Kelley sponsors Georgia House measure to require clear disclosure of municipal governmental affairs expenses

State Rep. Trey Kelley introduced new legislation in the Georgia House to boost transparency by requiring cities and towns to specify their governmental affairs expenses on tax bills, as reported by the Georgia State House.

Filed as HB1333 on Tuesday, Feb. 17, during the 2026 regular session of the 158th General Assembly, the bill’s formal purpose is: ‘Municipal corporations; calculation of costs of governmental affairs activities by municipalities which taxpayers may elect not to pay; provide’.

Here is an overview of the bill, relying on the actual bill text, with explanations to clarify key points.

The legislation would require Georgia municipalities to annually calculate all direct and indirect costs related to “governmental affairs activities”—which covers efforts to support, oppose or influence actions or decisions of other governments and their officials. The costs would then appear as a separate, proportional line item on each ad valorem tax bill, depending on the parcel’s share of the municipality’s overall assessed value. Taxpayers could opt out of paying this specific charge without penalty, and tax bills must highlight this deduction and provide a clear process for taxpayers to make use of it.

Kelley has introduced 18 other bills so far this legislative session, 7 of which have already become law.

Kelley earned a BS from Shorter University in 2008 and a JD from Georgia State University College of Law in 2014.

The Republican lawmaker was elected to the Georgia State House in 2013, succeeding Rick Crawford as the representative for the 16th House District.

Georgia’s legislative process begins with a lawmaker, often prompted by a constituent, consulting with the Office of Legislative Counsel to draft a bill. Once filed with the Clerk of the House or the Secretary of the Senate, the bill receives its first reading before moving to committee, where most discussion occurs. If the committee approves, the bill gets a third reading on the chamber floor, followed by debate and a vote. For a bill to become law, it must pass both legislative chambers and may go through a conference committee if the two versions differ. The governor then has six days during session—or 40 days after adjournment (Sine Die)—either to sign, veto or allow the bill to become law without signing. The 40-day legislative session starts each year on the second Monday in January.

Information for this article was drawn from the Georgia State House. Original source data is available here.