HB1600: HB1600 City of McDonough Public Facilities Authority Act; enact

This bill sets up a new public authority for the City of McDonough in Henry County. The authority would be a separate government-like entity (called a body corporate and politic) that can acquire, build, equip, and run projects such as buildings and facilities for the city's own operations, and in some cases for the county or county school district if located within city limits. The authority would be governed by seven members appointed by the McDonough city council, serving staggered three-year terms. To pay for projects, the authority could issue revenue bonds, which are repaid from rents, fees, and earnings the projects generate, not from city or state tax revenue or credit. The bill spells out how those bonds are secured, validated in Henry County Superior Court, and taxed (they are tax-exempt). It also covers the authority's legal immunity, property protections, and what happens to its property if it is ever dissolved: it would go to the city.

• Creates the City of McDonough Public Facilities Authority as a separate legal entity (a body corporate and politic) that is an instrumentality of the state but not a state agency.
• Authorizes the authority to acquire, build, equip, and operate buildings and facilities for the city's government functions, and for the county or county school district only if the project sits within city limits.
• Sets up a seven member board appointed by the McDonough city council, with three-year terms, a chairperson, vice chairperson, and quorum rules.
• Allows the authority to issue revenue bonds to pay for projects, repaid only from project rents, fees, and earnings, explicitly not backed by city or state taxes or credit.
• Grants the authority the same legal immunity from lawsuits over accidents and negligence (tort immunity) that a Georgia county has.
• Exempts the authority's bonds and most of its property from state taxation and protects its property from being seized to pay debts (levy and sale).

McDonough city government and its future appointed authority board members, Henry County courts that would handle bond validation lawsuits, bondholders who buy the authority's revenue bonds, and potentially the county government and county school district if a shared project is built within city limits.

McDonough would gain a new financing tool to build public facilities without raising city taxes or putting the city's general credit at risk, since bond repayment comes only from project revenue. Residents would not see new taxes from this bill, but the city would take on a new layer of appointed governance and long-term financial obligations tied to specific projects.

• Section 2 creates the authority as a state instrumentality based in McDonough, exempt from the Georgia State Financing and Investment Commission Act (O.C.G.A. Title 50, Chapter 17).
• Section 3 sets membership at seven people appointed by the city council, with three-year staggered terms, a residency and age requirement, and unpaid service with expense reimbursement.
• Section 4 defines key terms including 'project,' which covers city buildings and, in limited cases, county or school district facilities located within city limits.
• Section 5 lists the authority's powers, including contracting, borrowing, acquiring property, and issuing revenue bonds under Georgia's Revenue Bond Law (O.C.G.A. Title 36, Chapter 82).
• Section 6 states that authority bonds are not a debt of the state or the city and cannot be enforced against city or state property.
• Section 9 sets Henry County Superior Court as the exclusive venue for lawsuits against the authority and for bond validation.
• Section 14 exempts the authority from most taxes on its property and income, though not from sales and use tax on its purchases.
• Section 20 requires that if the authority is dissolved after paying off its bonds, its remaining property goes to the City of McDonough.

1. 2026-03-27House Withdrawn, Recommitted (House)
2. 2026-03-27House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
3. 2026-03-25House Second Readers (House)
4. 2026-03-23House First Readers (House)
5. 2026-03-23House Hopper (House)

• Mary Ann Santos (D, HD-117)Primary sponsor

• local government authorities
• municipal finance
• revenue bonds
• McDonough Georgia
• public facilities