SB 306: Bona Fide Conservation Use Property; impending expiration to be sent via certified mail; require notices

Georgia's conservation use property tax program lets landowners get a lower property tax assessment in exchange for a 10-year promise (a covenant) to keep land in a qualifying use, such as farming, forestry, or wildlife habitat. This bill updates that program (O.C.G.A. § 48-5-7.4). It adds carbon sequestration, storing carbon in soil or trees under a recognized registry, as an allowed secondary use of the land. It requires county tax assessors to send expiration notices by certified mail if a taxpayer asks, and by email if the taxpayer provides an address and requests it, instead of only regular mail. The bill also lets landowners whose covenant lapsed in the two years before July 1, 2025 get it reinstated if they can show, with a sworn statement from their mail carrier, that their mailbox was broken or unavailable when the notice should have arrived. It allows a single owner to merge several existing covenants into one new 10-year covenant, and gives new owners of forest land conservation property 180 days to switch covenant types. Separately, it changes a low-income housing tax credit cap (O.C.G.A. § 48-7-29.6) from a total cap to a yearly cap of $100 million for 2026 through 2028. Most provisions apply to tax years starting on or after January 1, 2027.

• Adds carbon sequestration under a recognized carbon registry as an allowed secondary use for land already qualifying as bona fide conservation use property.
• Requires county tax assessors to send covenant expiration notices by certified mail if the taxpayer requests it, and by email if the taxpayer provides an address and asks for it.
• Creates a one-time fix letting owners whose covenant lapsed in the two years before July 1, 2025 get it reinstated if a mail carrier confirms their mailbox was inoperable, with refunds for excess taxes paid and no added fees or interest.
• Lets a landowner with several separate conservation-use covenants combine them into a single new 10-year covenant instead of managing them separately.
• Gives a new owner of forest land conservation property 180 days after buying it to switch the property into a different covenant type without breaching it.
• Changes the qualified low-income building tax credit from one combined $100 million cap covering 2026 through 2028 to a $100 million cap for each of those three years separately.

Owners of land under conservation use or forest land conservation covenants, county boards of tax assessors and tax commissioners who administer these programs, landowners whose covenants recently lapsed due to mail delivery problems, and developers or investors who use the qualified low-income housing tax credit.

Landowners who lost their reduced property tax assessment because a notice never reached them could get that status and any overpaid taxes back. Owners with multiple land parcels could simplify paperwork under one covenant, and the housing tax credit change could roughly triple available credits, from $100 million total to $100 million per year through 2028.

• Section 1 revises O.C.G.A. § 48-5-7.4 to let conservation use property also serve a secondary carbon sequestration purpose under a state or approved carbon registry.
• Section 1 requires certified mail notice of covenant expiration if requested by the taxpayer, plus email notice if an address is provided and requested.
• Section 1 creates new subsection (d.1), reinstating covenants that expired in the two years before July 1, 2025 if a mail carrier's sworn statement shows the mailbox was inoperable, with refunds and no extra fees or interest.
• Section 1 adds new subsection (e.1) allowing a single owner to combine multiple valid covenants into one new 10-year covenant, but only if all parcels are combined and none are delinquent on taxes.
• Section 2 amends O.C.G.A. § 48-5-7.7 to give a new owner of forest land conservation property 180 days after acquiring it to switch covenant types without it counting as a breach.
• Section 3 changes the qualified low-income building tax credit cap in O.C.G.A. § 48-7-29.6 from one aggregate $100 million limit to $100 million awarded in each of tax years 2026, 2027, and 2028.
• Section 4 sets the effective date as the Governor's signature or the bill becoming law without signature, with Sections 1 and 2 applying to tax years starting on or after January 1, 2027.

1. 2026-05-06Effective Date 2026-05-06
2. 2026-05-06Act 431
3. 2026-05-06Senate Date Signed by Governor (Senate)
4. 2026-04-10Senate Sent to Governor (Senate)
5. 2026-04-02Senate Agreed House Amend or Sub (Senate)
6. 2026-03-25House Passed/Adopted By Substitute (House)
7. 2026-03-25House Third Readers (House)
8. 2026-03-20House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute (House)

• Randy Robertson (R, SD-029)Primary sponsor
• Charles Cannon (R, HD-172)

1. PassedSenate voteMarch 4, 2026

   31 yea, 22 nay (1 not voting, 1 absent)

   Motion To Engross: Sb 306, Sb 465, Sb 498, Sr 668: Senate Vote #615

2. PassedSenate voteMarch 4, 2026

   49 yea, 0 nay (3 not voting, 3 absent)

   Passage By Substitute: Senate Vote #636

3. PassedHouse voteMarch 25, 2026

   158 yea, 9 nay (3 not voting, 6 absent)

   Passage: House Vote #758

4. PassedSenate voteApril 2, 2026

   52 yea, 0 nay (1 not voting, 1 absent)

   Agree To House Substitute: Senate Vote #963

• property taxes
• conservation easements
• farmland tax breaks
• carbon sequestration
• low-income housing tax credit