# Georgia SB 235: Whitfield County; school district ad valorem taxes for educational purposes; provide a homestead exemption

Georgia SB 235, Whitfield County; school district ad valorem taxes for educational purposes; provide a homestead exemption, is a 2025-2026 Regular Session Senate bill sponsored by Chuck Payne (Republican); status signed, last action 2025-05-09 (Senate Date Signed by Governor); PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-12).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/GA-SB235-2025-2026
- As of: 2026-10-12
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: Georgia SB 235
- State: Georgia
- Session: 2025-2026 Regular Session
- Title: Whitfield County; school district ad valorem taxes for educational purposes; provide a homestead exemption
- Status: signed
- Chamber: Senate
- Introduced: 2025-02-21
- Last action: 2025-05-09, Senate Date Signed by Governor
- Sponsor: Chuck Payne (Republican)
- Cosponsors: 1
- Subjects: Intragovernmental Coordination, State and Local Governmental Operations, Local Bill
- Touches household money: yes
- Roll calls: 4 (446 yes, 61 no in all)
- Economic provisions PRIA read: 1

## Summary

No summary available.

## Bill overview: provisions PRIA read

- School tax relief for Whitfield homeowners: benefit, high. This law creates a school property tax break for owner-occupied homes in the Whitfield County school district. Qualifying homes can include no more than five connected acres. The break exempts assessed value above an inflation-adjusted base, not the home's full value. For exemptions first granted i…

## Sponsors and cosponsors

- Sponsor: Chuck Payne (Republican), Senate
- Cosponsor: Kasey Carpenter (Republican), House

## Roll call votes

| Date | Chamber | Motion | Result | Yes | No | Other |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2025-04-04 | House | SBs 234, 235, & 336 Passage | pass | 147 | 2 | 17 |
| 2025-04-04 | House | Recon SB 234, 235, & 336 | pass | 135 | 0 | 35 |
| 2025-04-04 | House | Local Calendar | pass | 112 | 59 | 1 |
| 2025-03-03 | Senate | LOCAL CONSENT CALENDAR | pass | 52 | 0 | 4 |

## Actions (15)

- 2025-05-09: Senate Date Signed by Governor (Senate)
- 2025-05-09: Act 110
- 2025-05-09: Effective Date
- 2025-04-10: Senate Sent to Governor (Senate)
- 2025-04-04: House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
- 2025-04-04: House Third Readers (House)
- 2025-04-04: House Third Reading Lost (House)
- 2025-04-04: House Reconsidered (House)
- 2025-04-04: House Passed/Adopted (House)
- 2025-03-06: House Second Readers (House)
- 2025-03-04: House First Readers (House)
- 2025-03-03: Senate Committee Favorably Reported (Senate)
- 2025-03-03: Senate Passed/Adopted (Senate)
- 2025-02-24: Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
- 2025-02-21: Senate Hopper (Senate)

## Bill text

- SB 235/AP* (v6): [PDF](https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/legislation/document/20252026/239530)

## 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
- [SB 235/AP* (v6) (PDF)](https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/legislation/document/20252026/239530)

## 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)
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Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/state-bill/GA-SB235-2025-2026 (as of 2026-10-12).