--- type: "Bill" title: "Columbia County; ad valorem tax for county purposes; provide homestead exemption" description: "A BILL to be entitled an Act to provide a homestead exemption from Columbia County ad valorem taxes for county purposes in the amount of $8,000.00 of the assessed value of the homestead for residents of that county; to provide for definitions; to specify the terms and conditions of the exemption and the procedures relating thereto; to provide for applicability; to provide for compliance with constitutional requirements; to provide for a referendum, effective dates, automatic repeal, mandatory execution of election, and judicial remedies regarding failure to comply; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes." jurisdiction: "us/states/ga" legislature: "Georgia General Assembly" session: "2025_26" identifier: "HB 784" citation: "Georgia HB 784 (2025_26)" classification: ["bill"] subjects: [] status: "enacted" primary_sponsors: ["Gary Richardson", "Mark Newton", "Rob Clifton", "Rob Leverett"] version_count: 3 action_count: 13 vote_count: 2 first_action: "2025-03-18" last_action: "2025-05-13" source: "openstates" source_identifier: "ocd-bill/2860bdf1-5c97-47d0-b77f-898b5f67595c" source_url: "http://webservices.legis.ga.gov/GGAServices/Legislation/Service.svc?wsdl" source_hash: "37bb769f929b4c0d35b30ffa097a70f69a1faf95b391496c6223bc46dab9f44a" 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 784 (2025_26) — Columbia County; ad valorem tax for county purposes; provide homestead exemption A BILL to be entitled an Act to provide a homestead exemption from Columbia County ad valorem taxes for county purposes in the amount of $8,000.00 of the assessed value of the homestead for residents of that county; to provide for definitions; to specify the terms and conditions of the exemption and the procedures relating thereto; to provide for applicability; to provide for compliance with constitutional requirements; to provide for a referendum, effective dates, automatic repeal, mandatory execution of election, and judicial remedies regarding failure to comply; 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 784/AP*** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20252026/238043.pdf) 2. **LC 47 3609/a** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20252026/236283.pdf) 3. **Local Ad** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20252026/236394.pdf) ## Votes - Senate Vote #313 - 2025-2026 Regular Session — **53–0** (pass) · upper - House Vote #302 - 2025-2026 Regular Session — **170–0** (pass) · lower ## Sponsors - Gary Richardson — primary (person) - Mark Newton — primary (person) - Rob Clifton — primary (person) - Rob Leverett — primary (person) ## Timeline The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote. - **2025-03-18** House Hopper `introduction` - **2025-03-20** House First Readers `reading-1` - **2025-03-21** House Second Readers `reading-2` - **2025-03-25** House Committee Favorably Reported `committee-passage-favorable` - **2025-03-25** House Third Readers `reading-3` - **2025-03-25** House Passed/Adopted `passage` - **2025-03-27** Senate Read and Referred `referral-committee` - **2025-03-28** Senate Committee Favorably Reported `committee-passage-favorable` - **2025-03-28** Senate Passed/Adopted `passage` - **2025-04-07** House Sent to Governor `executive-receipt` - **2025-05-13** House Date Signed by Governor `executive-signature` - **2025-05-13** Act 226 `executive-signature` - **2025-05-13** Effective Date ## Source OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/2860bdf1-5c97-47d0-b77f-898b5f67595c`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Georgia legislature records).