How to File a Property Tax Appeal in Gwinnett County

To file a property tax appeal in Gwinnett County, submit a written appeal to the Gwinnett County Board of Tax Assessors within 45 days of the date printed on your annual notice of assessment.¹ Use the county’s PT-311A form, identify the property by parcel number, state the value you believe is correct, and pick your hearing path. Georgia law puts the burden of proof on the assessor’s office, not on you, which makes this process more accessible than most homeowners expect.

The 45-Day Deadline

The clock starts on the date printed on your PT-306 Annual Notice of Assessment, not the day you receive it in the mail. Miss the 45-day window and you lose the right to appeal for the entire tax year.¹ The county will accept any written letter of disagreement that identifies the property by parcel number or address and arrives inside that window, but using the official form is safer.²

Grounds You Can Raise

O.C.G.A. § 48-5-311 gives you four possible grounds for an appeal:¹

Value: the county’s appraised fair market value is higher than what your property is actually worth. This is the most common basis for a residential appeal.
Uniformity: your property is assessed at a higher percentage of fair market value than comparable properties in the same area.
Taxability: the property should not be subject to property tax at all under Georgia law.
Denial of exemption: you applied for a homestead or other exemption and were turned down.

You don’t need to prove the assessor acted in bad faith. You need enough evidence to show the county’s number is higher than what the market supports.

Filling Out and Submitting the PT-311A

Download the PT-311A from the Gwinnett County Assessor’s website.² You’ll fill in your parcel number (from the assessment notice),³ the property address, and your opinion of fair market value as of January 1 of the tax year. Whatever number you put in that last field becomes your position for the rest of the appeal, so base it on comparable sales rather than a guess.

Three ways to submit:

Online, through the county’s electronic portal, by 11:59 p.m. on the deadline date.²
By mail to the Gwinnett County Assessors’ Office, 75 Langley Drive, Lawrenceville, GA 30046. Use certified mail with a return receipt so you can prove the postmark if a dispute comes up later.
By hand delivery to the same Langley Drive address.

Picking Your Hearing Path

The PT-311A asks you to select who will hear your case if the assessor’s office doesn’t resolve it. This choice is made upfront and generally can’t be changed later.

Board of Equalization: a three-member panel of trained citizen appointees. Available for all four grounds. Free to use. The right choice for most homeowners.
Hearing Officer: a professional appraiser who hears cases involving non-homestead real property valued above $500,000, limited to questions of value and uniformity.¹
Binding Arbitration: limited to questions of value for real property. Requires a certified appraisal and a court filing fee within 45 days of filing. The arbitrator picks either your value or the assessor’s, with no middle ground, and the loser pays the arbitrator’s costs. The decision is final and cannot be appealed to Superior Court.

What the Assessor Does Next

Filing doesn’t send your case straight to a hearing. The Gwinnett County Board of Tax Assessors first reviews your appeal and the evidence you submitted. Three outcomes are possible:⁴

The assessor adjusts the value and sends a revised notice. You can accept the new value or keep going if it’s still too high.
You and the assessor sign a written settlement on fair market value, which ends the appeal.
The assessor makes no change and forwards the case to the Board of Equalization (or your chosen path) automatically. You don’t have to file anything else.

The assessor’s office has 180 days to complete this review. If they miss that deadline, the value you wrote on your appeal form becomes the official assessed value for the year.¹ It’s a real safeguard, but most county offices respond well before 180 days.

Pay Your Tax Bill Anyway

Filing an appeal does not pause your tax bill. You’ll get a temporary bill while the appeal is pending, typically calculated on the lesser of last year’s assessed value or 85% of the current year’s proposed value. Pay it on time. Ignoring it because your appeal is open will trigger penalties and interest. If the appeal ends with a lower value, the county refunds the difference or credits it against future taxes.

Evidence That Moves the Number

The assessor’s office carries the burden of proof by a preponderance of evidence.¹ Even so, showing up empty-handed rarely produces a reduction. The board will weigh the assessor’s data against whatever you bring.

Comparable Sales

The single most effective piece of evidence is recent sales data from properties similar to yours. Look for homes sold in the past 12 months that share your neighborhood, square footage range, lot size, age, and condition. Three to five strong comparables beat a dozen weak ones. For each, note the sale price, sale date, and any meaningful differences from your property, such as a pool, an extra bedroom, or a busy road. The point is to show that homes like yours are selling for less than the county’s appraised value.

Condition Problems

If your home has issues the assessor doesn’t know about, they can justify a lower value: foundation cracks, roof damage, water intrusion, mold, outdated mechanical systems, a poor floor plan. Document each one with dated photos and written repair estimates from contractors. This evidence lands hardest when you can show the county assessed the property as if the damaged component were in good shape.

A Professional Appraisal

A formal appraisal from a licensed appraiser is the most persuasive evidence available, and also the most expensive. Residential appraisals typically run $300 to $600 for a standard home and can exceed $1,000 for larger or more complex properties. An appraisal is required if you chose binding arbitration; it’s optional for the Board of Equalization. If the potential tax savings are modest, the appraisal cost may not pencil out.

The Board of Equalization Hearing

Once your case reaches the Board of Equalization, the board has 15 days from receipt to set a hearing date and must hold the hearing within 30 days after notifying you of it.¹ You’ll receive written notice of the date. Either side can request a list of the other party’s witnesses and documents at least 10 days before the hearing, and that information must be provided at least 7 days before.

Board members are Gwinnett County residents who own real property in the county and have completed training in appraisal and equalization procedures.⁵ They do not work for the assessor’s office.

At the hearing, the assessor’s representative goes first and explains the methodology behind the current appraised value. You then present your evidence: comparable sales, photos, repair estimates, or an appraisal. Board members can ask questions of either side. Because the assessor carries the burden of proof, your work is less about building a case from scratch and more about undermining theirs while offering a credible alternative number. The board typically announces its decision at the end of the hearing, with a written decision to follow by mail. You may record the proceedings at your own expense, which is worth doing if you’re thinking about a further appeal.¹

Superior Court If You Lose

If the Board of Equalization’s decision doesn’t satisfy you, file a petition for review with the Superior Court of Gwinnett County within 30 days of the date the written decision is delivered.¹ The filing fee is $25. The Superior Court hears the case de novo, meaning it starts fresh rather than reviewing what the board did. The assessor again bears the burden of proof by a preponderance of evidence.

This is a real lawsuit. Procedural requirements are more formal, and most property owners at this stage hire an attorney. Weigh the potential tax savings against legal fees before proceeding. If you chose binding arbitration on the PT-311A, the arbitrator’s decision is final and Superior Court is not available.

Check Your Exemptions First

Before putting time into an appeal, confirm you’re receiving every exemption you qualify for. An overlooked exemption can cut your tax bill more than a successful valuation appeal. Gwinnett County offers several homestead exemptions, including:⁶

Regular Homestead (S1R): reduces assessed value by $10,000 for county taxes, $8,000 for school taxes, and $7,000 for recreation taxes.
Senior School Exemption (L5A): full exemption from school and school bond taxes, plus reductions on county and recreation taxes.
Senior Exemption (L3A): $20,000 reduction in assessed value for county, school, and recreation taxes.
Disabled Veteran (S5): exempts $126,526 of assessed value for the 2026 tax year, adjusted annually.
Disability Exemption (L1): reductions across county, school, and recreation taxes.

If you’re 62 or older and haven’t applied for the senior exemptions, that’s usually a bigger move than an appeal. And a denied exemption application is itself a ground for appeal under O.C.G.A. § 48-5-311.¹

1
Justia. Georgia Code 48-5-311 – Creation of County Boards of Equalization; Duties; Review of Assessments; Appeals
2
Gwinnett County. Property Appeals – Gwinnett County
3
Gwinnett County. How to Read Your Gwinnett County Annual Notice of Assessment
4
Justia. Georgia Code 48-5-311 – Creation of County Boards of Equalization; Duties; Review of Assessments; Appeals
5
Georgia Center for Continuing Education. Boards of Equalization and the Appeals Process
6
Gwinnett County Tax Commissioner. Available Exemptions