--- title: HB 1526. Early County; repeal a former local constitutional amendment collection: bills id: 2025-2026/hb1526 cite_as: HB 1526, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1526 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1526.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1526/text source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/73986 date: 2026-05-12 status: passed 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/hb1525.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1527.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md omitted: votes and history omitted_chars: 1011 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1526.md?full=1 bill_number: HB 1526 session: 2025-2026 Regular Session session_slug: 2025-2026 chamber: House bill_type: bill status_date: 2026-05-12 last_action: Effective Date 2026-05-12 sponsors: - Gerald Greene - Clint Dixon text_version: Enrolled has_text: true legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB1526/2025 upstream_id: 2131402 summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 topic_tags: - property taxes - Early County - manufacturing incentives - local tax exemptions --- # HB 1526. Early County; repeal a former local constitutional amendment ## Text House Bill 1526 (AS PASSED HOUSE AND SENATE) By: Representative Greene of the 154th A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT To repeal a former local constitutional amendment (Ga. L. 1962, p. 808), which former local constitutional amendment was continued in effect as statutory law pursuant to Article VII, Section II, Paragraph IV of the Constitution of Georgia and which provided a five year exemption from local ad valorem property taxes to any person who built, equipped, established, completed, or enlarged a plant for manufacturing or processing in Early County; to provide that exemptions granted prior to the effective date of this Act shall continue for the remainder of their unexpired terms; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA: SECTION 1. The former local constitutional amendment (Ga. L. 1962, p. 808), which former local constitutional amendment was continued in effect as statutory law pursuant to Article VII, Section II, Paragraph IV of the Constitution of Georgia and which provided a five year exemption from local ad valorem property taxes to any person who built, equipped, established, completed, or enlarged a plant for manufacturing or processing in Early County, is hereby repealed; provided, however, that any property receiving such exemption on the effective date of this Act shall continue to receive such exemption for the remainder of the unexpired five year period granted pursuant to such former local constitutional amendment. 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. House Bill 1526 would repeal an old Early County law that gave new or expanded manufacturing plants a five-year break on local property taxes, while letting current exemptions run out on schedule. ### Plain-language summary Since 1962, a local constitutional amendment let anyone who built, equipped, or expanded a manufacturing or processing plant in Early County skip local property taxes (ad valorem taxes, meaning taxes based on a property's value) for five years. Even though voters no longer vote on it as a constitutional amendment, it has stayed on the books as statutory law under a provision of the Georgia Constitution. This bill repeals that old tax break entirely. Anyone already receiving the exemption when the bill takes effect keeps it until their original five-year period runs out, but no new property in Early County can qualify for the exemption going forward. The bill also repeals any other laws that conflict with it. ### What it does - Repeals the 1962 local law that gave a five-year property tax exemption to new or expanded manufacturing plants in Early County. - Ends the ability of any new manufacturing or processing plant in Early County to claim this property tax exemption going forward. - Preserves the exemption for any property already receiving it, letting those breaks run out over their remaining unexpired term. - Repeals any other Georgia laws that conflict with this change. ### Who it affects Manufacturing and processing businesses in Early County that might have built or expanded a plant, county tax officials who administer the exemption, and any property owners currently receiving the tax break, whose existing exemptions are unaffected until they expire. ### Why it matters Early County will no longer offer this decades-old tax incentive to new manufacturing plants, meaning future businesses that build or expand there will pay full local property taxes from the start, while property owners already benefiting keep their exemption until it naturally ends. ### Key provisions - Section 1 repeals the former 1962 local constitutional amendment (Ga. L. 1962, p. 808) that gave a five-year property tax exemption for manufacturing plants in Early County. - Section 1 includes a grandfather clause: property already receiving the exemption on the bill's effective date keeps it for the rest of its original five-year term. - Section 2 repeals any other laws or parts of laws that conflict with this Act. ## Status - Status: Passed (2026-05-12) - Last action: Effective Date 2026-05-12 (2026-05-12) - Sponsors: Gerald Greene, Clint Dixon - Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/73986 > The history, votes, and amendments (1,011 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1526.md?full=1