Chatham Area Transit Authority; abolish current memberships; provide new board

New board and rules for Chatham transit

The law ends the existing Chatham Area Transit Authority membership on June 30, 2025. A new board succeeds it beginning July 1, 2025, with up to 11 members. Chatham County commissioners appoint two members plus one person with a disability. Savannah's Board of Aldermen appoints one member plus one Savannah resident. Garden City and the Savannah-Georgia Convention Center Authority each appoint one member. Port Wentworth appoints one member only if the city chooses to participate. State senators and representatives whose districts include any part of Chatham County appoint three members. These seats require a business advocacy organization member or employee, a tourism advocacy organization member or employee, and a county resident. The convention center and three legislative appointees serve two-year terms. The disability representative and designated Savannah resident serve four-year terms. The two regular county appointees and regular Savannah, Garden City, and participating Port Wentworth appointees serve while holding elective office, unless removed. Most members may live anywhere in Chatham County. Municipal seats require local residency or elected office, as specified for each seat. After two consecutive full terms, members must wait two years after leaving before reappointment to that seat. Members lose their seats for lacking qualifications or conviction of a felony or a crime involving moral turpitude. Unexcused absences also trigger removal: four consecutive regular meetings or 50% of regular and specially called meetings in a fiscal year. Replacements use the original appointment process and serve the remaining term. The board meets monthly on a schedule it sets. It elects a chair and vice chair for two-year terms. The chair presides and may vote; the vice chair acts when the chair cannot serve. A majority of current members is needed to act, and vacancies do not prevent that majority from acting. Meetings and records are public under Georgia's open-government laws. Robert's Rules of Order guide meetings unless the board adopts other rules. Members cannot vote on matters involving their direct or indirect financial interests. Employees cannot hold financial interests in, or profit from, authority contracts, work, business, or property deals. Regular employee pay is allowed. Board members, including the chair, receive no pay for service. Actual, reasonable authority-business expenses may be repaid only when approved before they are incurred. The law does not itself change fares, taxes, transit service levels, or household benefits.