Annual Assessment and the 40% Ratio

Georgia’s value chain is annual and simple to state: every parcel is assessed at fair market value as of January 1 (O.C.G.A. § 48-5-2), and the tax falls on 40% of that value — the statewide assessed-value ratio (O.C.G.A. § 48-5-6 is the return-and-assess requirement). What makes Georgia distinctive is what it does not have: no state revaluation schedule.

No revaluation cycle — an annual digest review

Unlike Ohio (six-year reappraisals) or North Carolina (eight-year ceiling), Georgia requires the county board of tax assessors to review its digest annually against sales data and update values at the frequency the market warrants. In a hot market, values can move several years running; in a flat one, they may sit. The Department’s FAQ states the annual January 1 assessment and the absence of a state schedule directly.

What this tells you: Georgia is the mirror image of the carryover states. There is no “reassessment year” to brace for and no three-year-old sales window to argue within — but also no cycle on which to blame a jump. A big increase in any year is, by construction, the digest review working; the argument is about the market value itself.

The 40% ratio, worked

The Department’s own worked example is the cleanest statement: a $100,000 home is assessed at $40,000, and the millage rate applies to that figure after exemptions.

1. Inputs: market value $400,000; combined millage of 25 mills ($25 per $1,000 of assessed value, illustrative); standard homestead exemption.
2. Step — the ratio: assessed value = $400,000 × 40% = $160,000.
3. Step — the exemptions: the state standard homestead exemption ($2,000) comes off the assessed value — small against a $160,000 base, which is why the county-level exemptions (some counties offer valuation freezes that hold the assessment at a base year) matter far more.
4. Step — the tax: the millage applies to the remaining $158,000: 25 mills × $158 = $3,950 (illustrative).

What this tells you: the number to argue is market value — the 40% is uniform statewide and unarguable. A market-value cut passes through the ratio proportionally: a 10% value reduction is a 10% tax reduction before exemptions.

What it does not tell you: your millage. The rate is set separately each year by the county, the school district, and the state levies — and Georgia’s rollback rules require notice when a reassessment-inflated digest is not matched by a rate cut.

The notice that arrives

The board of tax assessors must send an annual assessment notice for real property — typically in the spring. Where the notice reflects a change, the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights adds requirements: a knowledgeable contact person, and — where the increase exceeds 15% — a non-technical explanation of the basis for the change plus the right to view or copy the records used. The appeal page picks up from the notice’s mailing date.

What this page does not cover

Personal-property returns, conservation-use and brownfield covenants, and the freeport exemption are outside this page. The Department’s FAQ cited below is the authority for the annual assessment, the ratio, and the worked example.