---
type: "Bill"
title: "Tunnel Hill, City of; ad valorem tax for municipal purposes; provide new homestead exemption"
description: "A BILL to be entitled an Act to provide for a new homestead exemption from City of Tunnel Hill ad valorem taxes for municipal purposes in the amount of $325,000.00 for each resident of the City of Tunnel Hill who is 70 years of age or older; 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 related matters; to provide for compliance with constitutional requirements; to provide for a referendum, effective dates, and automatic repeal, mandatory execution of election, and judicial remedies regarding failure to comply; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ga"
legislature: "Georgia General Assembly"
session: "2025_26"
identifier: "HB 853"
citation: "Georgia HB 853 (2025_26)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Jason Ridley", "Kasey Carpenter", "Steve Tarvin"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 13
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2025-03-25"
last_action: "2025-05-14"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/8fbd218e-e8d6-414b-8a59-fac5ff74b92f"
source_url: "http://webservices.legis.ga.gov/GGAServices/Legislation/Service.svc?wsdl"
source_hash: "f6319bc3c8293a2dfa77aa1c20d8b5e5e6fc15feaf7a05dd3f1b2dda61814474"
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 853 (2025_26) — Tunnel Hill, City of; ad valorem tax for municipal purposes; provide new homestead exemption

A BILL to be entitled an Act to provide for a new homestead exemption from City of Tunnel Hill ad valorem taxes for municipal purposes in the amount of $325,000.00 for each resident of the City of Tunnel Hill who is 70 years of age or older; 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 related matters; to provide for compliance with constitutional requirements; to provide for a referendum, effective dates, and automatic repeal, mandatory execution of election, and judicial remedies regarding failure to comply; 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 853/AP*** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20252026/238865.pdf)
2. **LC 62 0196/a** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20252026/237292.pdf)
3. **Local Ad** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20252026/237370.pdf)

## Votes

- Senate Vote #400 - 2025-2026 Regular Session — **55–1** (pass) · upper
- House Vote #342 - 2025-2026 Regular Session — **165–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Jason Ridley — primary (person)
- Kasey Carpenter — primary (person)
- Steve Tarvin — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2025-03-25** House Hopper `introduction`
- **2025-03-25** House First Readers `reading-1`
- **2025-03-27** House Second Readers `reading-2`
- **2025-03-31** House Committee Favorably Reported `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2025-03-31** House Third Readers `reading-3`
- **2025-03-31** House Passed/Adopted `passage`
- **2025-03-31** Senate Read and Referred `referral-committee`
- **2025-04-02** Senate Committee Favorably Reported `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2025-04-02** Senate Passed/Adopted `passage`
- **2025-04-08** House Sent to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2025-05-14** House Date Signed by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2025-05-14** Act 348 `executive-signature`
- **2025-05-14** Effective Date

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/8fbd218e-e8d6-414b-8a59-fac5ff74b92f`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Georgia legislature records).