# Georgia HB 786: Dodge County Building and Public Facilities Authority Act; enact Georgia HB 786, Dodge County Building and Public Facilities Authority Act; enact, is a 2025-2026 Regular Session House bill sponsored by Danny Mathis (Republican); status signed, last action 2025-05-13 (House Date Signed by Governor) (as of 2026-10-19). - Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/GA-HB786-2025-2026 - As of: 2026-10-19 - Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts. ## Facts - Bill: Georgia HB 786 - State: Georgia - Session: 2025-2026 Regular Session - Title: Dodge County Building and Public Facilities Authority Act; enact - Status: signed - Chamber: House - Introduced: 2025-03-18 - Last action: 2025-05-13, House Date Signed by Governor - Sponsor: Danny Mathis (Republican) - Cosponsors: 0 - Subjects: Intragovernmental Coordination, State and Local Governmental Operations, Local Bill - Touches household money: no - Roll calls: 2 (215 yes, 0 no in all) - Economic provisions PRIA read: 7 ## Summary No summary available. ## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read - New public facilities authority for Dodge County: benefit, low. The law creates an authority to build, equip, maintain, and operate public facilities within Dodge County's current or future boundaries. Facilities serve the county, local governments, and eligible public bodies, including the Dodge County School District. The authority can buy property, make agre… - Dodge County authority gets bond financing: benefit, low. The authority can issue revenue bonds to pay for public projects or refinance its existing bonds. Repayment comes only from pledged authority funds and assets. The bonds are not debts backed by Georgia's or Dodge County's general credit. However, bond documents can pledge money derived from taxes t… - Dodge County bondholders get repayment protections: benefit, low. The authority must hold money received under the law's funding provisions in trust and use it only as allowed. Qualifying bondholders have a legal claim on those funds until they are used as the bond documents require. Available income from different projects can be pledged for bond payments, fees,… - Authority bondholders get Georgia tax exemptions: benefit, low. Authority bonds issued under this law, and income from those bonds, are exempt from taxation within Georgia. This tax break applies to those bonds and their income, not to investors' other income. The law does not establish a federal tax exemption. - Dodge County authority gets limited tax exemptions: benefit, low. The authority's property, operations, rents, fees, and income are exempt from taxes and assessments as far as Georgia law allows. The exemption does not cover sales and use tax on property purchased by or for the authority. It does not exempt residents' property or purchases. - Public facility leases can require early payments: cost, low. The authority can set and change rents, fees, and charges for using its projects. Charges can cover operations, maintenance, insurance, bond payments, reserves, and related costs. Leases can require payments before construction ends or while space cannot be used. They can also require tenants to ma… - Authority lawsuits allowed, but recovery options limited: mixed, low. Parties can sue the authority over its contracts as they can sue a private corporation. But the authority has Georgia's protections against injury and negligence claims. Its officers, agents, and employees have the same protections when doing authority work. Creditors cannot use legal process to se… ## Sponsors and cosponsors - Sponsor: Danny Mathis (Republican), House ## Roll call votes | Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 2025-04-02 | Senate | LOCAL CONSENT CALENDAR | pass | 51 | 0 | 2 | | 2025-03-27 | House | Local Calendar | pass | 164 | 0 | 12 | ## Actions (13) - 2025-05-13: House Date Signed by Governor (House) - 2025-05-13: Act 227 - 2025-05-13: Effective Date - 2025-04-07: House Sent to Governor (House) - 2025-04-02: Senate Committee Favorably Reported (Senate) - 2025-04-02: Senate Passed/Adopted (Senate) - 2025-03-28: Senate Read and Referred (Senate) - 2025-03-27: House Committee Favorably Reported (House) - 2025-03-27: House Third Readers (House) - 2025-03-27: House Passed/Adopted (House) - 2025-03-21: House Second Readers (House) - 2025-03-20: House First Readers (House) - 2025-03-18: House Hopper (House) ## Bill text - HB 786/AP* (v4): [PDF](https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/legislation/document/20252026/238649) ## Related bills - SB 160: Reckless Stunt Driving; a motor vehicle involved in a second offense of reckless stunt driving; replace the forfeiture penalty (signed) - SB 384: Motor Vehicle; optional five-year motor vehicle registration and revalidation for certain motor vehicles; provide (signed) - SB 76: License Plates; specialty license plate benefitting the Georgia Veterans Service Foundation; establish (signed) - SB 406: "Georgia Property Owners' Bill of Rights Act"; enact (signed) - HB 1391: Specialty license plates; honor public safety officers; establish (signed) - HB 1344: Georgia Insurance Affordability and Claims Integrity Act; enact (signed) ## Sources - [HB 786/AP* (v4) (PDF)](https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/legislation/document/20252026/238649) ## Related - [SB 160: Reckless Stunt Driving; a motor vehicle involved in a second offense of reckles…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/GA-SB160-2025-2026) - [SB 384: Motor Vehicle; optional five-year motor vehicle registration and revalidation f…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/GA-SB384-2025-2026) - [SB 76: License Plates; specialty license plate benefitting the Georgia Veterans Servic…](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/GA-SB76-2025-2026) - [SB 406: "Georgia Property Owners' Bill of Rights Act"; enact](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/GA-SB406-2025-2026) - [HB 1391: Specialty license plates; honor public safety officers; establish](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/GA-HB1391-2025-2026) - [HB 1344: Georgia Insurance Affordability and Claims Integrity Act; enact](https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/GA-HB1344-2025-2026) - [Georgia bills](https://policyrisk.com/states/georgia/bills) - [Georgia state hub](https://policyrisk.com/states/georgia) - [All state legislation](https://policyrisk.com/state-bills) Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/GA-HB786-2025-2026 (as of 2026-10-19).