How to appeal your property taxes in Georgia

Every spring, Georgia counties mail an Annual Notice of Assessment to every property owner. It states the county’s opinion of your home’s fair market value for the year. If that value is too high, you are overpaying — and you have a legal right to appeal. Here is exactly how, start to finish.

1. Find the date on your notice — your clock starts there

You have exactly 45 days from the date printed on your assessment notice to file an appeal (O.C.G.A. § 48-5-311). Miss it and you wait a full year. There are no extensions. The date that counts is the notice date, not the day you received it.

2. Decide whether you actually have a case

An appeal only succeeds with evidence. The two strongest grounds are value (comparable homes sold for less than the county says yours is worth) and uniformity (similar properties near you are assessed at a lower ratio). Pull recent sales of homes similar to yours — size, age, and location — and compare the price per square foot to your assessed value. If the county is clearly high, you have a case. If it is fair, do not file: a weak appeal wastes your time and can even put your value at risk.

3. Fill out the PT-311A

Georgia uses one uniform appeal form, the PT-311A. It identifies your property, your grounds, your opinion of value, and which appeal route you elect. The most common route is the Board of Equalization (BOE) — it is free, allows any grounds, and a win locks in a multi-year freeze.

4. Attach your evidence

Include your comparable sales (with parcel IDs so the assessor can verify each one), any errors on your property record card (wrong square footage, wrong condition), and photos of any condition problems. The more verifiable your evidence, the stronger your appeal.

5. File before your deadline

Most counties accept online appeals through qPublic; all accept certified mail, where the USPS postmark date counts as your filing date. Keep a stamped copy of everything. Check your county’s specific filing method.

6. What happens next

The county must acknowledge your appeal within 10 days. A staff appraiser then reviews it (up to 180 days for the BOE route). If they change your value and you are still not satisfied, you have 30 days to continue to the Board of Equalization. If they do not change it, your appeal auto-forwards to a hearing. A win triggers the 299(c) three-year freeze.