finalized before scheduling a public hearing and made public at least 14 days before any official vote (36-93-3(d)).

1. 2026-03-04House Second Readers (House)
2. 2026-03-03House First Readers (House)
3. 2026-02-26House Hopper (House)

• Tyler Smith (R, HD-018)Primary sponsor
• Jason Ridley (R, HD-006)
• Lehman Franklin (R, HD-160)
• Mitchell Scoggins (R, HD-014)
• Mike Cheokas (R, HD-151)

• local government
• economic development
• open government
• transparency
• zoning and land use