---
type: "Bill"
title: "Gainesville, City of; school district ad valorem tax; provide homestead exemption"
description: "A BILL to be entitled an Act to provide a homestead exemption from City of Gainesville independent school district ad valorem taxes for educational purposes in the amount of $10,000.00 of the assessed value of the homestead for residents of that school district; 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 1602"
citation: "Georgia HB 1602 (2025_26)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Brent Cox", "Derrick McCollum", "Lee Hawkins", "Matt Dubnik"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 13
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2026-03-23"
last_action: "2026-05-12"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/693f91bb-9286-42eb-8e55-4f73a8c8ef25"
source_url: "http://webservices.legis.ga.gov/GGAServices/Legislation/Service.svc?wsdl"
source_hash: "231b54d871c7c9b353e15a4450465f47e070bc30bacd6a6e05a58c4ddc82164f"
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 1602 (2025_26) — Gainesville, City of; school district ad valorem tax; provide homestead exemption

A BILL to be entitled an Act to provide a homestead exemption from City of Gainesville independent school district ad valorem taxes for educational purposes in the amount of $10,000.00 of the assessed value of the homestead for residents of that school district; 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 1602/AP*** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20252026/248730.pdf)
2. **LC 47 4214/a** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20252026/247126.pdf)
3. **Local Ad** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20252026/247158.pdf)

## Votes

- Senate Vote #927 - 2025-2026 Regular Session — **49–0** (pass) · upper
- House Vote #772 - 2025-2026 Regular Session — **153–0** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Brent Cox — primary (person)
- Derrick McCollum — primary (person)
- Lee Hawkins — primary (person)
- Matt Dubnik — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2026-03-23** House Hopper `introduction`
- **2026-03-23** House First Readers `reading-1`
- **2026-03-25** House Second Readers `reading-2`
- **2026-03-27** House Committee Favorably Reported `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-03-27** House Third Readers `reading-3`
- **2026-03-27** House Passed/Adopted `passage`
- **2026-03-27** Senate Read and Referred `referral-committee`
- **2026-04-02** Senate Committee Favorably Reported `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2026-04-02** Senate Passed/Adopted `passage`
- **2026-04-10** House Sent to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2026-05-12** House Date Signed by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2026-05-12** Act 695 `executive-signature`
- **2026-05-12** Effective Date

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/693f91bb-9286-42eb-8e55-4f73a8c8ef25`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Georgia legislature records).