How Georgia's temporary property tax bill is figured while your appeal is open, why you pay it, and when a refund or extra bill follows.
# Temporary Property Tax Bill While a Georgia Appeal Is Open
If your county sends property tax bills before your appeal is decided, you get a temporary bill. In most cases it is based on the lower of last year's final value or 85% of this year's value, and you pay it as issued, on time, by the date printed on the bill.
When the appeal ends, the tax commissioner recalculates the bill on the final value. If the final value lowers your taxes, the tax commissioner refunds the difference with interest; if it raises them, you get an adjusted bill for the rest. Georgia law requires the temporary bill to come with a notice saying it is temporary pending the outcome of the appeal, and that additional taxes or a refund may follow (O.C.G.A. § 48-5-311). Gwinnett's tax commissioner calls it a pending appeal bill.
The county board of tax assessors picks the value and passes it to the tax commissioner, who bills on it. The rule is in O.C.G.A. § 48-5-311(e)(6)(D)(iii)(I):
"If the county's tax bills are issued before an appeal has been finally determined, the county board of tax assessors shall specify to the county tax commissioner the lesser of the valuation in the last year for which taxes were finally determined ... or 85 percent of the current year's value, unless the property in issue is homestead property and has been issued a building permit and structural improvements have occurred, or structural improvements have been made without a building permit, in which case, it shall specify 85 percent of the current year's valuation as set by the county board of tax assessors."
In short:
Gwinnett and DeKalb apply the same rule. The Gwinnett County Board of Assessors calculates the "partial, temporary bill" using "the lesser of either 100 percent of the prior year value, or 85 percent of the most recent value." The DeKalb County Tax Commissioner switches to 85% of the current value where "capital improvements were made to the property."
Fulton County is a separate case this year. Fulton says all of its 2026 bills are temporary bills based on the preliminary 2026 tax digest and each jurisdiction's 2025 millage rate, as authorized by the Superior Court of Fulton County, and that a refund or revised bill will be issued only as needed once millage rates are set. So a Fulton owner can get a temporary bill with no appeal on file. If your Fulton appeal is open, your 2026 bill is one of these temporary bills; ask the Fulton County Tax Commissioner's office how your appeal value is reflected in it.
This example is illustrative, not a real bill. It uses the total millage rate the Gwinnett County Tax Commissioner lists for unincorporated Gwinnett, 34.86 mills, where one mill is $1.00 of tax for every $1,000 of assessed value. It also uses Georgia's 40% assessment ratio and leaves out exemptions, which come off the assessed value before the rate is applied.
Take an illustrative house the county values at $400,000 this year, with a final value of $300,000 last year:
If last year's final value had been $350,000 instead, 85% of this year's value ($340,000) would be the lower number. The assessed value would be $136,000 and the temporary bill $4,740.96.
When the first house's appeal ends, the bill is recalculated on the final value:
The Gwinnett County Tax Commissioner says the first outcome is "fairly common because the initial appeal bills are issued at less than 100% of the current year assessed value."
Yes, if no substantial property improvement has occurred. Georgia law lets the taxpayer elect a temporary bill at 100% of this year's value, and the tax commissioner can adjust the bill to match.
Gwinnett's tax commissioner says you make the request "with the Board of Assessor's office at the time you file your appeal." DeKalb's page says that if you don't state a preference at the time of your appeal, it uses its Option 1, the lower-of rule. If your bill has already arrived, ask your county's tax commissioner's office and board of assessors right away whether it can still be changed.
With a 100% bill, if the final value comes in lower, the difference comes back as a refund with interest instead of an additional bill. The cost is a larger bill now.
A separate option covers only a nonhomestead owner of a single property valued at $2 million or more. That owner may pay the temporary bill at 85% of this year's value, or pay the bill on last year's final value together with the difference up to the 85% bill. The tax commissioner's office holds only the difference between the two bills in an escrow account (its own account, not a mortgage escrow) and, once the appeal is concluded, releases it to the prevailing party.
Pay the temporary bill as issued. An open appeal doesn't postpone it: Gwinnett's tax commissioner says the pending appeal bill has to be paid on time to avoid penalties and interest.
Unless the law sets another date, Georgia property taxes are due by December 20. Some counties bill earlier, and some split the bill into two installments (Georgia Department of Revenue). Your county's date is printed on the bill. Our guide to Georgia property tax due dates by county explains who can change a county's due date and when a county bills in installments.
If a mortgage escrow account pays your taxes, Gwinnett's tax commissioner says it makes your tax information available to the mortgage company but doesn't send it a bill, and that "it is ultimately the property owner's responsibility to ensure taxes are paid." Our guide to whether property taxes are included in your mortgage payment explains how escrow works.
Confirm the due date on your tax bill.
The temporary bill stays in place until the value is final, whether the appeal ends with the assessors, the Board of Equalization, a hearing officer, an arbitrator or a court. Then the bill is adjusted to the final value. An appeal that goes to a hearing officer gets a temporary bill figured the same way. Our timeline of a Georgia appeal shows those stages in order.
If the appeal goes on to superior court, one more rule applies: an owner who skips a properly scheduled settlement conference, with no authorized agent there either, or who doesn't confer with the assessors in good faith, loses the benefit of any temporary reduction while the appeal is pending.
You get a refund with interest. Georgia law requires the tax commissioner to pay it within 60 days from the date of the final determination of value, to the taxpayer, entity or transferee who paid the taxes. If your mortgage company paid the bill, Gwinnett says the refund goes to it.
The interest rules are in subsection (m) of the same statute:
Gwinnett's tax commissioner says overpaid amounts there are returned in approximately four to six weeks.
You get an adjusted bill for the additional tax. Georgia law requires full payment within 60 days of the adjusted bill's postmark. If it isn't paid in that time, Georgia law sets interest from the original billing due date, without limit, until it's paid, and the usual penalties and collection notices for delinquent taxes apply. The $150 and $5,000 caps above are for refund interest.
As the example above shows, this can happen even when the appeal lowers your value. Our guide to the second tax bill after a Georgia appeal walks through reading it.
Confirm the due date on your tax bill.
It can. When an appeal lowers your home's value, by a Board, hearing officer, arbitrator or court decision, or by a written agreement signed by the assessors and you or your authorized agent, the assessors cannot raise that lower value for the next two years, subject to the statutory exceptions. Our guide to Georgia's 299(c) value freeze covers those exceptions; the freeze applies only if the value is reduced.
This article is general information drawn from public sources: O.C.G.A. § 48-5-311, the Georgia Department of Revenue, the Gwinnett County Tax Commissioner and Board of Assessors, the DeKalb County Tax Commissioner and Fulton County, all read on September 29, 2026. Your county's billing and due dates are set locally and can change, so treat any county date you see outside your own bill as estimated; the December 20 default and the 60-day periods above are set by Georgia law. County practice varies, so check your own tax bill and your county tax commissioner's office for your dates and amounts. It isn't legal or tax advice.