Have you received your annual property tax assessment notice in the mail from the Fulton County Tax Assessor? If so, you may be experiencing a flood of emotions . . . surprise, shock, perhaps even anger because that notice makes it appear that your City of Alpharetta property tax is increasing, perhaps even doubling or tripling.
Well, allow us to set your mind at ease and let you know that the forecast Alpharetta tax on that assessment is wrong. There are two primary reasons.
First, most Alpharetta homeowners enjoy a variety of homestead property tax exemptions that significantly reduce the amount of city property tax that they pay. Fulton County did not reflect the impact of those exemptions on the property tax assessment notices that they mailed. The homestead exemption provided by the City of Alpharetta save our homeowners over $6.7 million annually, so the County not reflecting that impact on their notices is a big deal.
Second, since 2020, Alpharetta homeowners who have a homestead exemption on their property also enjoy a floating homestead exemption that caps how much your property tax can increase from one year to the next, regardless of how much the assessed value of your property increases. The floating exemption caps the annual growth in the taxable value of your home at the lower of 3% or the consumer price index (CPI) for that year. Fulton County did not reflect this in their property tax assessment notices.
For more information on the homestead property tax exemptions provided by the City of Alpharetta, please visit
https://www.alpharetta.ga.us/homestead
So, should you even pay attention to the Fulton County property tax assessment notice? Yes!
The notices do reflect the initial assessment of your property’s value as calculated by the Fulton County Tax Assessor. The assessed value takes into account several factors such as a property’s location, its square footage, certain upgrades, and comparisons to recent nearby home sales. That value is the basis for what you will pay in property taxes to Fulton County, Fulton County Schools, and the City of Alpharetta.
So, you want to pay attention to the assessed value that Fulton County has calculated for your property and consider if you believe it is reflective of the real estate market in and around your neighborhood. If you believe it is not, you can file an appeal of the value with the Fulton County Tax Assessor. For information on that process, please visit
https://www.fultoncountyga.gov/inside-fulton-county/fulton-county-departments/board-of-assessors/appealing-your-assessment
IMPORTANT: Appeals must be filed within forty-five (45) days of the date of the Fulton County Notice of Assessment.
While the assessment of your property’s value and the information on the Fulton County Tax Assessment Notices are completely the responsibility of Fulton County and not something in which the City of Alpharetta is involved, we do apologize for any confusion or alarm that may have resulted from the County’s actions.