SB 368: "Northeast Regional Water Authority Act"; enact

Currently, none of these five Northeast Georgia local governments and one water authority has a shared entity dedicated to acquiring water reservoirs and supplying water regionally. This bill creates the Northeast Regional Water Authority as a new political subdivision of the state, governed by six appointed members, one from each founding member entity. The authority could acquire land, build and operate reservoirs and water treatment and distribution systems, and add recreational facilities around reservoirs, all within Banks, Elbert, Franklin, Jackson, and Madison counties. The authority could issue revenue bonds to pay for projects, but those bonds would not count as debt of any city, county, or the state, and would be repaid only from the authority's own revenues and fees. The authority may only sell water wholesale to member entities and other retail providers, not directly to individual retail customers except in areas with no existing water system. Other counties or cities could later apply to join, and members can withdraw by resolution. The authority must make annual payments to counties or cities where it builds facilities, and it must produce yearly financial and audit reports.

• Creates a new political subdivision, the Northeast Regional Water Authority, with a governing board of six appointed members from the founding local governments.
• Authorizes the authority to acquire land and build, own, and operate regional water reservoirs, treatment plants, and distribution systems, plus recreational facilities around reservoirs.
• Limits the authority to wholesale water sales to member entities and other retail providers, barring it from retail water distribution except where no local water system currently exists.
• Allows the authority to issue revenue bonds to pay for projects, with repayment coming only from project revenues, not taxpayer funds or government credit.
• Sets rules for other counties or cities to join or withdraw from the authority, and requires annual payments to any local government hosting authority facilities.
• Grants the authority tort immunity equal to that of a Georgia county and requires yearly financial statements and independent audits.

Residents and governments of Banks, Elbert, Franklin, Jackson, and Madison counties, especially Banks, Franklin, and Madison counties, the cities of Commerce and Elberton, and the Jackson County Water and Sewer Authority, which appoint the authority's board members and receive its water services.

If enacted, this bill would give Northeast Georgia communities a shared mechanism to fund and build large water infrastructure, like reservoirs, that individual counties or cities might struggle to finance alone, while keeping bond repayment obligations off local government budgets and instead tied to the authority's own revenue from water sales.

• Section 2 creates the authority as a public corporation with six initial board members appointed by Banks, Franklin, and Madison counties, Commerce, Elberton, and the Jackson County Water and Sewer Authority.
• Section 3 defines key terms, including limiting the authority's geographic scope to the 'Northeast region' of Banks, Elbert, Franklin, Jackson, and Madison counties.
• Section 6 bars the authority from obligating member entities to guarantee bonds without their approval and restricts it to wholesale water distribution only.
• Section 8 requires annual payments to any 'site jurisdiction' where the authority builds facilities, based on comparable property tax valuations.
• Section 9 sets rules for adjacent counties or cities within member territory to join by two-thirds vote of the authority, and lets members withdraw by resolution.
• Section 13 states that revenue bonds issued by the authority are not a debt of any member government or the state and are payable only from authority revenues.
• Section 24 requires the authority to prepare annual financial statements, obtain independent audits, and share reports with member governments and the public.

1. 2025-04-02Senate Read and Referred (Senado)
2. 2025-03-31Senate Hopper (Senado)

• Frank Ginn (R, SD-047)Patrocinador principal

• water infrastructure
• regional water authority
• Northeast Georgia
• reservoirs
• revenue bonds