Georgia home assessments doubled in a decade, but only 1 in 37 homeowners appeal. Learn how to read your assessment notice, check if the county overvalued your home, gather comparable sales evidence, and file your appeal before the strict 45-day deadline.
# Just Got Your Georgia Assessment Notice? Here's What to Do First
You are not imagining it — your Georgia property tax assessment probably did go up, and you are not alone in staring at that number wondering what to do next. Georgia home assessments roughly doubled between 2013 and 2023, driven by a housing market that has outpaced nearly every Sun Belt state. Total property tax collections across the state surged from $13 billion to over $20 billion in just six years. And yet only about 2.7% of Georgia property owners — roughly 1 in 37 — actually file an appeal. That is a staggering gap, especially when you consider that over 60% of residential appeals backed by solid comparable sales evidence result in a reduced assessment. If you just received your Georgia assessment notice and want to know what to do, the short answer is: do not ignore it, do not panic, and start gathering evidence today.
Georgia law requires all property to be assessed at 40% of its fair market value. Your county does not tax you on what your home is worth — it taxes you on 40% of that number, called the assessed value.
If your county says your home is worth $400,000, your assessed value is $160,000. That $160,000 is what the millage rate applies to when calculating your tax bill.
This ratio is set by state statute (O.C.G.A. 48-5-7) and applies uniformly across all 159 Georgia counties. It has been the standard for decades and is not subject to annual change. A handful of cities assess at different ratios (Dalton and Gainesville at 100%, Decatur at 50%), but these exceptions are rare and do not affect county-level assessments.
The 40% ratio has a practical consequence for appeals: every $10,000 your home is overvalued translates to $4,000 in excess assessed value. That may look small on paper, but at a typical Georgia millage rate of 30–40 mills, it adds $120–$160 to your annual tax bill — and compounds over multiple years.
Your Annual Notice of Assessment arrives by mail (and increasingly online) from your county Board of Tax Assessors. It is not a tax bill — it is the county's estimate of your property's fair market value as of January 1 of the current year.
The notice shows three key numbers:
The notice also prints the date it was issued. That date starts your 45-day appeal clock. If you believe the FMV is higher than what your home would actually sell for, you have the right to challenge it. You are not appealing your tax bill or the millage rate — only the county's estimate of your home's market value.
Check the property details on the notice carefully. Errors in square footage, lot size, bedroom/bathroom count, or condition rating are common and can inflate your assessed value. The National Taxpayers Union Foundation found that incorrect square footage appears in 18% of assessments.
Before filing an appeal, run a quick sanity check to see whether your assessment is actually inflated:
You can also check the assessor's property card for errors. Look for incorrect square footage, wrong lot size, inaccurate bedroom/bathroom count, or a condition rating that does not match your home. These errors are more common than you might think — the National Taxpayers Union Foundation found that 30–60% of U.S. properties are overassessed, yet fewer than 5% of homeowners file an appeal.
Georgia law gives you exactly 45 days from the date on your Notice of Assessment to file a written appeal. This deadline is strictly enforced — even one day late means you forfeit the right to appeal for the entire tax year.
The deadline is not 45 days from when you receive the notice. It is 45 days from the date printed on the notice itself. Mail delays are common, especially in metro Atlanta, so do not wait for the paper notice to arrive. Most counties post notices online before the paper version reaches your mailbox.
If your notice is dated June 15, your deadline is July 30. If it is dated May 1, your deadline is June 15. Count the days carefully, and file early to avoid any last-minute issues with online portals or postal service delays.
You can file by mail (postmark date counts), online through your county assessor's portal, or in person at the assessor's office. For mail filings, use certified mail or USPS statutory overnight delivery so you have proof of your filing date.
Assessment notices arrive on a rolling basis from April through July, with most metro Atlanta counties mailing theirs in May or June. The statutory deadline for counties to mail notices is July 1 per O.C.G.A. 48-5-306, though some counties send them earlier.
Here is a worked example: if your notice is dated June 1, your deadline is July 16. Mark that date on your calendar the moment you see your notice — whether it arrives in your mailbox or shows up on your county's online portal first.
Most counties now post notices online before the paper version arrives, so check your county assessor's website starting in April. Do not wait for the mail.
You have three ways to file, and all three are equally valid under Georgia law.
Most metro Atlanta counties offer online filing during the 45-day window. You will typically need the Access Code printed on your assessment notice. Online filing gives you an instant confirmation — save or print it as proof. Be aware that some county portals close at midnight on the deadline date, so do not wait until the last hour.
Download the PT-311A form from the Georgia Department of Revenue, or write a letter identifying your property by parcel number and address. Your appeal must be postmarked by the 45-day deadline — not received, but postmarked. Use certified mail or USPS statutory overnight delivery so you have a paper trail proving your filing date. For a step-by-step walkthrough of the form, see our PT-311A Georgia appeal guide.
Visit your county Board of Tax Assessors office and hand-deliver your appeal. Some offices have drop boxes for after-hours filing. Get a date-stamped copy for your records before you leave.
For county-specific instructions, see our detailed guides for Fulton County, Gwinnett County, DeKalb County, and Cobb County.
The foundation of any successful appeal is comparable sales evidence — recent sales of homes similar to yours that sold for less than what the county says your home is worth. Here is what matters most when selecting comps:
Run a price-per-square-foot analysis across your comps and compare it to the county's assessed price per square foot for your property. This is the single most persuasive metric in a Board of Equalization hearing. Aim for 3 to 5 strong comparable sales — fewer than three looks thin, and more than five starts to dilute your strongest evidence.
For detailed guidance on building your evidence package, see our guides on finding comparable properties and what evidence to bring to your appeal.
Here is your action plan, start to finish:
For a complete step-by-step walkthrough of every stage from filing to the hearing room, see our Georgia property tax appeal guide for 2026.
The Georgia property tax appeal process is designed so that any homeowner can navigate it without professional help. The assessment notice sitting on your kitchen counter is not a final answer — it is the opening of a conversation, and the evidence is on your side if you take the time to gather it.