If you purchased a home in 2018, that is your primary residence, the deadline to file your homestead exemption is April 1, 2019.

There are several new homestead exemptions for 2019 and I thought it would be helpful to give you a summary of all the new exemptions. These new exemptions will be automatically applied to properties with homestead exemptions in place, unless noted below.

City of Atlanta

There are two new exemptions for City of Atlanta home owners. The first is a “floating” exemption for the City of Atlanta portion of property taxes. I’ve blogged about this exemption before because it was very popular, yet misunderstood. The short story is this exemption will cap the annually adjusted value at 2.6 percent over an automatically determined base year value. To get a more in-depth explanation of what this means, read my previous blog post here.

The second exemption is an increase in base exemption for the Atlanta Public Schools portion of property taxes. Previously, the exemption was $30,000. The new exemption increases to $50,000, after the first $10,000 in value. This exemption is only in place until 2021, so enjoy it while it lasts.

Senior Homestead Exemption

All property owners over age 65 are now eligible for a senior homestead exemption that will increase their base exemption from $30,000 to $50,000, for the Fulton County portion of property taxes. All homeowners age 65 or over qualify for this homestead exemption, regardless of income, unlike other senior homestead exemptions which have income limits.

If you are newly eligible for senior exemptions and need to apply, visit one of the five offices of Fulton County Board Assessors with proof of age (license, passport etc.) or apply online here.

Fulton County Schools

All Fulton properties outside the City of Atlanta will have a “floating” homestead exemption in place for the Fulton County Schools portion of property taxes. Like the APS exemption, this exemption will cap the annually adjusted value at 3 percent over the automatically determined base year value.

North Fulton Cities

Properties in Alpharetta, Roswell, Johns Creek, Milton and Mountain Park also now have a “floating” homestead exemption in place. These exemptions will cap the annually adjusted value at 3 percent over the automatically determined lowest base year value for the city portion of property taxes for each of these jurisdictions.

For more information, and to apply, visit fultonassessor.org/exemptions/.

I hope you found this helpful. If you have any questions, give me a call at (404) 219-5968.

Best,

Michelle