Georgia homeowners can appeal their property value by filing a written appeal with the county board of tax assessors within 45 days of the date their annual assessment notice was mailed. Filing is free, you pick how your case gets heard, and a win can hold your value in place for the next two years. Here’s how it works.
1. Read your annual assessment notice
Your county board of tax assessors mails an assessment notice each year. In many counties it goes out around May. Check three things:
- Fair market value — what the county thinks your property was worth on January 1.
- Assessed value — Georgia taxes property at 40% of fair market value. So a home valued at $300,000 is assessed at $120,000, and your tax rate applies to that number, minus exemptions.
- The notice date — your 45-day appeal window starts from the date the notice was mailed. Count the days and mark the deadline.
Also check the facts the county has on file: square footage, bedrooms and bathrooms, year built, lot size. Errors are common and easy to fix.
2. Make sure your homestead exemptions are in place
If the home is your primary residence, you may qualify for a homestead exemption. The statewide exemption is $2,000 off assessed value for county and school taxes, and many counties offer larger local exemptions, including for seniors.
The usual deadline to apply is April 1. But if you’re still within your 45-day appeal window, the Department of Revenue says you can apply then too.
The floating homestead exemption (HB 581). Georgia voters approved HB 581 in November 2024. It created a statewide floating homestead exemption: when your home’s assessed value goes up by more than inflation, the extra increase is exempt. Local governments could opt out by March 1, 2025. For 2025, homestead assessed values held flat from 2024. Starting in 2026, the base can rise each year by an inflation rate tied to the Consumer Price Index. Whether it applies to your county, city and school taxes depends on where you live, so ask your county tax assessor.
3. Decide whether you have a case
You can appeal on four grounds: value, uniformity, taxability, or denial of an exemption. Most homeowners argue one of the first two.
- Value. Similar homes near you sold for less than your value, around January 1.
- Uniformity. Similar homes near you are valued lower than yours by the county.
- Condition. The county usually hasn’t been inside. Photos of a worn roof, dated kitchen or foundation problems, plus repair estimates, can support a lower number.
4. File your appeal within 45 days
File with your county board of tax assessors. Do not send it to the Georgia Department of Revenue.
- Form: you can use Form PT-311A, Appeal of Assessment, the state’s uniform appeal form. For real property, a written objection that identifies the property’s location and parcel number also counts as a notice of appeal.
- How: by mail or in person. Email is allowed only if your county has a written policy accepting it. Some counties don’t accept fax or email at all, so check first.
- Choose your appeal path on the form. You get one of three options, described next.
5. Pick how your appeal will be heard
First, the board of assessors reviews your appeal. It may change your value. If it does, you get a new notice and have 30 days to appeal that amended value. If it doesn’t, your appeal moves to the path you chose.
Option 1: Board of Equalization. A panel of local residents hears your case. The board must set a hearing date within 15 days of receiving your appeal, and hold the hearing within 30 days of notifying you (but no sooner than 20 days). This is the most common choice for homeowners.
Option 2: Hearing officer. This is only for non-homestead real property worth more than $500,000, and only for value or uniformity disputes. Hearing officers are state-certified real property appraisers.
Option 3: Arbitration. You must choose arbitration when you file. The county must confirm it got your appeal within 10 days. Then you have 45 days to give the county a certified appraisal. If the county rejects it, an arbitrator decides. If your value is closer to the arbitrator’s decision, the county pays the arbitrator’s fees. If the county’s value is closer, you pay.
6. Prepare for your hearing
Hearings move quickly. Bring:
- A one-page summary with the value you’re asking for
- Your comparable sales or comparable values, with a map
- Photos and repair estimates
7. Know what happens to your tax bill while you wait
Appeals don’t always finish before tax bills go out. If yours is still pending, you’ll usually get a temporary bill based on the lower of two numbers: last year’s final value, or 85% of this year’s value. (If the home had a building permit or major improvements, the bill uses 85% of this year’s value.) If no substantial improvements were made, you can choose to be billed at 100% of this year’s value instead. When the appeal is settled, the bill is adjusted.
8. Lock in a win with the value freeze
Under O.C.G.A. 48-5-299(c), if your value is lowered (or left unchanged) through an appeal decision or a signed agreement with the assessors, the county can’t raise it for the next two years. That means the value holds for the year you appealed and the two years after.
There are limits. The freeze doesn’t apply if you skipped your hearing or didn’t give written evidence for your value. The county can still change the value after an on-site inspection finds major additions or improvements or record errors. And if you appeal again during those years, your value can go up or down.
9. If you disagree with the result
You can appeal to superior court. File a written notice of appeal with the board of tax assessors within 30 days of the date the decision was mailed or hand-delivered. Before the court hears your case, you must pay taxes equal to the last year taxes were finally determined.
The county must then schedule a settlement conference. If that fails, you’ll pay court filing fees and the case goes to court, usually in front of a jury. If the court’s final value is 85% or less of the value set at the earlier hearing, you can recover your legal costs and reasonable attorney’s fees.
Or let someone do it for you
You can do all of this yourself for free. If you’d rather not, a property tax consultant can file and argue the appeal for you, usually for a share of the savings. Recoup Capital handles Georgia appeals for 30% of first-year savings, and you pay nothing if your taxes don’t go down. Own property in another state? See how the Texas protest works or where we work.
Sources: Georgia Dept. of Revenue — Filing a property tax appeal, Georgia DOR — Property tax valuation, Georgia DOR — Homestead exemptions, Georgia DOR — Bulletin 2025-01, floating homestead exemption, O.C.G.A. §48-5-311, O.C.G.A. §48-5-299(c) (Fayette County Assessors), City of Savannah — HB 581 and homestead exemptions, Greene County — Appeal your property value, DeKalb County — Assessment appeals.