ATLANTA, Ga. — Three proposed changes to the Georgia Constitution sit below the races for governor and U.S. Senate on this fall’s ballot, covering farmland taxes, probate court elections and the future of the state’s 911 system.
All three were placed on the ballot by the General Assembly, which needs a two-thirds vote in each chamber, at least 120 votes in the House and 38 in the Senate, to send an amendment to voters. Amendments do not need the governor’s signature, and Georgia citizens cannot put measures on the statewide ballot themselves.
Amendment 1 would double the maximum amount of agricultural and timber land a single owner can enroll in the Conservation Use Valuation Assessment program, from 2,000 acres to 4,000. The program taxes qualifying land on its conservation use value instead of its market value, and owners generally must keep the land in qualifying use under a 10-year covenant. Supporters see it as protection for family farms and forests, while a lower assessed value on more land could reduce property tax revenue for local governments and school systems.
Amendment 2 would require all probate court judges to be elected on a nonpartisan basis. Georgia already elects superior court and state court judges, Georgia Supreme Court justices and Court of Appeals judges without party labels.
Amendment 3 would let lawmakers create the Georgia Next Generation 9-1-1 Fund and dedicate certain revenues to it. The money could be used only to expand, maintain and operate 911 systems, including the shift to digital systems that handle data and multimedia as well as voice calls, and it would not lapse at the end of a fiscal year.
A yes vote on any of the three approves the change; a no vote leaves current law in place. Between 1985 and 2024, Georgia voters saw 139 statewide ballot measures and approved 112 of them.
