Georgia CommonsHouse · Passed · 2025-2026 Regular Session
HB 816: Greene County Public Facilities Authority Act; enact
Last action May 13, 2025 · Effective Date
House Bill 816 creates the Greene County Public Facilities Authority, a new local government body with power to build public facilities and issue bonds for Greene County and its school district and cities.
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
Greene County does not currently have a dedicated authority for financing and building shared public facilities like buildings and equipment for the county, its school district, or its cities. This bill creates the Greene County Public Facilities Authority to fill that role. The authority is a public corporation run by five members appointed by the Greene County Board of Commissioners, serving four-year terms after an initial staggered setup. The authority can acquire property, hire staff, enter contracts, and issue revenue bonds under Georgia's Revenue Bond Law to pay for projects such as buildings and equipment for the county, the school district, or municipalities within the county. Those bonds must be repaid from project revenue, not from county or state taxes, and cannot run longer than 40 years. The authority gets the same legal immunity from lawsuits as the county and is exempt from state and local taxes. The law would take effect as soon as the Governor signs it.
What the bill does
- Creates the Greene County Public Facilities Authority as a public corporation with perpetual existence, run by five members appointed by the county commissioners.
- Gives the authority power to buy, build, lease, and operate public buildings and facilities for Greene County, its school district, and municipalities within the county.
- Authorizes the authority to issue revenue bonds under Georgia's Revenue Bond Law (O.C.G.A. § 36-82-60 et seq.) to pay project costs, capped at a 40-year maturity.
- Specifies that bonds are repaid only from project revenue, not from county or state tax dollars, and are exempt from state and local taxes.
- Grants the authority the same tort immunity (protection from certain lawsuits) that Greene County itself has.
- Requires that any lawsuit against the authority be filed in the Superior Court of Greene County, which has exclusive jurisdiction.
Who it affects
Greene County government, the Greene County Board of Commissioners, the Greene County School District, municipal governments within the county, bondholders who purchase the authority's revenue bonds, and any residents or contractors who deal with public facilities the authority builds or finances.
Why it matters
Greene County would gain a new government body able to finance and build shared public facilities, such as buildings for schools or municipalities, by issuing bonds instead of relying directly on county tax revenue. Bondholders would be repaid only from project income, and county taxpayers would not be on the hook if a project fails to generate enough revenue.
Key provisions
- Section 2 establishes the authority's five-member board, appointed by the county commission, with four-year terms and a residency requirement of at least two years in Greene County.
- Section 4 lists the authority's powers, including acquiring property by purchase or condemnation, hiring staff, entering contracts, and borrowing money.
- Section 5 authorizes issuance of revenue bonds under the Revenue Bond Law with a maximum maturity of 40 years.
- Section 9 states that revenue bonds are not a debt of Greene County or the State of Georgia and cannot obligate either to levy taxes for repayment.
- Section 14 sets the Superior Court of Greene County as the exclusive venue for lawsuits involving the authority.
- Section 17 provides that if the authority is dissolved, its assets become property of Greene County.
- Section 20 gives the authority the same tort immunity as Greene County for its officers, agents, and employees.
- Section 25 makes the Act effective immediately upon the Governor's approval or upon becoming law without approval.
From the bill
“Revenue bonds of the authority shall not be deemed to constitute a debt of Greene County or the State of Georgia, nor a pledge of the faith and credit of this state or such county”
“Upon the dissolution of the authority, all assets owned by the authority shall become the property of the county.”
Status timeline
- Effective Date
- Act 235
- 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
- Trey Rhodes (R, HD-124)
Votes
- House voteMarch 31, 2025
165 yea, 0 nay (10 not voting, 5 excused)
- Senate voteApril 2, 2025
51 yea, 0 nay (2 not voting, 3 excused)
Topics
- local government authorities
- public facilities financing
- Greene County
- revenue bonds
- county government