--- title: HB 540. Gwinnett County; ad valorem tax for educational purposes; expand additional homestead exemption to certain veterans and employees collection: bills id: 2025-2026/hb540 cite_as: HB 540, 2025-2026 Regular Session (Ga.) canonical_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb540 md_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb540.md text_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb540/text source_url: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70577 date: 2025-05-13 status: passed corpus_version: bills-2026-08-28 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/hb539.md next: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb541.md index: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/index.md omitted: votes and history omitted_chars: 884 omitted_url: https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb540.md?full=1 bill_number: HB 540 session: 2025-2026 Regular Session session_slug: 2025-2026 chamber: House bill_type: bill status_date: 2025-05-13 last_action: Effective Date 2025-05-13 sponsors: - Matt Reeves - Reynaldo Martinez - Chuck Efstration - Jasmine Clark - Segun Adeyina - Dewey McClain text_version: Enrolled has_text: true legiscan_url: https://legiscan.com/GA/bill/HB540/2025 upstream_id: 1978412 summaries_model: claude-sonnet-5 topic_tags: - property taxes - homestead exemption - Gwinnett County - veterans benefits - school district employees --- # HB 540. Gwinnett County; ad valorem tax for educational purposes; expand additional homestead exemption to certain veterans and employees ## Text 25 LC 47 3388/AP House Bill 540 (AS PASSED HOUSE AND SENATE) By: Representatives Reeves of the 99th, Martinez of the 111th, Efstration of the 104th, Clark of the 108th, Adeyina of the 110th, and others A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT To amend an Act to provide an additional homestead exemption fr om Gwinnett County1 school district ad valorem taxes for educational purposes in the amount of $2,000.00 of the2 assessed value of the homestead for residents of that school district who are certain public3 service employees, approved May 3, 2023 (Ga. L. 2023, p. 4346), so as to expand such4 exemption to disabled veterans and all employees of the Gwinnet t County School District5 and the Buford City School District; to provide for compliance with constitutional6 requirements; to provide for a referendum, effective dates, and automatic repeal; to provide7 for mandatory execution of election and judicial remedies regar ding failure to comply; to8 provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.9 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:10 SECTION 1.11 An Act to provide an additional homestead exemption from Gwinnett County school district12 ad valorem taxes for educational purposes in the amount of $2,000.00 of the assessed value13 of the homestead for residents of that school district who are certain public service14 employees, approved May 3, 2023 (Ga. L. 2023, p. 4346), is amen ded by revising15 paragraph (3) of subsection (a) of Section 1 as follows:16 H. B. 540 - 1 - 25 LC 47 3388/AP "(3) 'Public service employee' means a person who is, on or before January 1 of the year17 in which application for the exemption under subsection (b) of this section is made, a:18 (A) Firefighter, paramedic, certified peace officer, or other law enforcement officer19 employed by the government of the United States or any department, agency, authority,20 or bureau thereof or by the State of Georgia or any county, mun icipality, special21 district, county or independent school system, or other political subdivision thereof;22 (B) Person employed by the Gwinnett County School District or Buford City School23 District;24 (C) Person employed by or holding staff privileges at a hospit al located within25 Gwinnett County;26 (D) Member of the armed forces of the United States, including any reserve or27 National Guard components and the United States Coast Guard; or28 (E) Disabled veteran as defined by Code Section 48-5-48 of the Official Code of29 Georgia Annotated."30 SECTION 2.31 In accordance with the requirements of Article VII, Section II of the Constitution of the State32 of Georgia, this Act shall not become law unless it receives the requisite two-thirds' majority33 vote in both the Senate and the House of Representatives.34 SECTION 3.35 The election superintendent of Gwinnett County shall call and c onduct an election as36 provided in this section for the purpose of submitting this Act to the electors of the Gwinnett37 County school district for approval or rejection. The election superintendent shall conduct38 that election on the date of the general primary in 2026 and shall issue the call and conduct39 such election as provided by general law. The election superintendent shall cause the date40 and purpose of the election to be published once a week for two weeks immediately41 H. B. 540 - 2 - 25 LC 47 3388/AP preceding the date thereof in the official organ of Gwinnett County. The ballot shall have42 written or printed thereon the words:43 "( ) YES44 ( ) NO45 46 47 48 Shall the existing additional $2,000.00 homestead exemption from Gwinnett County School District ad valorem taxes for education purposes for certain public service employees be expanded to also apply to disabled veterans and all employees of the Gwinnett County School District and the Buford City School District?" All persons desiring to vote for approval of the Act shall vote "Yes," and all persons desiring49 to vote for rejection of the Act shall vote "No." If more than one-half of the votes cast on50 such question are for approval of the Act, Section 1 of this Act shall become of full force and51 effect on January 1, 2027. If the Act is not so approved or if the election is not conducted52 as provided in this section, Section 1 of this Act shall not become effective, and this Act shall53 be automatically repealed on the 365th calendar day following the election date provided for54 in this section. The expense of such election shall be borne by Gwinnett County. It shall be55 the election superintendent's duty to certify the result thereof to the Secretary of State. The56 provisions of this section shall be mandatory upon the election superintendent and are not57 intended as directory. If the election superintendent fails or refuses to comply with this58 section, any elector of the Gwinnett County school district may apply for a writ of mandamus59 to compel the election superintendent to perform his or her duties under this section. If the60 court finds that the election superintendent has not complied with this section, the court shall61 fashion appropriate relief requiring the election superintenden t to call and conduct such62 election on the date required by this section or on the next da te authorized for special63 elections provided for in Code Section 21-2-540 of the O.C.G.A.64 SECTION 4.65 Except as otherwise provided in Section 3 of this Act, this Act shall become effective upon66 its approval by the Governor or upon its becoming law without such approval.67 H. B. 540 - 3 - 25 LC 47 3388/AP SECTION 5.68 All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.69 H. B. 540 - 4 - ## 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 540 would expand a $2,000 school property tax exemption in Gwinnett County so it covers disabled veterans and all Gwinnett County and Buford City school district employees, not just certain public service workers, pending voter approval in 2026. ### Plain-language summary In 2023 Gwinnett County created an additional homestead exemption worth $2,000 of assessed home value on school district property taxes for certain 'public service employees,' such as firefighters, peace officers, hospital staff, and military members. This bill rewrites the definition of who qualifies. It adds disabled veterans (as defined under Georgia law) and broadens the school employee category to include all employees of the Gwinnett County School District and the Buford City School District, not just certain ones. Because this changes a local homestead tax exemption, the bill must get a two-thirds vote in the General Assembly and then go to Gwinnett County voters in a referendum during the 2026 general primary. If a majority vote yes, the expanded exemption takes effect January 1, 2027. If voters reject it or no election is held, the bill's exemption change never takes effect and automatically repeals itself a year after the election date. ### What it does - Expands the existing $2,000 Gwinnett County school district homestead tax exemption to include disabled veterans as defined by Georgia law (O.C.G.A. § 48-5-48). - Broadens the exemption to cover all employees of the Gwinnett County School District and the Buford City School District, rather than only certain public service employees. - Requires a countywide referendum during the 2026 general primary before the expanded exemption can take effect. - Sets the exemption's effective date at January 1, 2027 if voters approve it, and automatically repeals the Act 365 days after the election if voters reject it or no election occurs. - Requires the change to pass with a two-thirds majority vote in both the House and Senate to comply with Georgia's constitutional rules on local tax exemptions. ### Who it affects Homeowners in the Gwinnett County school district who are disabled veterans or who work for the Gwinnett County School District or Buford City School District, along with the Gwinnett County election superintendent, who must run the referendum, and county taxpayers who fund the election. ### Why it matters If voters approve it, more homeowners, including disabled veterans and all school district employees, would pay less in school property taxes starting in 2027. If voters reject it, the current narrower exemption for certain public service employees stays in place. ### Key provisions - Section 1 rewrites the definition of 'public service employee' in the 2023 Gwinnett County homestead exemption law to add disabled veterans under O.C.G.A. § 48-5-48 and all Gwinnett County and Buford City school employees. - Section 2 requires a two-thirds majority vote in both legislative chambers because the bill changes a local tax exemption under the Georgia Constitution. - Section 3 requires a Gwinnett County referendum during the 2026 general primary, sets the ballot language, and makes the exemption effective January 1, 2027 if approved. - Section 3 also provides that if voters reject the measure or no election occurs, the Act is automatically repealed 365 days after the scheduled election date. - Section 3 allows any Gwinnett County school district voter to seek a court order (writ of mandamus) forcing the election superintendent to hold the vote if they fail to do so. - Section 4 makes the rest of the Act effective upon the Governor's signature or upon becoming law without signature. ## Status - Status: Passed (2025-05-13) - Last action: Effective Date 2025-05-13 (2025-05-13) - Sponsors: Matt Reeves, Reynaldo Martinez, Chuck Efstration, Jasmine Clark, Segun Adeyina, Dewey McClain - Official page: https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70577 > The history, votes, and amendments (884 characters) are at https://georgiacommons.org/bills/2025-2026/hb540.md?full=1