State aids Georgia farmers, timber producers ravaged by Hurricane Helene

David Wickert and Caleb Groves, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on May 8, 2025

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ATLANTA — Eight months after Hurricane Helene devastated large swathes of Georgia and the Southeast, farmers and timber producers are still waiting on federal aid.

But on Thursday Gov. Brian Kemp signed state legislation designed to help them and other Georgians ravaged by the storm.

One bill would authorize tax breaks and other steps to aid agricultural and timber producers. Another would boost consumer protections for homeowners seeking repairs in the wake of disasters.

Those measures are in addition to nearly $863 million in storm-related spending included in the amended fiscal year 2025 budget Kemp signed in March. Altogether, Georgia legislators have approved about $1.2 billion this year for disaster cleanup and relief.

As he signed the bills, Kemp acknowledged that full recovery from the storm will be a long time coming for many Georgians.

“We will not forget you, and we will never stop working to support you on that road to recovery,” he said.

State spending will cover just a fraction of the damage caused by Helene. The storm tore through Georgia and other states last September, leaving a trail of devastation from which many communities still have not recovered.

The storm caused an estimated $5.5 billion in losses to Georgia’s agricultural and timber industries. It damaged 212,747 homes and cost 34 Georgians their lives.

Federal aid is expected to cover much of the cost of recovery. Congress passed a $100 billion aid package last year. About $21 billion of that is earmarked for farmers in Georgia and other states hit by recent disasters.

But farmers and timber owners are still waiting on most of that relief. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, applications for relief are planned to open in July.

On Thursday, Kemp said the aid is still coming faster than it did following Hurricane Michael in 2018.

“I’m very appreciative to President Biden and President Trump and the Congress that has worked on this issue,” Kemp said. “It’s been very important to have that not take over a year like it did last time (and) have a bunch of politics get in the middle of all that.”

In the meantime, Georgia officials say they’re doing what they can.

The Georgia Constitution prohibits the state from directly paying farmers and others affected by the storm. But the ’25 budget includes $285 million in relief for the forestry and agricultural industries.

Timber owners will receive grants to clean up fallen trees that have become a fire hazard, while farmers can apply for low-interest loans to repair structures damaged by the storm.

On Thursday Kemp signed House Bill 223, which would allow local governments to waive timber taxes on downed trees for the last quarter of 2024 and all of 2025.

The state would reimburse local governments that dipped into their own budgets to grant relief. That’s expected to cost up to $17.3 million.

HB 223 also would allow timber producers to write off Helene-related losses on their state income taxes. It would exempt farmers from having to pay income tax on federal disaster relief payments for Helene. And it would temporarily exempt from sales taxes materials used to rebuild greenhouses, livestock barns and other farm structures.

Those three provisions are expected to cost the state up to $280.6 million in lost revenue through 2029.

State Sen. Russ Goodman, R-Cogdell, who carried HB 223 in the Senate, said nothing will make farmers who were devastated by the storm whole, but it’s “going to give these folks a fighting chance.”

The governor also signed Senate Bill 201, which would increase consumer protections for homeowners entering into contracts for repairs following natural disasters.

“I know these are going to be meaningful steps for our farmers and foresters and all of those who were affected by Hurricane Helene,” Kemp said Thursday.

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—Staff writer Greg Bluestein contributed to this report