---
type: "Bill"
title: "Ad valorem tax; land subject to a forest land conservation use covenant; provide taxation"
description: "A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Chapter 5 of Title 48 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to ad valorem taxation of property, so as to provide for taxation of land subject to a forest land conservation use covenant; to provide for a performance review board to be appointed by the revenue commissioner; to change certain criteria relating to current use of conservation use property; to provide for penalties for violations; to provide for valuation of property while an appeal of the assessment is in process; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ga"
legislature: "Georgia General Assembly"
session: "2013_14"
identifier: "HB 197"
citation: "Georgia HB 197 (2013_14)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Allen Peake", "Ellis Black", "Jay Powell", "Jon Burns", "Robert Dickey", "Terry England"]
version_count: 5
action_count: 17
vote_count: 1
first_action: "2013-02-04"
last_action: "2013-07-01"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/dba53b3f-1a90-4f15-8170-ed35899ea5e1"
source_url: "http://webservices.legis.ga.gov/GGAServices/Legislation/Service.svc?wsdl"
source_hash: "c7e3a1396f832a5fcbe3bccb4c9c9eb66a568556088fd96c3bb9b656f46f5f0f"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ga"]
---

# Georgia HB 197 (2013_14) — Ad valorem tax; land subject to a forest land conservation use covenant; provide taxation

A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Chapter 5 of Title 48 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to ad valorem taxation of property, so as to provide for taxation of land subject to a forest land conservation use covenant; to provide for a performance review board to be appointed by the revenue commissioner; to change certain criteria relating to current use of conservation use property; to provide for penalties for violations; to provide for valuation of property while an appeal of the assessment is in process; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **HB 197/AP*** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20132014/136275.pdf)
2. **LC 34 3585/a** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20132014/129675.pdf)
3. **LC 34 3796S/hcs** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20132014/133909.pdf)
4. **LC 34 3796S/hs** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20132014/132934.pdf)
5. **Sen ctee sub LC 34 3869S** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20132014/135326.pdf)

## Votes

- PASSAGE — **163–5** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Allen Peake — primary (person)
- Ellis Black — primary (person)
- Jay Powell — primary (person)
- Jon Burns — primary (person)
- Robert Dickey — primary (person)
- Terry England — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2013-02-04** House Hopper
- **2013-02-05** House First Readers `reading-1`
- **2013-02-06** House Second Readers `reading-2`
- **2013-02-28** House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2013-03-07** House Third Readers `reading-3`
- **2013-03-07** House Passed/Adopted By Substitute `passage`
- **2013-03-11** Senate Read and Referred `referral-committee`
- **2013-03-20** Senate Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2013-03-21** Senate Read Second Time `reading-2`
- **2013-03-22** Senate Engrossed `passage`
- **2013-03-22** Senate Third Read `reading-3`
- **2013-03-22** Senate Passed/Adopted By Substitute `passage`
- **2013-03-26** House Agreed Senate Amend or Sub
- **2013-04-01** House Sent to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2013-05-06** House Date Signed by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2013-05-06** Act 204 `executive-signature`
- **2013-07-01** Effective Date

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/dba53b3f-1a90-4f15-8170-ed35899ea5e1`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Georgia legislature records).