---
type: "Bill"
title: "Whitfield County; school district ad valorem taxes for educational purposes; provide a homestead exemption"
description: "A BILL to be entitled an Act to provide a homestead exemption from Whitfield County school district ad valorem taxes for educational purposes in an amount equal to the amount by which the current year assessed value of a homestead exceeds the adjusted base year assessed value of such homestead; 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: "SB 235"
citation: "Georgia SB 235 (2025_26)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Chuck Payne"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 15
vote_count: 4
first_action: "2025-02-21"
last_action: "2025-05-09"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/f1744743-9406-45f7-bdeb-e101727606cf"
source_url: "http://webservices.legis.ga.gov/GGAServices/Legislation/Service.svc?wsdl"
source_hash: "dbc6caf169b57253f6fa34ba39ad636088f9b144bc13d233f1d39f4fb54c0bda"
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 SB 235 (2025_26) — Whitfield County; school district ad valorem taxes for educational purposes; provide a homestead exemption

A BILL to be entitled an Act to provide a homestead exemption from Whitfield County school district ad valorem taxes for educational purposes in an amount equal to the amount by which the current year assessed value of a homestead exceeds the adjusted base year assessed value of such homestead; 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. **As Passed Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20252026/234898.pdf)
2. **As introduced LC 44 3024** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20252026/233402.pdf)
3. **SB 235 Local Ad** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20252026/233414.pdf)
4. **SB 235/AP*** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20252026/239530.pdf)

## Votes

- Senate Vote #114 - 2025-2026 Regular Session — **52–0** (pass) · upper
- House Vote #434 - 2025-2026 Regular Session — **112–59** (pass) · lower
- House Vote #435 - 2025-2026 Regular Session — **135–0** (pass) · lower
- House Vote #436 - 2025-2026 Regular Session — **147–2** (pass) · lower

## Sponsors

- Chuck Payne — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2025-02-21** Senate Hopper `introduction`
- **2025-02-24** Senate Read and Referred `referral-committee`
- **2025-03-03** Senate Committee Favorably Reported `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2025-03-03** Senate Passed/Adopted `passage`
- **2025-03-04** House First Readers `reading-1`
- **2025-03-06** House Second Readers `reading-2`
- **2025-04-04** House Committee Favorably Reported `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2025-04-04** House Third Readers `reading-3`
- **2025-04-04** House Third Reading Lost `failure, reading-3`
- **2025-04-04** House Reconsidered
- **2025-04-04** House Passed/Adopted `passage`
- **2025-04-10** Senate Sent to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2025-05-09** Senate Date Signed by Governor `executive-signature`
- **2025-05-09** Act 110 `executive-signature`
- **2025-05-09** Effective Date

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/f1744743-9406-45f7-bdeb-e101727606cf`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Georgia legislature records).