DeKalb County Property Tax: Exemptions, Appeals, and Payment Deadlines

DeKalb County property tax is calculated by taking 40% of your home’s fair market value as determined by the county, subtracting any homestead exemptions you’ve applied for, and multiplying the result by the combined millage rate set each year by the county, your school district, and your city if you live in one. The county’s own combined levy has held at 20.81 mills since 2015, but school and municipal rates move independently and push most bills higher.¹ What follows is how the math works, which exemptions can cut it, how to appeal a value you disagree with, and what happens if you miss a deadline.

How the Bill Is Calculated

Georgia law assesses all property at 40% of fair market value.² A home the county appraises at $350,000 has an assessed value of $140,000. Any homestead exemptions come off that assessed value, and the result is multiplied by the millage rate. One mill equals $1 of tax per $1,000 of taxable assessed value, so a taxable value of $139,500 at a combined 40 mills produces a bill of about $5,580.

Your total millage is the sum of separate rates from the county government, the school district, and your city if you live somewhere like Brookhaven, Dunwoody, or Tucker. Each authority sets its own number annually. Your tax bill breaks out the levies so you can see which authority is charging what.¹

Your Annual Notice of Assessment

The DeKalb County Board of Tax Assessors sets each property’s fair market value every year using a mass appraisal that pulls from recent sales, property characteristics, and market trends.³ The assessment date is January 1. You then receive a Notice of Assessment showing the current year’s appraised value next to the prior year’s, along with an estimated tax figure based on last year’s millage rates (new rates aren’t set yet when the notice goes out).

Read the notice carefully when it arrives. If the appraised value jumped and you don’t think your home would actually sell for that number, the clock starts the day on the notice: you have 45 days to file an appeal.

Homestead Exemptions That Lower Your Bill

Homestead exemptions reduce taxable assessed value, which cuts the bill directly. DeKalb offers more than a dozen categories, and none of them apply automatically. You have to file an application with the Tax Commissioner’s Office.⁴

Basic Homestead Exemption

You qualify if you own and occupy the home as your primary residence on January 1 of the tax year.⁴ The standard application deadline is April 1, but Georgia law also lets you apply within the 45-day window after receiving your Notice of Assessment.⁵ Miss both and your application rolls to the following tax year. Once approved, the basic exemption renews each year as long as you still live in the home.

Senior and Disability Exemptions

Several enhanced exemptions exist for older residents and people with disabilities. Income thresholds and age requirements vary by exemption code, and some apply only to the school portion of your bill while others reduce the entire bill:⁶

Age 62 or older (H3): household Georgia net income of $10,000 or less; applies to school taxes.
Age 62 or older (H7): household gross income of $40,000 or less; broader reduction.
Age 65 or older (H4): household Georgia net income of $10,000 or less.
Age 65 or older (H6): household Georgia net income of $37,500 or less.
Age 65 or older (H8): household gross income of $40,000 or less.
Age 70 or older (H9): total household income (federal adjusted gross income plus municipal bonds) of $113,664 or less.

When calculating Georgia net income for these categories, you can exclude up to $49,824 individually or $99,648 jointly in Social Security and retirement benefits for the 2026 tax year.⁶ That exclusion makes many retirees eligible even when their gross income looks too high at first glance.

Disabled Veteran and Surviving Spouse Exemptions

Veterans rated 100% disabled by the VA, or rated lower but compensated at the 100% level due to unemployability, qualify for a homestead exemption of up to $126,526 for the 2026 tax year.⁷ The amount is indexed annually under federal law, and any property value above the exemption remains taxable.

The unremarried surviving spouse of a peace officer or firefighter killed in the line of duty receives a full exemption from all property taxes on the homestead with no dollar cap.⁸ This exemption replaces any other homestead exemption rather than stacking on it, and the spouse must file an initial affidavit with the Tax Commissioner. It renews automatically after that.

Appealing Your Assessment

If you believe the county overvalued your home, you have 45 days from the date on your Notice of Assessment to file an appeal.⁹ The deadline is strict. Appeals use Form PT-311A, available on the Georgia Department of Revenue website or at the DeKalb County Tax Assessors’ office.¹⁰

Grounds and Evidence

The form asks you to pick a basis for the appeal: value, uniformity, or taxability. Most homeowners appeal on value, arguing the county’s appraised figure exceeds what the home would sell for. You enter your parcel identification number and your own estimate of fair market value.

Back your number with evidence. The strongest support is recent sales of comparable homes in your neighborhood, ideally from the past six to twelve months. A recent independent appraisal helps. Photographs of problems the county may not have seen, like foundation issues, outdated systems, or needed repairs, also carry weight. The more specific and local your comparables, the harder they are for the assessor to brush aside.

Appeal Paths

The PT-311A form requires you to pick one route:¹¹

Board of Equalization: a citizen panel hears the case, and the outcome can be appealed to Superior Court on any grounds.
Hearing Officer: only for non-homestead real property or wireless personal property accounts valued above $500,000, and only on value or uniformity grounds. This path is not available to typical homeowners.
Binding Arbitration: value disputes only, with Superior Court review still available.
Direct to Superior Court: requires the Board of Tax Assessors’ consent.

For a homeowner disputing a home value, the Board of Equalization is the standard path.

What Happens After You File

File by mail (certified mail gives proof of delivery), electronically if the county accepts email filings, or in person. The Board of Tax Assessors reviews your evidence and may offer a revised value. Accept it and the case closes; reject it or get no change and the case moves to the appeal body you selected.¹²

For a Board of Equalization case, the board sets a hearing within 15 days of receiving the appeal and notifies both sides in writing. The hearing itself falls between 20 and 30 days after that notice, and you get one chance to reschedule if the assigned date doesn’t work.⁹

Payment Deadlines

DeKalb bills in two installments. The first is due September 30 and the second in mid-November, with the exact November date varying by year. You can also pay the whole bill by September 30.¹³ Payment runs through the Tax Commissioner’s online portal, by mail, or at walk-in centers around the county. Partial payments beyond the standard installment amounts are accepted, but anything left after the deadline draws late fees.¹⁴

What Happens If You Don’t Pay

Missing a deadline triggers two separate charges. Unpaid taxes accrue interest monthly at the federal bank prime loan rate plus 3%, set annually from the rate posted at the start of each calendar year. Any partial month counts as a full month.¹⁵ On top of that, a penalty of up to 5% can be added to each delinquent installment.¹⁶ If the balance sits long enough, additional 5% penalties stack every 120 days, up to a maximum of 20% of the original tax.¹⁷

Tax Liens (Fi. Fa.)

Any account with an outstanding balance after December 31 is subject to a tax lien, called a fi. fa. (fieri facias) in Georgia. The lien is a legal claim that authorizes the Tax Commissioner or Sheriff to collect, and it stays attached until all taxes, penalties, interest, and fees are paid.¹⁸ A fi. fa. also clouds title, which makes selling or refinancing difficult until the debt clears.

Tax Sales and Redemption

Unresolved liens can send a property to tax sale. Auctions happen on the first Tuesday of the month in front of the DeKalb County Courthouse between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.¹⁸ Once a property is scheduled, the county stops accepting personal checks and credit cards. Only cash, cashier’s checks, or bank wire transfers will stop the sale at that point.

After the sale, the original owner has a one-year right of redemption. Redeeming requires paying the full auction price plus a 20% premium, any taxes the purchaser paid after the sale, and any special assessments.¹⁹ If you don’t redeem within the first year, the premium increases by 10% for each additional year. The 20% penalty in year one is the same whether you redeem on day 10 or day 360, so there’s no financial reason to wait once you have the funds. Once the redemption period expires, the tax sale purchaser can move to take full possession.

1
DeKalb County Government. DeKalb Announces Proposed Property Tax Increase
2
Justia. Georgia Code 48-5-7 – Assessment of Tangible Property
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Georgia Department of Revenue. Property Tax Valuation
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DeKalb County Tax Commissioner’s Office. Homestead and Property Tax Exemptions
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Georgia Department of Revenue. Property Tax Homestead Exemptions
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DeKalb County Tax Commissioner. Homestead Exemption Information
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Justia. Georgia Code 48-5-48 – Homestead Exemption for Qualified Disabled Veterans
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Justia. Georgia Code 48-5-48.4 – Homestead Exemption for Surviving Spouses of Peace Officers and Firefighters
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Justia. Georgia Code 48-5-311 – Appeal of Assessments
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Georgia Department of Revenue. PT-311A Appeal of Assessment Form
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Georgia Department of Revenue. PT-311A – Appeal of Assessment Form
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Georgia House of Representatives. Summary of Appeal Process O.C.G.A. 48-5-311
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DeKalb County Tax Commissioner’s Office. Tax Bill Information
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DeKalb County Tax Commissioner’s Office. Property Tax Payment Information
15
Justia. Georgia Code 48-2-40 – Rate of Interest on Past Due Taxes
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Justia. Georgia Code 48-5-24 – Payment of Taxes to County in Installments
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Justia. Georgia Code 48-2-44 – Willful Failure to Pay Ad Valorem Tax
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DeKalb County Tax Commissioner’s Office. Delinquent Taxes
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Justia. Georgia Code 48-4-42 – Amount Payable for Redemption