--- title: HB 1535. Sandy Springs, City of; Redevelopment Powers Law; provide for a referendum collection: bills id: 2025-2026/hb1535 cite_as: HB 1535, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1535 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1535.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1535/text source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/74008 date: 2026-05-11 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/hb1534.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1536.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md omitted: votes and history omitted_chars: 897 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1535.md?full=1 bill_number: HB 1535 session: 2025-2026 Regular Session session_slug: 2025-2026 chamber: House bill_type: bill status_date: 2026-05-11 last_action: Effective Date 2026-05-11 sponsors: - Deborah Silcox - Esther Panitch - Betsy Holland - Shea Roberts text_version: Enrolled has_text: true legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB1535/2025 upstream_id: 2132144 summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 topic_tags: - Sandy Springs - redevelopment powers - tax allocation districts - local referendum - Fulton County --- # HB 1535. Sandy Springs, City of; Redevelopment Powers Law; provide for a referendum ## Text House Bill 1535 (AS PASSED HOUSE AND SENATE) By: Representatives Silcox of the 53rd, Panitch of the 51st, Holland of the 54th, and Roberts of the 52nd A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT To authorize the City of Sandy Springs, Georgia, to exercise all redevelopment and other powers provided for under Article IX, Section II, Paragraph VII(b) of the Georgia Constitution and Chapter 44 of Title 36 of the O.C.G.A., the "Redevelopment Powers Law," as amended; to provide for a referendum; to provide for effective dates; to provide for automatic repeal under certain circumstances; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA: SECTION 1. The City of Sandy Springs, Georgia, shall be and is authorized to exercise all redevelopment and other powers provided for under Chapter 44 of Title 36 of the O.C.G.A., the "Redevelopment Powers Law," as amended. The intention of this Act is to authorize the City of Sandy Springs to undertake and carry out community redevelopment, to create tax allocation districts, to issue tax allocation bonds, and to incur other obligations within the meaning of and as fully permitted under the provisions of Article IX, Section II, Paragraph VII(b) of the Constitution of the State of Georgia of 1983, as amended, and to authorize the City of Sandy Springs to exercise redevelopment powers as fully as the "Redevelopment Powers Law" may now or hereafter permit and not to limit any redevelopment powers permitted under the "Redevelopment Powers Law." SECTION 2. The election superintendent of the City of Sandy Springs shall call and conduct an election, as provided in this section, for the purpose of submitting this Act to the electors of the City of Sandy Springs for approval or rejection. The election superintendent shall conduct that election on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November, 2026, and shall issue the call and conduct that election as provided by general law. The election superintendent shall cause the date and purpose of the election to be published once at least 90 days immediately preceding the date thereof and once a week for two weeks immediately preceding the date thereof in the official organ of Fulton County, Georgia. The ballot shall have written or printed thereon the words: "( ) YES Shall the Act be approved which authorizes the City of Sandy Springs, ( ) NO Georgia, to exercise all redevelopment powers allowed under the 'Redevelopment Powers Law,' as it may be amended from time to time?" All persons desiring to vote for approval of the Act shall vote "Yes," and all persons desiring to vote for rejection of the Act shall vote "No." If more than one-half of the votes cast on such question are for approval of the Act, then Section 1 of this Act shall become of full force and effect immediately. If this Act is not so approved or if the election is not conducted as provided in this section, Section 1 of this Act shall not become effective and this Act shall be automatically repealed on the first day of January immediately following such election date. The expense of such election shall be borne by the City of Sandy Springs. It shall be the election superintendent's duty to certify the result thereof to the Secretary of State. SECTION 3. Except as otherwise provided in Section 2 of this Act, this Act shall become effective upon its approval by the Governor or upon its becoming law without such approval. SECTION 4. 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 1535 would let Sandy Springs use Georgia's Redevelopment Powers Law, including creating tax allocation districts and issuing bonds, but only if city voters approve it in a November 2026 referendum. ### Plain-language summary This bill authorizes the City of Sandy Springs to use all the powers granted under Georgia's Redevelopment Powers Law (O.C.G.A. Chapter 44 of Title 36), a state law that lets cities pursue community redevelopment projects, create special tax allocation districts, and issue tax allocation bonds to fund improvements in those districts. The authorization does not take effect automatically. The bill requires Sandy Springs' election superintendent to hold a referendum on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November 2026, asking voters to approve or reject the city's use of these redevelopment powers. If more than half of the votes cast favor approval, the authorization becomes effective immediately. If voters reject it, or if the election is not properly held, the authorization never takes effect and the bill is automatically repealed on the following January 1. The notice of the election must be published in Fulton County's official legal organ, and Sandy Springs must pay the cost of holding the election. ### What it does - Authorizes the City of Sandy Springs to exercise all powers under Georgia's Redevelopment Powers Law, including creating tax allocation districts and issuing tax allocation bonds. - Requires a citywide referendum in Sandy Springs on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November 2026 to approve or reject the authorization. - Sets the ballot language voters will see, asking whether to approve the city exercising redevelopment powers. - Makes the authorization take effect immediately only if more than half of votes cast favor approval. - Automatically repeals the authorization on the following January 1 if voters reject it or if the election is not properly conducted. - Requires the city to pay for the election and requires the election superintendent to certify results to the Secretary of State. ### Who it affects Sandy Springs residents and registered voters, who will decide the referendum; the Sandy Springs city government, which would gain redevelopment authority; the election superintendent and Fulton County's official legal organ, which handle the vote and public notice; and any future developers or bondholders involved in tax allocation districts the city might create. ### Why it matters If voters approve it, Sandy Springs could designate areas for redevelopment, capture future property tax growth in those areas to pay for improvements, and issue bonds backed by that revenue. Without voter approval, the city gains no new authority and the law is automatically repealed. ### Key provisions - Section 1 authorizes Sandy Springs to exercise all powers under the Redevelopment Powers Law (O.C.G.A. Chapter 44, Title 36), including creating tax allocation districts and issuing bonds. - Section 2 requires a referendum on November 3, 2026 (the Tuesday after the first Monday in November), sets the exact ballot wording, and requires public notice in Fulton County's official legal organ starting 90 days before the election. - Section 2 provides that the authorization takes effect immediately if a majority of votes cast favor approval, and automatically repeals the entire Act on the following January 1 if voters reject it or the election is not properly held. - Section 2 assigns the cost of the election to the City of Sandy Springs and requires the election superintendent to certify results to the Secretary of State. - Section 3 sets the bill's general effective date as upon the Governor's approval or becoming law without signature, except as modified by the referendum outcome in Section 2. - Section 4 repeals any conflicting laws. ## Status - Status: Passed (2026-05-11) - Last action: Effective Date 2026-05-11 (2026-05-11) - Sponsors: Deborah Silcox, Esther Panitch, Betsy Holland, Shea Roberts - Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/74008 > The history, votes, and amendments (897 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb1535.md?full=1