SB 43: Bona Fide Conservation Use Property; the maximum acreage to qualify for assessment and taxation; increase

Georgia law lets landowners get a lower property tax assessment on land used for farming, timber production, or environmentally sensitive purposes, as long as the total qualifying land does not exceed 2,000 acres per person. This bill would raise that cap to 6,000 acres across the several places in the law where the 2,000 acre limit appears, including limits on individual owners, family owned farm entities, environmentally sensitive property certified by the Department of Natural Resources, and the state's central registry that tracks conservation use land statewide. The change would not take effect on its own. Section 2 makes it contingent on Georgia voters ratifying a related constitutional amendment increasing the acreage cap at the November 2026 general election. If voters approve it, the law change takes effect January 1, 2027. If they do not, the bill automatically repeals itself on that same date and never takes effect.

• Raises the maximum acreage eligible for conservation use property tax assessment from 2,000 acres to 6,000 acres for a single person's agricultural or timber land.
• Raises the same 2,000 to 6,000 acre cap for environmentally sensitive property certified by the Department of Natural Resources.
• Updates the rules for family owned farm entities so members can allocate unused acreage up to the new 6,000 acre limit instead of 2,000 acres.
• Raises the aggregate acreage limit for a single owner entering multiple conservation use covenants from 2,000 to 6,000 acres.
• Directs the state's central registry of conservation use property to enforce the new 6,000 acre statewide limit instead of 2,000 acres.
• Makes the entire acreage increase contingent on voters ratifying a related constitutional amendment in November 2026, with automatic repeal if they do not.

Farmers, timber landowners, and family owned farm entities who use Georgia's conservation use property tax break; owners of environmentally sensitive land certified by the Department of Natural Resources; county boards of tax assessors; and the state revenue commissioner, who maintains the statewide registry tracking acreage limits.

Landowners with large agricultural, timber, or environmentally sensitive holdings could shelter three times as much acreage under the reduced conservation use tax assessment, potentially lowering their property tax bills. County tax digests and the state's tracking registry would need to reflect the higher limit if voters approve the underlying constitutional change.

• Section 1 changes the acreage limit from 2,000 to 6,000 acres in subsection (a)(1) governing agricultural and timber production property owned by a single person.
• Section 1 raises the same limit for family owned farm entities under subparagraph (a)(1)(A.1), affecting how unused acreage allocations are calculated among family members.
• Section 1 raises the acreage cap in subsection (a)(2) for environmentally sensitive property certified by the Department of Natural Resources.
• Section 1 raises the aggregate covenant limit in subsection (e) allowing a single owner to hold multiple conservation use covenants up to 6,000 acres.
• Section 1 updates subsection (r) so the commissioner's statewide central registry enforces the new 6,000 acre limit instead of 2,000 acres.
• Section 2 makes the entire Act effective January 1, 2027 only if voters ratify a related state constitutional amendment at the November 2026 general election, and repeals the Act automatically on that date if voters reject it.

1. 2025-01-29Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
2. 2025-01-28Senate Hopper (Senate)

• Carden Summers (R, SD-013)Primary sponsor
• Matt Brass (R, SD-006)
• Russ Goodman (R, SD-008)
• Sam Watson (R, SD-011)
• Lee Anderson (R, SD-024)
• Steve Gooch (R, SD-051)
• Bo Hatchett (R, SD-050)
• Billy Hickman (R, SD-004)
• Ricky Williams (R, SD-025)
• Frank Ginn (R, SD-047)
• Blake Tillery (R, SD-019)
• Jason Anavitarte (R, SD-031)
• Randy Robertson (R, SD-029)
• Ben Watson (R, SD-001)
• John Albers (R, SD-056)
• Max Burns (R, SD-023)
• John Kennedy (R, SD-018)
• Drew Echols (R, SD-049)
• Shawn Still (R, SD-048)
• Timothy Bearden (R, SD-030)

• property taxes
• conservation use property
• farmland taxation
• timber land
• constitutional amendment