---
type: "Bill"
title: "Ad valorem tax; timber equipment and timber products held by timber producers; provide exemption"
description: "A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Part 1 of Article 2 of Chapter 5 of Title 48 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to property tax exemptions, so as to provide for a state-wide exemption from all ad valorem taxes for timber equipment and timber products held by timber producers; to provide for a referendum; to provide for effective dates, applicability, and automatic repeal; to provide for compliance with constitutional requirements; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ga"
legislature: "Georgia General Assembly"
session: "2021_22"
identifier: "HB 997"
citation: "Georgia HB 997 (2021_22)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Debbie Buckner", "Gerald Greene", "Jon Burns", "Matt Hatchett", "Sam Watson", "Terry England"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 18
vote_count: 1
first_action: "2022-01-25"
last_action: "2022-05-10"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/73e2c122-f48c-488a-b924-af90e18f0fcf"
source_url: "http://webservices.legis.ga.gov/GGAServices/Legislation/Service.svc?wsdl"
source_hash: "8aae95d3f433dc05c9c5e7ea574398cbdac2aff868aa8dd348bc5bf922a69971"
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 997 (2021_22) — Ad valorem tax; timber equipment and timber products held by timber producers; provide exemption

A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Part 1 of Article 2 of Chapter 5 of Title 48 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to property tax exemptions, so as to provide for a state-wide exemption from all ad valorem taxes for timber equipment and timber products held by timber producers; to provide for a referendum; to provide for effective dates, applicability, and automatic repeal; to provide for compliance with constitutional requirements; 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 997/AP*** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20212022/211161.pdf)
2. **LC 43 2167/a** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20212022/203889.pdf)
3. **LC 43 2338S/hcs** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20212022/209497.pdf)
4. **LC 43 2338S/hs** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20212022/208692.pdf)

## Votes

- PASSAGE — **171–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Debbie Buckner — primary (person)
- Gerald Greene — primary (person)
- Jon Burns — primary (person)
- Matt Hatchett — primary (person)
- Sam Watson — primary (person)
- Terry England — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2022-01-25** House Hopper
- **2022-01-26** House First Readers `reading-1`
- **2022-01-27** House Second Readers `reading-2`
- **2022-02-24** House Committee Favorably Reported `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2022-03-03** House Withdrawn, Recommitted `referral-committee, withdrawal`
- **2022-03-08** House Committee Favorably Reported By Substitute `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2022-03-15** House Third Readers `reading-3`
- **2022-03-15** House Passed/Adopted By Substitute `passage`
- **2022-03-16** Senate Read and Referred `referral-committee`
- **2022-03-25** Senate Committee Favorably Reported `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2022-03-28** Senate Read Second Time `reading-2`
- **2022-03-30** Senate Engrossed `passage`
- **2022-03-30** Senate Third Read `reading-3`
- **2022-03-30** Senate Passed/Adopted `passage`
- **2022-04-06** House Sent to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2022-05-10** House Date Signed by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2022-05-10** Act 859 `executive-signature`
- **2022-05-10** Effective Date

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/73e2c122-f48c-488a-b924-af90e18f0fcf`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Georgia legislature records).