GA Code § 36-36-2 (2021)
2021 Georgia Code|Title 36 - Local Government|Chapter 36 - Annexation of Territory|Article 1 - General Provisions|§ 36-36-2. Effective Date of Annexation

  Except as provided in subsection (c) of this Code section, all annexation other than by local Act shall become effective for ad valorem tax purposes on December 31 of the year during which such annexation occurred and for all other purposes shall become effective on the first day of the month following the month during which the requirements of Article 2, 3, or 4 of this chapter, whichever is applicable, have been met.   Except as provided in subsection (c) of this Code section, annexation by local Act shall become effective for ad valorem tax purposes on December 31 of the year in which such local Act is approved by the Governor or becomes law without such approval and for all other purposes shall become effective at the time such local Act becomes effective or such later date as provided in such local Act.     Where an independent school system exists within the boundaries of a municipality, other effective dates may be established by the municipality solely for the purpose of determining school enrollment.   Unless otherwise agreed in writing by a county governing authority and the municipal governing authority, where property zoned and used for commercial purposes is annexed into a municipality with an independent school system, the effective date for the purposes of ad valorem taxes levied for educational purposes shall be December 31 of the year after the year in which the requirements of Article 2, 3, or 4 of this chapter, whichever is applicable, have been met.       (Code 1981, §36-36-2, enacted by Ga. L. 1992, p. 2592, § 3; Ga. L. 1996, p. 192, § 1; Ga. L. 1998, p. 856, § 1; Ga. L. 2004, p. 69, § 16.)   Editor's notes.   - Ga. L. 2004, p. 69, § 1, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that: "This Act shall be known and may be cited as the 'State and Local Taxation, Financing, and Service Delivery Revision Act of 2004.'"   Law reviews.   - For article on 2004 amendment of this Code section, see 21 Ga. St. U. L. Rev. 226 (2004).   JUDICIAL DECISIONS   Annexations properly invalidated.    - Judgment invalidating the City of Atlanta's attempted annexation of five areas was affirmed because the trial court correctly held that the annexations were invalid since at the time the annexations would have become effective, the areas in question were already part of the newly incorporated City of South Fulton and, thus, ineligible for annexation by Atlanta. City of Atlanta v. Mays, 301 Ga. 367, 801 S.E.2d 1 (2017).   Annexation not improper.    - Grant of summary judgment to a city in an annexation case was upheld because the annexation met all of the relevant criteria under O.C.G.A. § 36-36-20(a) since the entire annexation area had a sufficiently long border with the existing city limits, the annexation area included only whole parcels of land, and the annexation area was sufficiently large. Cherokee County v. Inline Communites, LLC, 356 Ga. App. 892, 849 S.E.2d 703 (2020).    Cited in City of Brookhaven v. City of Chamblee, 329 Ga. App. 346, 765 S.E.2d 33 (2014).   OPINIONS OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL    Municipal government may not create rules that make annexations effective prior to the time annexations are made effective by O.C.G.A. § 36-36-2. 1998 Op. Att'y Gen. No. U98-1.