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Senate committee advances bill allowing local option to extend historic commercial property assessment freeze
Summary
A Georgia Senate committee approved SB 24 (LC 442898) to let local governments extend an existing eight-year assessment freeze for qualifying commercial historic properties by up to 12 additional years at local option, a measure backers say could spur downtown redevelopment and housing.
Senator Burns introduced SB 24 (LC 442898), a bill that would let local governments extend the state’s current eight‑year assessment freeze for qualifying commercial historic properties for additional years by local action. The committee approved the bill unanimously and agreed to forward it for further consideration.
Supporters told the committee the change is voluntary for local governments and intended to make lengthy rehabilitation projects more financially feasible. Burns said the change would give local officials the option to extend the freeze so restoration projects “can be redeveloped into commercially viable environments,” and he described the measure as preserving the assessed value at the entry point into the program while allowing more time to complete redevelopment. He also said, “it is essentially a tax deferral.”
Under current law, owners of qualifying income‑producing commercial historic property may receive an eight‑year assessment freeze that fixes the property’s assessed value for that period. The bill would allow local governing bodies to adopt an extension of that freeze for additional years — for example, 12 or 16 years — up to a total that supporters say can reach as many as 20 years depending on the local option chosen.
Burns and others cited examples in South Carolina where similar programs have been used to stimulate downtown rehabilitation. At the committee hearing he said developers in Augusta and other communities are using the program to convert older commercial buildings into workforce and student housing, and that local governments should be able to choose whether to adopt a longer freeze.
The committee’s action: a motion to pass SB 24 (LC 442898) was made and seconded; the committee voted unanimously to advance the bill. Senator Albers made the motion and Senator Estevez seconded it, and the chair announced a unanimous voice/hand vote.
The bill’s proponents stressed the measure is permissive rather than mandatory for localities and is not a tax credit; it keeps taxable value frozen for a longer period if a locality elects to provide that option. The committee noted some fiscal notes were still pending but expressed support for getting the measure out of committee.
No formal amendments were recorded at the committee meeting. The bill will proceed to the next committee or floor consideration with the committee’s favorable recommendation.
