Got a Georgia Property Tax No-Change Notice or a New Value?

By Vien Ha · Published October 5, 2026

On a Board of Equalization appeal, a no-change notice sends your case to the Board with nothing more to file. A disputed new value needs a written continuance.

Key Takeaways

• A no-change notice on a Board of Equalization appeal also serves as your appeal to the Board, so you don't file anything else.
• If a change notice shows a value you disagree with, Georgia law sets 30 days from its mailing date to continue your appeal in writing.
• A change notice treats no reply as accepting the new value for your bill, so continue the appeal in writing by the printed last date to keep disagreeing; doing nothing isn't a signed agreement, and whether it carries the hold is unclear.
• The Board can lower your value but can't raise it above the assessors' amount, unless you appealed while a 299(c) hold was in effect.
• A no-change result, from the assessors or the Board, starts no hold on your value.

# Got a Georgia Property Tax No-Change Notice or a New Value?

If you chose the Board of Equalization on your Georgia property tax appeal and the county board of tax assessors sent a no-change notice, that notice also sends your appeal on to the Board, and you don't file anything else. If the letter shows a new value instead, it's a change notice, and Georgia law sets 30 days from the date it was mailed for you to tell the assessors in writing that you're continuing your appeal.

So the letter in your hand decides whether you need to act. Go by the dates printed on your own notice; any date you count out yourself is only an estimate. Confirm with your county before you file.

How do you tell the two letters apart?

Look at what the letter says about your value. A no-change notice says the assessors reviewed your appeal and made no change. Georgia law requires the assessors to send it to you, to any authorized agent you've asked them to notify, and to the county Board of Equalization.

A change notice shows a new value. The Georgia Department of Revenue's template for it is the PT-306-30 (Change of Assessment Notice), and the DOR's Real and Personal Property Forms page lists three versions: PT-306-30E, PT-306-30H and PT-306-30R. The DOR says this notice "must be sent notifying the owner of any real or personal property changes in value or exemptions after the original PT-306E has been mailed out."

On the state's PT-306-30E template, these are the lines to find first:

• Change of Assessment Notice Date, the date the county put on the notice.
• Last date to file a written continuation of appeal, the date that matters if you disagree with the new value.
• Box B, which holds the new value. The template says "The adjusted current year assessment is indicated in 'BOX B' of this notice," and the box sets the previous year's fair market value beside the current year's.
• A banner that reads "THIS IS NOT A TAX BILL," so there's nothing to pay from this letter.
• A box headed "Reasons for Change of Assessment Notice," which says why the value moved.
• A line saying "All documents and records used to determine the current value are available upon request."

The annotated copy of the blank template below marks the two date lines at the top right, the sentence that points you to Box B, and the Box B value rows.

Start with the two date lines at the top right, then find the adjusted value in Box B, set beside last year's fair market value.

The chart below matches each letter to what comes next.

A no-change notice needs nothing more from you on the Board route. A new value you dispute needs a written continuance within the window Georgia law sets.

What does a no-change notice mean for your appeal?

It means your appeal is already on its way to the Board of Equalization, as long as that's the route you chose when you filed. Under O.C.G.A. 48-5-311(e)(2)(B), the assessors' no-change notice "shall also constitute the taxpayer's appeal to the county board of equalization without the necessity of the taxpayer's filing any additional notice of appeal to the county board of tax assessors or to the county board of equalization." The Georgia Department of Revenue reprints that text in its Board of Equalization Appeal Manual.

Because it's state law, the rule is the same in every Georgia county. Fulton County's Board of Assessors sums it up in one line on its Board of Equalization page: "If the decision is a 'no change,' the appeal is forwarded to the Board of Equalization."

The Board of Equalization is one of the routes on the state's PT-311A appeal form. The others include nonbinding arbitration and, for nonhomestead real property with a fair market value over $500,000 on the annual notice, a hearing officer; the no-change forwarding described here is the Board route's rule. If you aren't sure which route you picked, check your copy of the appeal form, and see our PT-311A guide for how the other routes work.

The next letter to expect comes from the Board itself, which sets a hearing and notifies you in writing. Our timeline of a Georgia appeal shows where this step falls in the whole process.

Can the Board of Equalization raise your value?

Not above the value the assessors set, with one exception. Georgia law says the assessed value "may be lowered by the deciding body based upon the evidence presented but cannot be increased from the amount assessed by the county board of tax assessors" (O.C.G.A. 48-5-311(e)(9)).

The statute doesn't say whether "the amount assessed" means the value on your original notice or a new value on a change notice. If the assessors changed your value and you continued the appeal, ask them which value the Board would treat as the ceiling.

The exception sits in the same paragraph of the statute. The no-increase rule doesn't apply if you filed your appeal while a 299(c) hold was in effect for the value you're appealing. The next section explains that hold.

Does a no-change result start a hold on your value?

No. A no-change result, whether it comes from the assessors or from the Board, starts no hold. HB 581, passed in 2024, struck the words "or is unchanged" from O.C.G.A. 48-5-299(c), the section that sets the hold, effective January 1, 2025 (bill text). If you read the statute in the DOR's manual, you'll still see "or is unchanged" in its reprint of that section; the as-passed bill shows those words struck.

For a homestead residence, the hold works this way. When an appeal lowers the value, by an appeal decision such as the Board's or by a written agreement signed by the assessors and you or your authorized agent, the assessors can't raise that lower value for the next two years. That's the "three-year freeze" you may have read about (the appeal year plus the next two), and it applies only if the value is reduced. How the 2025 change to the 299(c) hold works covers the rest of the rules, including what can end a hold early.

What if the letter shows a new value?

You can accept the new value or continue your appeal in writing.

If you disagree, Georgia law sets 30 days from the date the change notice was mailed for you to tell the assessors you're continuing your appeal (O.C.G.A. 48-5-311(e)(2)(C)). Send a written notice of continuance to the board of tax assessors by mail or in person, or by email if the assessors have adopted a written policy accepting email. The state template asks for "a written request for appeal continuation" sent to the county Board of Assessors at the address on the notice, no later than the last date it prints. Use that printed date, not your own count. In the notice, say that you're continuing your appeal and identify the property the way the change notice does.

If you agree, the template says: "If you agree with the adjusted value on this notice, no action is required. The amount of your final ad valorem tax bill for the tax year shown will be based on the adjusted values specified in this notice."

If you do nothing, the notice treats no reply as accepting the new value for your bill. To keep disagreeing, you have to continue the appeal in writing by the printed last date. Neither the statute nor the notice says what happens to the appeal after that date if you send nothing, so ask the assessors' office for its status.

Doing nothing still isn't a signed agreement. The 299(c) hold attaches to a value set by an appeal decision or by a written agreement signed by the assessors and you or your authorized agent. The statute doesn't say whether a value you accept by doing nothing carries the hold, so treat that as unclear. If the new value on your homestead is lower and you want it held for the next two years, ask the assessors for a written agreement signed by both sides.

If you and the assessors sign an agreement on the value, the appeal ends on the date of that signed agreement. Read it before you sign, so the value on it is the one you expect.

Confirm with your county before you file.

How do you prepare for a hearing if you're handling the appeal yourself?

Start with the county's own file on your property, then build your case around what the assessors have to prove.

• Ask for the records behind your value. You can request copies of the public records the assessors used, including "a description of the methodology used by the board of tax assessors in setting the property's fair market value," all documents they reviewed, the address and parcel identification number of every comparable property they used, and all factors they considered. Georgia law requires them to provide the copies within ten business days, at a copying fee capped by law (O.C.G.A. 48-5-306(d)(1)).
• Ask for the county's witness list and documents. The Board's hearing notice tells each side that it may request the other's list of witnesses, documents or other written evidence. Georgia law sets the timing: make the request at least 10 days before the hearing, and the other side must provide it at least 7 days before the hearing.
• Build your evidence around the county's burden. The assessors carry "the burden of proving its opinions of value and the validity of its proposed assessment by a preponderance of evidence" (O.C.G.A. 48-5-311(e)(4)). Compare their records from step 1 with recent sales near you, and bring the sales that point to a lower value.
• Attend the hearing and send written evidence. On a homestead, the hold that comes with a lower value from the Board does not apply if the owner "failed to attend the appeal hearing or provide the board of equalization, hearing officer, or arbitrator with some written evidence supporting the taxpayer's opinion of value" (O.C.G.A. 48-5-299(c)(1)). That wording can be read more than one way, so do both: attend in whatever format the Board offers, and send your evidence in writing too.

For what the Board is likely to ask you, see our list of Georgia Board of Equalization hearing questions.

Confirm with your county before you file.

What if AppealAlly is handling your appeal?

If you're a Full Service customer, once you've authorized us, the county sends its notices to us as your agent as well as to you, and we may take your appeal to the Board of Equalization if it gets that far. There's nothing for you to sign unless we ask.

About this information

This article is general information drawn from public sources: O.C.G.A. 48-5-299, 48-5-306 and 48-5-311 as reprinted in the Georgia Department of Revenue's Board of Equalization Appeal Manual (revised October 2025), the DOR's PT-306-30 change notice templates, HB 581 as passed in 2024, and the Fulton County Board of Assessors, all read September 29, 2026. Time windows and any dates you work out from them are estimated, and county practice varies. It isn't legal or tax advice. The dates printed on your own notice govern, and your county's board of tax assessors can tell you what applies to your appeal.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to file anything else after a no-change notice?

No, not if you chose the Board of Equalization when you appealed. Georgia law says the assessors' no-change notice also counts as your appeal to the Board, with no additional notice of appeal to file. The Board then sets a hearing and notifies you in writing.

If I ignore a change notice, is that the same as agreeing?

Partly: the notice treats no reply as accepting the new value for your bill. To keep disagreeing, you have to continue the appeal in writing by the printed last date. Doing nothing still isn't a signed agreement, and whether a value you accept by doing nothing carries the hold is unclear. If you want a lower value on your homestead held, ask the assessors for a written agreement signed by both sides.

How long do I have to contest a new value in Georgia?

Georgia law sets 30 days from the date the change notice was mailed. Send the board of tax assessors a written notice that you're continuing your appeal, by mail, in person, or by email where the assessors have a written policy accepting it. The notice prints the last date to file, so use that date rather than your own count.

Can the Board of Equalization raise my property value?

No, not above the value the assessors set, unless you filed your appeal while a 299(c) hold was in effect on that value. Georgia law lets the deciding body lower the value based on the evidence but not increase it from the assessors' amount.

What is a change of assessment notice in Georgia?

It's the letter the county board of tax assessors sends when it changes your value after the annual notice, including after reviewing your appeal. The state's template is the PT-306-30, and it prints the notice date, the last date to file a written continuation of appeal, and the reasons for the change. It also says plainly that it is not a tax bill.

Does a no-change result freeze my value?

No. Since January 1, 2025, when HB 581's change to the hold law took effect, a no-change result from the assessors or the Board starts no hold. On a homestead, the hold applies only if the value is reduced, by an appeal decision or by a written agreement signed by both sides.