HB 90 would make it illegal for local elected officials to profit from public real estate dealings
In this week’s update from the 2017 Georgia General Assembly, I want to discuss a bill I introduced last week. I am hoping to see the legislation signed into law before the end of the two-year session, which will be March 2018.
House Bill 90 is a bill I authored that deals with abuse of governmental office. The bill makes it illegal for an elected member of county or city governments, local school boards, or local development authorities to participate in discussions or vote upon the question of whether the governmental entity should purchase real property if the member has a substantial financial interest in the property. The legislation also extends to fiduciary interests.
So, what does this mean? It means that if someone is involved in one of these government groups, that person cannot vote to buy land which he or she owns or has an interest in. This sounds straightforward to most folks, but it is amazing how much of this goes on around the state. Currently, this practice is considered “unethical” and is subject to an ethics complaint. However, the threat of an ethics complaint is little deterrent to someone selling his property to the tax payers for an inflated price. We have seen cases of this in Gwinnett County, Habersham County, Jackson County, and Carroll County, just to name a few.
Once these land purchases occur, the taxpayers are left holding the bag and in many instances the taxpayers must invest more money to dig themselves out of a bad land deal.
Hopefully, by making this a criminal offense with punishment equal to that of taking a bribe, we will create a deterrent significant enough to stop this type of behavior.
It is my privilege to represent the citizens of Habersham County in the Georgia House of Representatives. If I can be of assistance, please contact me at [email protected] or 404-656-0325.
