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Property Tax Reliance

By most measures, property taxes in Georgia are lower than in other states. For example, Georgia ranks 32nd in per capita property taxes among the 50 states and DC. See Selected Property Tax Statistics

Administration and Assessment

Property is assessed annually at 40 percent of fair market value, with certain exceptions as noted below. Most assessments are conducted by the county board of tax assessors in each county, except public utility property and certain railroad and airline equipment. The state tax commissioner enforces uniformity in assessment (Significant Features of the Property Tax).

Preferential assessment programs are available for conservation of homestead property in areas undergoing conversion to commercial use, for historic preservation, and as an incentive for developers to clean up brownfield property.

Limits on Property Taxation

Limitations on property taxes in Georgia include rate caps on school taxes as well as limits on the rate of assessed value growth. School districts are restricted to a maximum millage rate of 20 mills, excluding amounts for debt service, unless a higher rate is approved by local referendum (Significant Features of the Property Tax).

Georgia has two direct limitations on assessment growth of homestead properties. The Homestead Exemption Valuation Freeze freezes the assessed value of a homestead property at its base level as long as the homeowner resides on the property, until the home is sold or transferred. Local governments have the option of adopting this freeze by a local referendum. Currently, 36 of the state’s 159 counties offer this program, in some cases with restrictions based on age or income (Georgia Department of Revenue). The second limitation, the Floating Homestead Exemption, caps the annual increases in assessed values of homestead properties to the inflation rate unless local governments elect to opt out (Amendment 1 of 2024). The assessed value resets to market value when a home is sold or transferred.

Georgia also restricts growth in use-value assessments to 3 percent per year (Significant Features of the Property Tax).

The Georgia Taxpayer Bill of Rights, signed into law in 1999, may have an indirect constraining effect on assessment growth and on millage rates. First, the law strengthened property owners’ rights in appealing assessment increases, placing the burden of proof on local authorities to justify increases on appeal and requiring them to pay the legal costs for owners who receive a 15 percent or larger reduction in assessment as a result of an appeal. Second, to prevent indirect tax increases, the Taxpayer Bill of Rights requires a rollback of local millage rates to offset inflationary growth of the tax base. Should the levying authority wish to set its millage rate above the rollback rate, it is first required to publicize its intent and to hold three public hearings at times and with notice requirements as specified in the law (Georgia Department of Revenue).

Property Tax Relief and Incentives

Property that is exempted from the tax includes government property and certain property of religious institutions, nonprofit hospitals, and eligible charitable and veterans' organizations. In addition, homeowners are eligible for state and local homestead exemptions on their primary residence that vary in amount by county, with additional exemptions for seniors, disabled veterans, surviving spouses of U.S. service members killed in action, and peace officers and firefighters killed in the line of duty. Finally, Georgia offers a property tax deferral program that allows qualifying seniors to defer property taxes on their primary residence up to 85 percent of the value of their homestead (Significant Features of the Property Tax).

As of January 1, 2025, Georgia exempts tangible personal property valued up to $20,000 (an increase from the previous exemption of $7,500).

One general economic development incentive is the use of enterprise zones, where local governments may authorize property tax exemptions to eligible businesses for up to 10 years. Local governments are also able to offer property tax relief for economic development purposes when projects are financed through industrial development bonds and a local development authority retains legal ownership of the property (Monacell 2007). Like most states, Georgia also employs tax increment finance, and the districts are called Tax Allocation Districts. Counties and municipalities may elect, with the approval of the voters, to exempt certain inventories of goods in process and finished goods. See Property Tax Features

The state also provides property tax incentives for conservation. Under certain conditions and limits, agricultural land, forest land, and certain environmentally sensitive land can be assessed based on its current-use value rather than fair market value. Alternatively, agricultural land may be assessed at a preferential rate of 30 percent of fair market value rather than the standard 40 percent.

Key Property Tax History

The general property tax was adopted in 1852 and in 1913, the Georgia Equalization Tax Act created the position of state tax commissioner to enforce uniform assessments; however, assessment practices remained inconsistent across the state until the mid-1960s (Hart 1918). A 1965 court decision required the tax commissioner to enforce statewide uniformity in assessments, while subsequent administrative reforms in 1972 consolidated assessment authority at the county level, required minimum levels of staffing and training for assessors and appraisers, and created county and state boards of equalization to hear and adjudicate assessment appeals (Sjoquist 2008).

The state homestead exemption was adopted in 1937, and narrower statewide exemptions (e.g., the exemption for disabled veterans) were adopted at various times since 1957. In 1999, the state passed the Taxpayer Bill of Rights as well as the Homeowner Tax Relief Credit, which extended homestead exemptions to county and school district taxes (a 2002 law extended it further to city taxes) with reimbursement from the state to local governments through annual appropriations. Preferential assessment of agricultural property was passed in 1983. Current use assessment was passed in 1991 for agricultural, environmentally sensitive, and transitional residential property and in 2008 for forest land.

Legislation passed in 2010 phased out the quarter mill state property tax levy over five years beginning January 1, 2012. In the 2012 legislative session, House Bill 386 created a new Title Ad Valorem Tax to replace all annual state and local property taxes on motor vehicles purchased after February 2013 with a one-time tax at the time of purchase or first registration of a motor vehicle in Georgia.

In 2018, Georgia voters passed a constitutional amendment and two legislatively referred referenda related to property taxation. Amendment 3 (House Resolution 51) created a new subclass for timberland property and authorized the legislature to alter the formula used to value forest land. Referendum A (House Bill 820) authorized a homestead exemption for Atlanta that would exempt taxes on any increase in value over 2.6 percent per year (Collins et al. 2019). Referendum B (House Bill 196) explicitly extended property tax exemptions to nonprofit homes for the mentally disabled even if a business corporation finances construction or renovation of a home. A 2020 ballot measure authorized the exemption of property used by charitable organizations to build or repair single family homes as long as the qualifying nonprofit provides interest-free financing to homebuyers (Referendum A of 2020).

Recent Developments

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 capped the federal income tax deduction for state and local taxes (SALT) at $10,000. The effect of the cap was to increase the burden of state and local taxes paid (including property taxes) over $10,000. After the IRS signaled it would permit entity-level taxes that allow owners of pass-through entities to receive a credit on individual tax returns allowing them to circumvent the federal State and Local Tax (SALT) cap, Georgia enacted entity tax legislation. House Bill 149 of 2021 gives qualifying business owners the option to pay taxes on earned income at the entity level to circumvent the SALT cap.

Georgia voters passed a constitutional amendment along with two legislatively referred referenda related to property taxation in 2022. Amendment 2 authorized local governments to grant temporary tax relief to properties that are damaged or destroyed due to a disaster and located within a nationally declared disaster area (Ballotopedia 2022a). Referendum A authorized a property tax exemption for timber equipment owned by a timber producer (Ballotopedia 2022b). Referendum B applied the existing tax exemption on agricultural equipment and produce to dairy products and eggs, and extended the exemption to merged family farms (Ballotopedia 2022c).

In 2023, Governor Brian Kemp signed House Bill 18, a one-time property tax relief grant. The grant returned $950 million to homeowners by lowering the assessed value of all homestead property by $18,000 (Georgia Department of Revenue). The state discontinued the property tax relief grant program that was created in the late 1990s after the Great Recession. Since fiscal year 2009, property tax relief grants have only been allowed when current year estimated revenues exceed estimated revenues in the preceding fiscal year budget by at least 3 percent plus inflation (Georgia Department of Revenue). These conditions were met in 2023 due to the state’s excess reserves.

In November 2024, voters in Georgia approved three ballot measures: Amendment 1, Amendment 2, and Referendum A. Amendment 1 amended the constitution to implement a statewide cap on assessed values of homestead properties to the inflation rate unless local governments choose to opt out following prescribed procedures. Under the Floating Homestead Exemption, when a home is sold or transferred, the assessed value resets to market value. Local governments that do not opt out can impose a 1 percent local sales tax to compensate for the property tax revenue loss (2024 Ga. Laws 379 (HB 581)) (Judd 2024). Amendment 2 created the Georgia Tax Court which would have concurrent jurisdiction with superior courts on tax matters. The Georgia Tax Court will replace the Georgia Tax Tribunal, which handles property tax appeals among other matters. Unlike the tax tribunal, which was situated within the executive branch, the tax court will be part of the judiciary branch (Sasson 2024). Finally, Referendum A increased the personal property tax exemption from $7,500 to $20,000. The exemption is not applicable to motor vehicles, trailers, and mobile homes (Ballotpedia 2024; DeFeo 2024).

Governor Kemp vetoed House Bill 1019 of 2024, which aimed to double the statewide standard homestead exemption from $2,000 to $4,000. The bill underwent a series of changes, with the proposed exemption amount being altered from $4,000 to $10,000 and then back to $4,000. However, the accompanying voter referendum still referred to the $10,000 amount, creating a discrepancy between the legislative intent and the referendum language. Kemp argued that this inconsistency would lead to voters approving a different exemption than the one passed by the legislature, rendering the bill unimplementable due to the lack of voter approval for the statutory language (Pertz 2024).

Sources

Ballotpedia. 2022a. “Georgia Amendment 2, Temporary Property Tax Change for Disaster Areas Measure (2022).” https://ballotpedia.org/Georgia_Amendment_2,_Temporary_Property_Tax_Change_for_Disaster_Areas_Measure_(2022.

———. 2022b. “Georgia Referendum A, Timber Equipment Exempt from Property Taxes Measure (2022).” https://ballotpedia.org/Georgia_Referendum_A,_Timber_Equipment_Exempt_from_Property_Taxes_Measure_(2022.

———. 2022c. “Georgia Referendum B, Merged Family-Owned Farms and Dairy and Eggs Tax Exemption Measure (2022).” https://ballotpedia.org/Georgia_Referendum_B,_Merged_Family-Owned_Farms_and_Dairy_and_Eggs_Tax_Exemption_Measure_(2022.

———. 2024a. Georgia Amendment 2, Creation of Tax Court Amendment (2024). https://ballotpedia.org/Georgia_Amendment_2,_Creation_of_Tax_Court_Amendment_(2024.

———. 2024b. “Georgia Referendum A, Personal Property Tax Exemption Increase Measure (2024).” https://ballotpedia.org/Georgia_Personal_Property_Tax_Exemption_Increase_Measure_(2024.

Collins, Catherine, Daphne A. Kenyon, Bethany Paquin, and Lars Arnesen. 2019. “Vox Populi: Voters Weigh in on School Finance and Property Taxes.” State Tax Notes. January 28. www.lincolninst.edu/sites/default/files/sources/events/collins-kenyon_-_vox_populi_voters_weigh_in_on_school_finance_and_property_taxes.pdf.

DeFeo, T.A. 2024. “Georgia Voters to Decide Tangible Personal Property Tax Exemption Increase.” Center Square. May 8. https://www.thecentersquare.com/georgia/article_39f375ee-0d61-11ef-9580-932f4b33643d.html.

Georgia Department of Revenue. Property Tax Homestead Exemptions. “Local Homestead Exemptions & Valuation Freeze Exemptions.” https://dor.georgia.gov/property-tax-homestead-exemptions.

———. “Property Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights.” https://dor.georgia.gov/property-taxpayers-bill-rights.

———. “2023 Property Tax Relief Grant.” https://dor.georgia.gov/2023-property-tax-relief-grant.

Hart, John C. 1918. “Georgia Problems.” Proceedings of the Eleventh Annual Conference Under the Auspices of the National Tax Association. National Tax Association. New Haven, CT.

Judd, Riley. 2024. “Voters Approve Property Tax Overhaul in Georgia, More Limited Reforms Elsewhere.” Pew. (December 17). https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/articles/2024/12/17/voters-approve-property-tax-overhaul-in-georgia-more-limited-reforms-elsewhere.

Monacell, James P. 2017. “Georgia Ad Valorem Tax Incentives Through Bond-Lease Transactions in GA.” Bond Practice Briefing. Smith, Gambrell & Russell, LLP. (April 26). https://www.mondaq.com/unitedstates/property-taxes/588784/georgia-ad-valorem-tax-incentives-through-bond-lease-transactions-in-ga.

Pertz, Matthew. 2024. “Georgia Governor Signs Budget, Vetoes Two Tax Bills.” Tax Notes State. May 13. https://www.taxnotes.com/tax-notes-state/legislation-and-lawmaking/georgia-governor-signs-budget-vetoes-two-tax-bills/2024/05/13/7jhn6.

SalesTaxHandbook.com. “Georgia.” https://www.salestaxhandbook.com/georgia/rates.

Sassoon, Alessandro Marazzi. 2024. “Ballot Explainer: Should Georgia’s tax court move to the Judiciary Branch?” Atlanta Civic Circle. October 16. https://atlantaciviccircle.org/2024/10/16/ballot-measure-constitutional-amendment-georgia-tax-court-tribunal/.

Significant Features of the Property Tax. https://www.lincolninst.edu/data/significant-features-property-tax/. Lincoln Institute of Land Policy and George Washington Institute of Public Policy.

Sjoquist, David L. 2008. “A Brief History of the Property Tax in Georgia.” FRC Report No. 182. Atlanta, GA: Georgia State University Fiscal Research Center, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies. (August). http://cslf.gsu.edu/files/2014/06/brief_history_of_the_property_tax_in_georgia.pdf.

Sjoquist, David L., and John V. Winters. 2008. “Property Tax in Georgia.” FRC Report No. 174. Atlanta, GA: Georgia State University Fiscal Research Center, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies. (March). http://cslf.gsu.edu/files/2014/06/property_tax_ingeorgia.pdf.