Did Your Property Tax Bill Go Up

Did Your Property Tax Bill Go Up? Get the Facts!

You might be surprised when you open your property tax bill this year. At a time when home values are declining, the last thing you expect to see is an increase in the amount of taxes that you owe.

For the last decade, homeowners have benefited from a credit on property tax bills given by the State of Georgia called the Homeowners Tax Relief Grant. This program did not reduce the amount of taxes that you owed to your local government, but it did reduce the amount that you had to pay out of pocket. The state basically paid the difference between what was due and what you had to pay.

You may not have ever noticed the line on your previous tax bills that indicated that you had received the Homeowners Tax Relief Grant credit from the Governor and the General Assembly, which equaled an average of $200 - $300. Due to financial strains on the state budget, the Georgia General Assembly and the Governor did not fund this credit for the 2009 property tax bills.

Property taxes are the primary source of revenue to fund services provided by your county government and provide for the health, safety and welfare of your community. Many of these services are mandated by the State of Georgia. The economic downturn has also created budget challenges for counties, cities and school boards.

In addition, one of your local governing authorities may have also increased the millage rate or adjusted the assessed value of your property. Either of these actions could cause an increase in your property tax bill. If your jurisdiction has increased property taxes through assessments or millage, they must have conformed to the regulations established in the Taxpayer Bill of Rights and would have provided notice of the tax increase to the public in advance of implementing the increase.

For more information about the elimination of the Homeowners Tax Relief Grant and property taxes in Georgia, go to

This newsletter article and were developed by the AssociationCounty Commissioners of Georgia (ACCG) to help raise awareness about property tax issues. For more information about ACCG, go to .