---
title: HB 387. Local government; require service delivery agreement to include a growth boundary agreement component
collection: bills
id: 2025-2026/hb387
cite_as: HB 387, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.)
canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb387
md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb387.md
text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb387/text
source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70187
date: 2025-02-13
status: introduced
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.
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index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md
omitted: votes and history
omitted_chars: 129
omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb387.md?full=1
bill_number: HB 387
session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
session_slug: 2025-2026
chamber: House
bill_type: bill
status_date: 2025-02-11
last_action: House Second Readers
sponsors:
- Brad Thomas
- John LaHood
- Joseph Gullett
- Mandi Ballinger
- Jordan Ridley
- Mitchell Scoggins
text_version: Introduced
has_text: true
legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB387/2025
upstream_id: 1965793
summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5
topic_tags:
- local government
- annexation
- county and city relations
- service delivery strategy
- growth boundaries
---
# HB 387. Local government; require service delivery agreement to include a growth boundary agreement component
## Text
House Bill 387
By: Representatives Thomas of the 21st, LaHood of the 175th, Gullett of the 19th, Ballinger
of the 23rd, Ridley of the 22nd, and others
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Article 2 of Chapter 70 of Title 36 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated,
relating to service delivery, so as to require service delivery agreement to include a growth
boundary agreement component; to provide for circumstances when growth boundary
agreements may be excluded; to provide definitions; to provide for related matters; to
provide for an effective date; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
Article 2 of Chapter 70 of Title 36 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to
service delivery, is amended by revising Code Section 36-70-23, relating to required
components, as such Code section becomes effective on January 1, 2026, as follows:
"36-70-23.
Each local government service delivery strategy shall include the following components:
(1) An identification of all local government services presently provided or primarily
funded by each general purpose local government and each authority within the county,
or providing services within the county, and a description of the geographic area in which
the identified services are provided by each jurisdiction;
(2) An assignment of which local government or authority, pursuant to the requirements
of this article, will provide each service, the geographic areas of the county in which such
services are to be provided, and a description of any services to be provided by any local
government to any geographic area outside its geographical boundaries. In the event two
or more local governments within the county are assigned responsibility for providing
identical services within the same geographic area, the strategy shall include an
explanation of such arrangement;
(3) A description of the source of the funding for each service identified pursuant to
paragraph (2) of this Code section; and
(4) An identification of the mechanisms to be utilized to facilitate the implementation of
the services and funding responsibilities identified pursuant to paragraphs (2) and (3) of
this Code section.; and
(5)(A) As used in this paragraph, the term:
(i) 'Affected municipality' shall have the same meaning as set forth in Code Section
36-70-25.2; and
(ii) 'Growth boundary agreement' means an agreement by a county and all
municipalities located wholly or partially within such county that outlines and defines
future potential growth through annexation for such municipalities.
(B) A growth boundary agreement, unless the county and each affected municipality
agree in such service delivery strategy to exclude such a growth boundary agreement."
SECTION 2.
This Act shall become effective on January 1, 2026.
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.
House Bill 387 would require Georgia counties and their cities to include a growth boundary agreement in their local service delivery strategies, spelling out where future annexation can happen, unless all parties agree to leave it out.
### Plain-language summary
Georgia law already requires counties and the cities inside them to work out a service delivery strategy covering which government provides which services and how those services are funded. This bill amends that law (O.C.G.A. § 36-70-23) to add a new required piece: a growth boundary agreement.
A growth boundary agreement is defined as an agreement between a county and all the municipalities located wholly or partly within it that lays out and defines future potential growth through annexation for those municipalities. Under the bill, this component must be included in the service delivery strategy unless the county and every affected municipality agree to leave it out. The bill also adds definitions, including pointing to the existing definition of 'affected municipality' used elsewhere in the service delivery law. The changes would take effect January 1, 2026, the same date the underlying Code section itself becomes effective.
### What it does
- Adds a new required component to local government service delivery strategies: a growth boundary agreement between a county and its municipalities.
- Defines a growth boundary agreement as one that outlines and defines future potential growth through annexation for municipalities within the county.
- Allows the growth boundary agreement to be left out only if the county and every affected municipality agree to exclude it.
- Ties the new definition of 'affected municipality' to the meaning already used in a separate section of the service delivery law (O.C.G.A. § 36-70-25.2).
- Sets the effective date as January 1, 2026, matching when the underlying Code section it amends takes effect.
### Who it affects
County governments and every municipality located wholly or partly within a county are affected, since they must negotiate and include a growth boundary agreement in their joint service delivery strategy unless all of them agree to skip it.
### Why it matters
Annexation disputes between cities and counties are common in Georgia, and this bill would push local governments to negotiate and formally agree on future annexation boundaries as part of their required service delivery planning, rather than leaving growth boundaries unaddressed or contested later.
### Key provisions
- Section 1 amends O.C.G.A. § 36-70-23 to add a fifth required component to local service delivery strategies: a growth boundary agreement.
- The new paragraph (5)(A) defines 'affected municipality' by reference to Code Section 36-70-25.2 and defines 'growth boundary agreement' as one outlining future annexation-based growth for municipalities in the county.
- The new paragraph (5)(B) makes the growth boundary agreement mandatory unless the county and every affected municipality agree to exclude it from the strategy.
- Section 2 sets the effective date as January 1, 2026.
- Section 3 repeals any conflicting laws.
## Status
- Status: Introduced (2025-02-11)
- Last action: House Second Readers (2025-02-13)
- Sponsors: Brad Thomas, John LaHood, Joseph Gullett, Mandi Ballinger, Jordan Ridley, Mitchell Scoggins
- Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70187
> The history, votes, and amendments (129 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb387.md?full=1