Georgia CommonsHouse · Passed · 2025-2026 Regular Session
HB 786: Dodge County Building and Public Facilities Authority Act; enact
Last action May 13, 2025 · Effective Date
House Bill 786 creates the Dodge County Building and Public Facilities Authority, a new public body that can build, own, and finance government buildings and facilities in Dodge County using revenue bonds instead of county tax debt.
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
Dodge County currently has no dedicated public authority to build and finance government buildings such as offices, courthouses, or other facilities for the county, its school district, or municipalities within it. This bill creates the Dodge County Building and Public Facilities Authority as a separate public corporation, an instrumentality of the state but not a state agency, based in Dodge County. The authority would be run by five members elected by the Dodge County Board of Commissioners, with staggered three-year terms, and could acquire land, construct and equip buildings, and lease them back to the county, school district, or municipalities. To pay for projects, the authority can issue revenue bonds repaid from rents and fees it collects, but these bonds cannot create debt for Dodge County or the state, and the county's general tax credit is not pledged. The authority's bonds and property would be exempt from state taxation, and its property could not be seized to pay debts. If the authority is ever dissolved, its remaining property would go to Dodge County.
What the bill does
- Creates the Dodge County Building and Public Facilities Authority as a separate public corporation to build and manage government facilities in Dodge County.
- Allows the authority to issue revenue bonds to pay for construction, with repayment coming only from rents and fees, not county or state tax dollars.
- Sets up a five-member board elected by the Dodge County Board of Commissioners, limits board overlap with the commission to two members, and sets three-year terms.
- Exempts the authority's bonds, income, and property from state taxation, though not from sales and use tax on purchases.
- Gives the authority the same legal immunity from lawsuits over negligence that the State of Georgia has, while still allowing contract-based lawsuits.
- States that if the authority is dissolved after paying off its bonds, its remaining property transfers to Dodge County.
Who it affects
Dodge County government, the Dodge County Board of Commissioners, the Dodge County School District, municipalities within Dodge County, bondholders who purchase the authority's revenue bonds, and residents who use county buildings and facilities that the authority would finance and manage.
Why it matters
Dodge County would gain a new financing tool to build offices, facilities, and infrastructure through bonds repaid by user fees and rents rather than new county taxes or county debt, potentially speeding up construction projects while shielding the county's general credit from direct liability if bonds are not repaid.
Key provisions
- Section 2 establishes the authority as a state instrumentality, not a county or state agency, headquartered in Dodge County.
- Section 3 sets board membership at five people elected by the Dodge County Board of Commissioners, with staggered three-year terms and unpaid service aside from expense reimbursement.
- Section 5 lists the authority's powers, including acquiring property, entering contracts and leases, and issuing revenue bonds under Georgia's Revenue Bond Law (O.C.G.A. Title 36, Chapter 82, Article 3).
- Section 6 makes clear that revenue bonds do not create debt for Dodge County or the State of Georgia and cannot be enforced against county or state property.
- Section 14 exempts the authority's property and income from state and local taxes, except sales and use tax on its purchases.
- Section 15 gives the authority and its employees the same immunity from tort and negligence lawsuits as the State of Georgia.
- Section 20 requires that, upon dissolution after all bonds are paid off, remaining authority property be transferred to Dodge County.
From the bill
“Revenue bonds issued under the provisions of this Act shall not constitute a debt or a pledge of the faith and credit of the State of Georgia or Dodge County”
“The authority shall have the same immunity and exemption from liability for torts and negligence as the State of Georgia”
Status timeline
- Effective Date
- Act 227
- 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
- Danny Mathis (R, HD-133)
Votes
- House voteMarch 27, 2025
164 yea, 0 nay (12 not voting, 4 excused)
- Senate voteApril 2, 2025
51 yea, 0 nay (2 not voting, 3 excused)
Topics
- local government authorities
- public facilities financing
- Dodge County
- revenue bonds
- county government