HB 317: Workforce and Residential Infrastructure District for Georgia Act; enact

Georgia currently has no general statewide law creating uniform community development districts, entities used elsewhere to finance infrastructure for new residential and mixed-use developments. This bill adds a new chapter to Georgia's local government code (O.C.G.A. Title 36) that lays out a complete framework: how landowners petition a city or county to form a district, how a five-member board of supervisors is elected (first by landowners, later by resident voters as the district grows), and what powers the district gets. Once formed, a district could issue bonds and notes, levy property taxes and special assessments on land inside its boundaries, charge fees for water, sewer, roads, parks, and security services, place liens on delinquent properties, and even shut off water or sewer service for nonpayment. Districts would be political subdivisions of the state but would have no zoning or permitting power, which stays with the city or county. The bill also requires disclosure statements to home buyers about the district's taxing power. Under Section 2, the law only takes effect January 1, 2027, and only if Georgia voters approve a related constitutional amendment in November 2026; otherwise it is automatically repealed.

• Creates a new Georgia Code chapter (O.C.G.A. Title 36, Chapter 93) authorizing 'community development districts' as political subdivisions to finance and build infrastructure for new development.
• Sets up a petition and public hearing process for landowners to ask a city or county to establish, expand, contract, or dissolve a district.
• Establishes a five-member board of supervisors, initially elected by landowners by acreage, later transitioning to elections by resident voters once a district reaches 250 or 500 qualified electors.
• Grants districts the power to issue general obligation and revenue bonds, levy ad valorem (property) taxes and special assessments, and place liens on properties that fail to pay.
• Allows districts to charge fees for water, sewer, roads, drainage, parks, and security, and to shut off water or sewer service for nonpayment after unpaid bills default for 60 days or more.
• Requires real estate contracts for property inside a district to include a bold disclosure statement warning buyers that the district can tax and assess their property.

Developers and landowners seeking to finance new subdivisions, residents and future home buyers within these districts, county and municipal governments that approve and oversee district petitions, local school boards and service delivery providers like water and sewer utilities, and bondholders who purchase district debt.

If enacted, homeowners and renters in newly created districts could see additional property taxes, special assessments, and utility fees layered on top of existing county and city taxes, used to pay off bonds for roads, water, sewer, and other infrastructure. Local governments would gain a new financing tool but would give up direct control over how that infrastructure debt is managed.

• Section 36-93-4 sets the petition process, requiring landowner consent, public hearings, and local government approval before a district can be created.
• Section 36-93-5 establishes board elections, moving from one-vote-per-acre landowner voting to qualified-elector voting as a district's population grows.
• Section 36-93-9 and 36-93-10 list general and special powers, including borrowing money, issuing bonds without normal debt limits, and building water, sewer, road, and security infrastructure.
• Section 36-93-14 allows general obligation bonds up to 35 percent of a district's assessed taxable property value, backed by the district's own taxing power, not the state or local government.
• Section 36-93-16 authorizes districts to impose property tax-like assessments and maintenance fees, collected alongside regular county tax bills.
• Section 36-93-23 lets districts shut off water or sewer service to properties with unpaid bills.
• Section 36-93-27 requires a bold-print disclosure in real estate contracts warning buyers that the property is subject to district taxes and assessments.
• Section 2 makes the entire Act contingent on voters ratifying a related state constitutional amendment in November 2026; without that, the law is automatically repealed on January 1, 2027.

1. 2026-03-06House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
2. 2025-04-04House Withdrawn, Recommitted (House)
3. 2025-03-20House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
4. 2025-02-18House Withdrawn, Recommitted (House)
5. 2025-02-11House Second Readers (House)
6. 2025-02-10House First Readers (House)
7. 2025-02-06House Hopper (House)

• Ron Stephens (R, HD-164)Primary sponsor
• Lynn Smith (R, HD-070)
• Gerald Greene (R, HD-154)
• Al Williams (D, HD-168)
• Mack Jackson (D, HD-128)

• local government financing
• property taxes
• community development districts
• infrastructure bonds
• real estate disclosures