City of Atlanta will opt out of statewide limit on property tax increases to keep local base freeze

The City of Atlanta intends to opt out of the statewide homestead tax exemption, which limits annual property tax increases by freezing property values based on a yearly assessment of consumer price index, to maintain the existing Atlanta base freeze exemption.

In November, Georgia voters approved Constitutional Amendment 1, introduced through House Bill 581. This exemption applies uniformly to all counties, governments and school systems across the state unless the individual body opts out.

According to a Friday statement, the City of Atlanta already implements a base freeze floating exemption, approved in 2019 through H.B. 820, that “limits the annual taxable increase of property assessments to 2.6% over the determined lowest base year value.”