HB1047: HB1047 Revenue and taxation; water and sewer projects and costs tax; revise definition of the term "municipality"

Georgia law allows certain local governments to levy a special tax to pay for water and sewer projects and costs, under Article 4 of Chapter 8 of Title 48 of the Official Code of Georgia (O.C.G.A. § 48-8-200). Current law defines which places qualify as a 'municipality' for this purpose based on how much wastewater they treat: either a city with an average wastewater flow of at least 85 million gallons per day, or one whose sewer system connects to such a large-flow city's system. This bill would replace that wastewater-flow test entirely. Instead, a 'municipality' would be defined as any 'qualified municipality' as that term is already defined in a separate tax code section (O.C.G.A. § 48-8-110), plus any consolidated government formed by merging a county with one or more cities. The bill repeals conflicting laws and does not state a specific effective date beyond the standard process for signing into law.

• Removes the current definition of 'municipality' in the water and sewer tax law that is based on treating at least 85 million gallons of wastewater per day.
• Replaces that definition with a cross-reference to 'qualified municipality' as defined elsewhere in Georgia's tax code (O.C.G.A. § 48-8-110).
• Adds consolidated governments (formed by merging a county and one or more cities) to the list of entities counted as a 'municipality' under this tax law.
• Repeals any other Georgia laws that conflict with this new definition.

Local governments that levy or might levy the water and sewer projects tax under this article, including cities that previously qualified based on wastewater volume, cities newly qualifying as 'qualified municipalities,' and consolidated city-county governments in Georgia.

Because the definition of 'municipality' determines who can use this special water and sewer tax, changing the test from wastewater volume to a different legal category could add or remove specific cities and consolidated governments from eligibility, affecting how they fund water and sewer infrastructure.

• Section 1 amends O.C.G.A. § 48-8-200 by rewriting paragraph (3), which defines 'municipality' for the water and sewer projects and costs tax.
• The new definition drops the 85 million gallons per day wastewater flow standard entirely.
• The new definition instead adopts 'qualified municipality' as defined in O.C.G.A. § 48-8-110, a different section of the tax code.
• The new definition also adds any consolidated government created by merging a county with one or more municipalities in Georgia.
• Section 2 repeals all laws and parts of laws that conflict with the bill.

1. 2026-01-29House Second Readers (House)
2. 2026-01-28House First Readers (House)
3. 2026-01-27House Hopper (House)

• Dale Washburn (R, HD-144)Primary sponsor
• Robert Dickey (R, HD-134)
• Kasey Carpenter (R, HD-004)
• Brian Prince (D, HD-132)
• Spencer Frye (D, HD-122)
• Rick Jasperse (R, HD-011)

• water and sewer tax
• local government funding
• consolidated governments
• municipal definitions
• property and sales tax law