---
title: HB 1530. Fairmount, City of; future mayors shall be elected to four-year terms; provide
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/hb1530
cite_as: HB 1530, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1530
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1530.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1530/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/73990
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/hb1529.md
next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1531.md
index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md
omitted: votes and history
omitted_chars: 886
omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1530.md?full=1
bill_number: HB 1530
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:
  - Matt Barton
  - Jason Ridley
text_version: Enrolled
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB1530/2025
upstream_id: 2131409
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
  - local government charters
  - municipal elections
  - City of Fairmount
  - elected official terms
  - local government pay
---

# HB 1530. Fairmount, City of; future mayors shall be elected to four-year terms; provide

## Text

House Bill 1530 (AS PASSED HOUSE AND SENATE)
By: Representatives Barton of the 5th and Ridley of the 6th
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend an Act to repeal and replace the charter of the City of Fairmount, approved April
17, 1975 (Ga. L. 1975, p. 3136), as amended, so as to provide that future mayors shall be
elected to four-year terms of office; to conform compensation provisions with general law;
to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
An Act to repeal and replace the charter of the City of Fairmount, approved April 17, 1975
(Ga. L. 1975, p. 3136), as amended, is amended by revising Section 2.11 read as follows:
"SECTION 2.11.
Terms and qualifications of office
The mayor and council members in office on the effective date of this Act shall continue
to serve out the term of office to which elected. The mayor and council members shall be
elected from the city at large. The mayor elected in 2027, and all successors to such
mayor, shall serve for a term of four years and until his or her successor is elected and
qualified. There shall be four council posts designated as Posts 1, 2, 3, and 4. In all
elections held by the city for the purpose of selecting new members of the city council,
candidates must declare by number the post on the city council which they are offering to
fill. The candidate receiving a majority of the votes cast for each respective position shall
be elected to the city council to fill that particular vacancy on the council. All members of
the council shall be elected for and shall serve terms of four years and until their respective
successors are elected and qualified. City council elections shall be staggered so Posts 1
and 3 shall be elected at one municipal election, and Posts 2 and 4 shall be elected at the
subsequent municipal election held two years later. No person shall be eligible to serve as
mayor or councilperson unless he or she has been a resident of the City of Fairmount for
a period of one year immediately prior to the date of election of mayor or members of the
council, continues to reside therein during his or her period of service, is registered and
qualified to vote in municipal elections of the City of Fairmount, and meets the
qualification standards required for members of the Georgia House of Representatives, as
are now or may in the future be prescribed by the Georgia Constitution."
SECTION 2.
Said Act is further amended by revising Section 2.13 as follows:
"SECTION 2.13.
Compensation and expenses
The mayor and council shall determine the salary of the mayor and councilperson by
ordinance; provided, however, no ordinance increasing the salary of the mayor or
councilperson shall become effective until after the taking of office of those elected at the
next regular municipal election which is held immediately following the date on which the
action to increase the compensation was taken. Each councilperson and the mayor, when
authorized by the mayor and council and upon presentation of itemized vouchers, shall
receive their actual and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their duties of
office."
SECTION 3.
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 bill affecting only the City of Fairmount would change the mayor's term of office from two years to four years starting with the 2027 election, and update how salary increases take effect.

### Plain-language summary

This local bill amends the 1975 charter of the City of Fairmount, a small Georgia city. Currently the charter sets terms of office for the mayor and council. The bill rewrites Section 2.11 so that the mayor elected in 2027, and every mayor after that, will serve a four-year term instead of the current shorter term. City council members already serve four-year staggered terms under the charter, and that structure is kept in place, with Posts 1 and 3 elected together and Posts 2 and 4 elected two years later.
The bill also rewrites Section 2.13 on compensation, keeping the rule that the mayor and council set their own salaries by ordinance, but confirming that any salary increase cannot take effect until after the next regular municipal election following the vote to raise it. The bill repeals any conflicting laws.

### What it does

- Changes the mayor's term of office in the City of Fairmount from the current term to four years, starting with the mayor elected in 2027.
- Keeps the existing residency and qualification requirements for anyone running for mayor or city council, including one year of residency in Fairmount.
- Reaffirms that city council members serve staggered four-year terms, with Posts 1 and 3 and Posts 2 and 4 elected two years apart.
- Restates that any pay raise for the mayor or council members cannot take effect until after the next municipal election following the vote to increase it.
- Repeals any prior laws that conflict with these charter changes.

### Who it affects

Residents and voters of the City of Fairmount, Georgia, along with anyone running for mayor or city council there. It also affects the current mayor and council members, whose future pay raises are governed by the updated timing rule.

### Why it matters

Fairmount voters will elect their mayor to a four-year term starting in 2027 instead of a shorter cycle, meaning less frequent mayoral elections. The bill also locks in that any raise the mayor or council votes for themselves cannot start until after the next election, delaying its effect.

### Key provisions

- Section 1 revises Charter Section 2.11 so the mayor elected in 2027 and all successors serve four-year terms, continuing the existing council structure of four staggered posts.
- Section 1 keeps residency, voter registration, and Georgia House of Representatives qualification standards for anyone seeking to be mayor or a council member.
- Section 2 revises Charter Section 2.13 to confirm that mayor and council pay is set by ordinance but any increase only applies after the next regular municipal election.
- Section 3 repeals any existing laws that conflict with these charter amendments.

## Status

- Status: Passed (2026-05-12)
- Last action: Effective Date 2026-05-12 (2026-05-12)
- Sponsors: Matt Barton, Jason Ridley
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/73990

> The history, votes, and amendments (886 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1530.md?full=1