Georgia CommonsHouse · Passed · 2025-2026 Regular Session
HB 749: Carroll County; Board of Commissioners; chairperson and members; change annual salary
Last action January 1, 2026 · Effective Date
House Bill 749 changes how the salaries of Carroll County's Board of Commissioners chairperson and members are calculated and raises the dollar threshold requiring commission approval for county contracts.
The summaries below were written by an AI model (claude-sonnet-5) from the text of the bill and are not part of it. Quote the text, not the summary. The stored text is the Enrolled version, the latest the General Assembly's website lists.
In plain language
This bill amends the 1989 local law that governs the Carroll County Board of Commissioners. It rewrites how the chairperson's and commissioners' annual salaries are set, tying the chairperson's pay to the county sheriff's base salary and cost-of-living adjustment plus $25,000, and setting each other commissioner's salary at $20,250 with future cost-of-living increases tied to what county employees receive. It also raises expense allowances for the chairperson and other members. Separately, the bill raises the dollar amount above which the commission must approve county contracts from a prior figure to $35,000, and that threshold will now rise automatically each year based on the national Consumer Price Index. The changes take effect January 1, 2026, and any conflicting laws are repealed.
What the bill does
- Ties the Carroll County Board chairperson's annual salary to the county sheriff's base salary and cost-of-living adjustment, plus an additional $25,000.
- Sets each non-chair commissioner's annual salary at $20,250, with future raises tied to countywide employee cost-of-living increases starting July 1, 2025.
- Sets annual expense allowances of $7,700 for the chairperson and $3,100 for other commissioners, paid from county funds.
- Raises the threshold for contracts requiring commission approval to $35,000, exempting employment contracts.
- Makes that $35,000 contract threshold automatically increase each year based on changes in the national Consumer Price Index (CPI-U), starting July 1, 2025.
- Sets the effective date of all these changes as January 1, 2026.
Who it affects
The bill directly affects the chairperson and members of the Carroll County Board of Commissioners, whose pay and expense allowances change, as well as Carroll County government staff and vendors who deal with county contracts subject to the new approval threshold.
Why it matters
Carroll County commissioners' pay would now automatically track county employee raises and the sheriff's salary formula rather than staying fixed, and county staff would be able to sign off on larger contracts, up to $35,000 and rising with inflation, without separate commission approval.
Key provisions
- Section 1 rewrites Section 7 of the 1989 Carroll County Act, resetting the chairperson's salary formula (sheriff's base pay plus cost-of-living adjustment plus $25,000) and providing use of a county-provided automobile.
- Section 1 sets each other commissioner's base salary at $20,250 and ties future increases to countywide cost-of-living raises or O.C.G.A. § 36-5-28, whichever is greater, beginning July 1, 2025.
- Section 1 sets expense allowances of $7,700 per year for the chairperson and $3,100 per year for other commissioners.
- Section 1 provides that all these salary and allowance figures adjust annually under O.C.G.A. § 36-5-28, converting dollar increases to a percentage of average county employee salary when needed.
- Section 2 amends Section 8(a)(22) to raise the contract approval threshold to $35,000, excluding employment contracts, and ties future increases to the national Consumer Price Index starting July 1, 2025.
- Section 3 sets the effective date of the Act as January 1, 2026.
- Section 4 repeals any conflicting laws.
From the bill
“Such annual salary shall be equal to the base annual salary and annual cost-of-living adjustment of the sheriff of Carroll County as computed under paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (a) of Code Section 15-16-20 of the O.C.G.A., plus $25,000.00.”
“To authorize all contracts, except for contracts of employment, involving the expenditure of county funds in excess of $35,000.00.”
Status timeline
- Effective Date
- Act 167
- House Date Signed by Governor (House)
- House Sent to Governor (House)
- Senate Passed/Adopted (Senate)
- Senate Committee Favorably Reported (Senate)
- Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
- House Passed/Adopted (House)
Show full history (13 actions)
- House Third Readers (House)
- House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
- House Second Readers (House)
- House First Readers (House)
- House Hopper (House)
Sponsors
- Tyler Paul Smith (R, HD-18)
- Lynn Smith (R, HD-70)
- David Huddleston (R, HD-72)
- Jutt Howard (R, HD-71)
Votes
- House voteMarch 21, 2025
158 yea, 0 nay (9 not voting, 13 excused)
- Senate voteMarch 31, 2025
49 yea, 0 nay (5 not voting, 2 excused)
Topics
- Carroll County government
- local government salaries
- county commissioner pay
- county contracts
- Georgia local legislation