A Chatham County property tax increase usually comes from one of three things: the Board of Assessors raised your home’s fair market value, a taxing authority adopted a millage rate above the rollback figure, or improvements you made got added to your property record. Often two of those stack in the same year. Georgia taxes real property at 40 percent of fair market value, so even a modest bump in what the county thinks your home is worth multiplies across every line on the bill.1Georgia Department of Revenue. Property Tax Valuation
The Three Reasons Your Bill Went Up
Your Assessed Value Rose
The Board of Assessors periodically updates property values to reflect current market conditions and recent sale prices. When home prices in the county climb, the values in the tax digest climb with them. A home valued at $300,000 last year might land at $350,000 after a revaluation, which pushes the assessed value from $120,000 to $140,000. The millage rate can stay identical and you still owe more, because the base number is bigger.
Every spring the Board of Assessors mails an Annual Notice of Assessment showing the proposed fair market value and the 40 percent assessed value. That notice is where you find out whether this is the year your value jumped, and it starts the clock on your right to challenge it.
A Taxing Authority Set a Rate Above the Rollback
Georgia law includes a safeguard called the rollback rate. Under O.C.G.A. § 48-5-32.1, when reassessments increase the total tax digest, the taxing authority must calculate a reduced millage rate that would produce the same total revenue as the prior year’s rate.2Justia. Georgia Code 48-5-32.1 – Certification of Assessed Taxable Value of Property and Method of Computation The rollback is meant to stop automatic tax hikes driven purely by rising values.
If the Board of Commissioners or Board of Education wants a millage rate higher than the rollback figure, it has to advertise the move as a tax increase and hold at least three public hearings before adopting it.3Georgia Department of Revenue. Property Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights – Section: Rollback of Millage Rate When Digest Value Increased by Reassessments Those hearings are the window to speak before the higher rate takes effect.
Improvements Got Added to Your Record
Building permits are public records, and the county’s appraisal staff updates property characteristics based on new construction, remodeling, and demolition. Projects that change square footage, add rooms, or alter the structure of the home are far more likely to raise your assessed value than cosmetic work like paint or flooring. Improvements completed before January 1 of a given year typically affect that year’s assessment. Work finished later usually doesn’t show up until the following year.
How the Numbers Actually Work
Two figures drive your bill: assessed value and millage rate. Assessed value is 40 percent of fair market value, so a home with a $350,000 fair market value has a $140,000 assessed value. The millage rate is the tax per $1,000 of assessed value, and separate rates stack for county, schools, special districts, and city.
For 2025, Chatham County’s millage includes 10.518 mills for county maintenance and operations, 17.331 mills for schools, 6.502 mills for the special service district, and 0.94 mills for transit. Homeowners inside the City of Savannah add another 11.749 mills. Every one of those levies runs against the same assessed value, which is why a single reassessment ripples across the whole bill.
How to Appeal Your Assessment
Start with the Annual Notice of Assessment. Check the basics: recorded square footage, lot size, number of bedrooms, finished basement or deck. Errors in physical details are the easiest wins because they produce an inflated value that doesn’t match the house.
Then build a comparables file. The strongest appeals rely on recent sales of similar homes in the same neighborhood that sold for less than the county’s proposed value. The Board of Assessors website and local MLS data are useful starting points. A professional appraisal from a certified appraiser costs a few hundred dollars and carries real weight if your case advances past the initial review.
The 45-Day Deadline
You have 45 days from the date the Annual Notice of Assessment was mailed to file your appeal on form PT-311A.4Georgia Department of Revenue. PT-311A Appeal of Assessment Form The deadline is strict. Miss it and you generally forfeit the right to challenge the current year’s valuation. The form asks you to pick the basis for your appeal (value, uniformity, or taxability) and your preferred hearing path.
Three Paths After You File
Georgia law gives you three options once the appeal is in:5Justia. Georgia Code 48-5-311 – Creation of County Boards of Equalization; Duties; Review of Assessments; Appeals
- Board of Equalization. A panel of three local property owners hears testimony from you and the county appraiser. The board must hold a hearing within 30 days of notifying you, and a majority vote decides. This is the default path and is open to any property.
- Nonbinding arbitration. Also available regardless of property value, but limited to value disputes. You must submit a certified appraisal from a licensed Georgia appraiser within 45 days of the county acknowledging the appeal. If the arbitrator’s final value lands closer to yours than the county’s, the county pays the arbitration costs.
- Hearing officer. Available only for nonhomestead real property with a fair market value above $500,000. The hearing officer must be a state-certified appraiser, and the Board of Assessors carries the burden of proving its value by a preponderance of evidence. Homeowners disputing a residential value don’t qualify for this path and choose between the Board of Equalization and arbitration.
Exemptions You May Be Missing
Several exemptions directly reduce the taxable value of your home. None apply automatically. You have to apply by April 1 of the tax year, and you must own and occupy the home as your primary residence as of January 1.6Chatham County Board of Assessors. Homestead Exemptions – Section: Stephens-Day Exemption Applications filed after April 1 roll to the following year with no extensions.
Stephens-Day
The Stephens-Day local act is the most valuable exemption for long-term Chatham County homeowners. It freezes the home’s taxable value at the base year value, which is the assessed value in the year before you applied, plus the value of any improvements made since.6Chatham County Board of Assessors. Homestead Exemptions – Section: Stephens-Day Exemption When market values surge, you’re shielded from the increase on the county portion of the bill.
One nuance the county’s own site spells out: the freeze isn’t absolute across every portion of the bill. The Savannah-Chatham County Public School System levy adds a Consumer Price Index percentage to the base year value each year, and the City of Savannah applies CPI adjustments as well. The county portion stays frozen; the school and city portions creep upward with inflation.
Standard Homestead
Georgia’s statewide standard homestead exemption under O.C.G.A. § 48-5-44 deducts $2,000 from the 40 percent assessed value of your primary residence for county and school tax purposes.7Georgia Department of Revenue. Property Tax Homestead Exemptions – Section: Homestead Exemptions Offered by the State The dollar savings are modest, but there’s no income or age requirement, so every qualifying homeowner should file for it.
Senior Exemptions
Homeowners 62 and older may qualify for an additional exemption from school taxes if combined household net income (including a spouse living in the home) did not exceed $10,000 in the prior year. The exemption can reduce assessed value by up to $10,000 for educational tax purposes.8Justia. Georgia Code 48-5-52 – Exemption From Ad Valorem Taxation The income threshold excludes Social Security benefits up to the maximum federal benefit amount, so many retirees qualify even with Social Security income.
A separate floating inflation-proof exemption under O.C.G.A. § 48-5-47.1 is also open to homeowners 62 and older. If your home’s appraised value rose by more than $10,000, this exemption shields you from county tax increases caused by natural appreciation.7Georgia Department of Revenue. Property Tax Homestead Exemptions – Section: Homestead Exemptions Offered by the State
Disabled Veteran
Qualifying disabled veterans receive an exemption equal to the greater of $32,500 or the annually adjusted maximum set by the U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs. For 2025, the adjusted figure was $121,812.7Georgia Department of Revenue. Property Tax Homestead Exemptions – Section: Homestead Exemptions Offered by the State It applies across state, county, municipal, and school levies. You’ll need VA disability rating documentation and discharge papers when you apply.
If You’re Escrowed, Your Mortgage Payment Will Change Too
When a lender collects property taxes through an escrow account, a county tax increase doesn’t just show up on an annual bill. It raises your monthly mortgage payment. After the county sends updated tax information, your servicer performs an annual escrow analysis. If the account can’t cover the new tax amount plus the allowable cushion, you’ll get a notice with a higher monthly payment.
Federal law under RESPA limits the cushion a servicer can require to no more than one-sixth of total estimated annual escrow disbursements.9Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Escrow Accounts – Section: Limits on Payments to Escrow Accounts A lawful escrow adjustment after a large assessment increase can still add $100 or more to a monthly payment, which catches many homeowners off guard. Review the annual escrow analysis statement and compare the projected tax disbursement against your actual bill.
What Happens if You Don’t Pay
Ignoring the bill sets off an escalating series of penalties. If any portion stays unpaid 120 days after the due date, the county adds a 5 percent penalty. Another 5 percent is added on the remaining balance after each subsequent 120-day period, up to a maximum penalty of 20 percent of the original tax owed.10FindLaw. Georgia Code Title 48 Revenue and Taxation 48-2-44 Interest also accrues monthly at the bank prime loan rate plus 3 percent.
Beyond penalties, the tax commissioner can issue a fi. fa. (tax execution), a lien on your property. For real estate, the commissioner must give 30 days’ notice before filing. Once the lien is in place, the property can be levied and sold at a public tax sale with an opening bid equal to the taxes owed plus costs.
If your home is sold at tax sale, Georgia law gives you one year to redeem it. Redemption requires paying the buyer what they paid at the sale, plus any taxes they’ve paid since, plus a 20 percent premium for the first year.11Justia. Georgia Code 48-4-42 – Amount Payable for Redemption After the redemption period expires, the buyer can foreclose on the right of redemption and take permanent title.