Georgia's Homestead Cap: Patchwork Now, Statewide in 2027
Program and regulatory figures verified September 19, 2026. Details change; confirm your scenario with us.
For one more tax year the answer depends on three separate local decisions about the same parcel. After that it is one answer for the whole state.
What HB 581 did
Passed in 2024 and effective for 2025, HB 581 created a state-wide base year homestead exemption. In plain terms it caps how fast a homesteaded property's taxable value can rise, limiting the increase to the rate of inflation and using 2024 as the base year.
For a long-tenured owner in a rising market that is a meaningful protection, because it breaks the link between a hot local market and an annual tax increase.
The opt-out, and why Georgia ended up with a patchwork
HB 581 let local governments decline it. Counties, cities and school districts could each opt out by resolution, independently of one another, with a deadline of March 1, 2025.
Many did. Roughly 68% of school districts and 30% of counties opted out, and the list includes the largest metropolitan counties: Fulton, Gwinnett, Cobb, DeKalb and Chatham.
Because the three layers decide separately, a single Georgia parcel can sit under a county that opted in, a city that opted out and a school district that also opted out. There is no single answer for an address, which is why we send people to their county tax commissioner rather than publishing a list.
SB 33 ends the patchwork
Senate Bill 33 was signed on May 11, 2026. Its short title is the Homeownership Opportunity and Market Equalization Act of 2026, and its purpose clause includes, in the enacted text, making the state-wide base year homestead exemption mandatory for all political subdivisions.
That takes effect with the 2027 tax year. From then, every county, city and school district in Georgia applies the cap, and the opt-out disappears.
The Act also establishes a Local Homestead Option Sales Tax, a 1% local sales and use tax that local governments may levy to fund further property tax reductions, available from 2028.
What it means if you are moving
Three things, in order of practical importance.
Do not build a 2026 decision on opt-out status. If you are choosing between two Georgia jurisdictions partly because one caps assessments and one does not, that distinction expires in 2027. It is a one-year consideration at most.
The cap attaches to a base year on a homestead. Buying establishes a new relationship with the cap on the new property rather than carrying your old position forward. A long-capped Georgia owner should expect the new home's assessment to behave differently from the one they have been living with.
Renting the departing home takes it outside the protection entirely, because the caps apply to homestead property and not to rental or investment property. If keeping the old house as a rental is on your list, price it without the cap. See the rental conversion page.
Who actually decides this
Your county tax commissioner administers the homestead exemption and can tell you what your specific jurisdiction adopted and what it means for your parcel. We are lenders; we raise it because the assessment drives the tax line inside the payment we underwrite.
See how it feeds the structures on the structures page.
Homestead exemption status, local opt-out decisions and assessment practice are legal and tax questions. Your county tax commissioner, your CPA or a Georgia attorney own those answers. We flag them because they change the numbers we underwrite.
Frequently asked questions
Did my Georgia county opt out of the HB 581 assessment cap?
You need to check your specific jurisdiction, and there are three of them. Counties, cities and school districts each decided independently by March 1, 2025, and roughly 68% of school districts and 30% of counties declined it, including Fulton, Gwinnett, Cobb, DeKalb and Chatham. Your county tax commissioner can confirm what applies to your parcel.
When does Georgia's assessment cap become mandatory?
From the 2027 tax year. SB 33, the Homeownership Opportunity and Market Equalization Act of 2026, was signed May 11, 2026 and makes the state-wide base year homestead exemption mandatory for all political subdivisions, ending the local election to decline it.
Does the cap apply if I rent out my Georgia house?
No. The caps apply to homestead property only; rental and investment property is not protected. Converting a departing home to a rental removes it from the cap.
What is LHOST?
The Local Homestead Option Sales Tax, created by SB 33: a 1% local sales and use tax that local governments may levy to fund reductions in local property taxes, available from 2028.
Mike Certo · NMLS #260555 · Cornerstone First Mortgage NMLS #173855 · Equal Housing Lender. Educational content about financing, not a loan commitment and not legal, tax, or real estate advice. Homestead exemption status, local opt-out decisions and assessment practice change and depend on your facts; your county tax commissioner, your CPA or a Georgia attorney, and your real estate agent each handle their own part. Loans are subject to borrower and property qualification.