---
type: "Bill"
title: "Columbia County; school district ad valorem tax; provide homestead exemption"
description: "A BILL to be entitled an Act to provide a homestead exemption from Columbia County school district ad valorem taxes for educational purposes in the amount of $8,000.00 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 783"
citation: "Georgia HB 783 (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/cb258b3e-7753-4ca6-b143-e224469de030"
source_url: "http://webservices.legis.ga.gov/GGAServices/Legislation/Service.svc?wsdl"
source_hash: "1c948d795561b49bf4cc40e6a8fa4c9b8827da43bc676f76587df835f8e4a258"
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 783 (2025_26) — Columbia County; school district ad valorem tax; provide homestead exemption

A BILL to be entitled an Act to provide a homestead exemption from Columbia County school district ad valorem taxes for educational purposes in the amount of $8,000.00 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 783/AP*** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20252026/238042.pdf)
2. **LC 47 3625/a** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20252026/236282.pdf)
3. **Local Ad** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20252026/236373.pdf)

## Votes

- House Vote #302 - 2025-2026 Regular Session — **170–0** (pass) · lower
- Senate Vote #313 - 2025-2026 Regular Session — **53–0** (pass) · upper

## 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`
- **2025-04-08** House Sent to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2025-05-13** House Date Signed by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2025-05-13** Act 225 `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/cb258b3e-7753-4ca6-b143-e224469de030`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Georgia legislature records).