Committee approves fee waiver for disabled veterans’ home accessibility renovations

The Defense & Veterans Affairs committee approved House Bill 1087, a measure to eliminate local permit fees for disabled veterans who make home renovations to accommodate their disabilities.

The bill’s sponsor told the committee that, under the proposal, “if you are a disabled veteran as defined by code and you make renovations to your home that accommodate your disability, then you would not pay those local permit fees for those renovations.” The sponsor said the measure is intended to reduce the financial burden of accessibility modifications and offered to answer questions.

Committee members asked for clarifications about eligibility. A member asked how “disabled veteran” is defined; the sponsor said existing disability ratings in state code determine eligibility. Representative Davis raised a scenario about multi-unit developments and whether the waiver would apply when a developer builds several units for disabled veterans; the sponsor said the intent is homeowner-focused and does not contemplate developers or landlords making such improvements.

Jeff Ledford of Georgia Realtors testified in support, saying the bill helps make housing both physically and financially attainable for veterans who need accommodations. The committee moved and the chair announced passage of House Bill 1087 (LC461363). The transcript does not record a detailed roll-call tally or the names of the motion’s mover and seconder.

The bill, as described in committee, exempts veterans meeting the code definition when they personally make qualifying renovations; it does not extend to developer-led multi-unit projects. Next steps were not specified in the transcript.