Georgia property tax due dates

Houston County Property Tax 2026: Rates, Appeals and Exemptions

By Oleg Kachko · Updated July 13, 2026

Verified July 2026 · By Oleg Kachko · Reviewed for accuracy against primary state and county sources

Houston County property tax costs the typical homeowner about $1,835 a year, on a median home value of $219,800 – an effective rate of about 0.83%. That is below the national average annual bill of $4,271. This page shows you where that number comes from, who actually sets it, the deadline to challenge it, and the exemptions you may be leaving on the table.

Houston County property tax at a Glance

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  • Effective property tax rate: 0.83%
  • Median annual bill: $1,835
  • Median home value: $219,800
  • Who assesses your home: Houston County Board of Tax Assessors
  • Appeal deadline: no single fixed date – see below

Houston County property tax: the real numbers

Property tax is the most local tax there is. Two homes of the same value in different counties – sometimes in different towns of the same county – can carry very different bills, because the rate is the sum of every overlapping district that taxes you: the county, the town or city, the school district, and often fire, library or water districts on top. So the houston county property tax figure below is an average across the whole county – your own bill depends on which districts you sit inside.

Figure Houston County National
Median annual property tax bill $1,835 $4,271
Effective property tax rate 0.83% about 0.90%
Median home value $219,800 –

Source: U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey (5-year), the same dataset the Tax Foundation uses. The effective rate is total real-estate taxes paid divided by total owner-occupied home value – so it reflects what people actually pay, not the headline millage rate.

Who actually sets your houston county property tax value

Your assessed value is set by Houston County Board of Tax Assessors. That office does not set your tax rate – the county board, your city, and your school district each set their own, and your bill is the sum. So the assessor can only be argued with about one thing: what your home is worth. That is exactly what an appeal is.

How often your houston county property tax value is reassessed:

County Boards of Tax Assessors value property each year at 40% of fair market value. Under HB 581 (2025), a statewide ‘floating’ homestead exemption caps a homestead’s taxable-value growth at inflation – but each county/city/school district could opt out (many metro areas did), so whether the cap applies depends on your jurisdiction.

How to appeal your houston county property tax assessment

⚠ The deadline — miss it and you usually wait a full year

Georgia does NOT have a fixed appeal date. You get 45 DAYS from the DATE PRINTED ON YOUR ANNUAL NOTICE OF ASSESSMENT (O.C.G.A. 48-5-306 / 48-5-311) to file with the Houston County Board of Tax Assessors. THE CLOCK STARTS WHEN THE COUNTY MAILS IT, NOT WHEN YOU OPEN IT – so if the notice is dated May 15, your deadline is about June 29 no matter when you got round to reading it.

Counties mail notices at different times (most between April and July; by law no later than July 1), which is exactly why there is no single Georgia deadline. Late appeals are NOT accepted. Use state Form PT-311A, or your county’s online portal, and send it to the Houston County Board of Tax Assessors – NOT to the Department of Revenue and NOT to the Tax Commissioner.

WORTH KNOWING: at the moment you file you must pick your route – County Board of Equalization (free, the default, and what most homeowners want), a Hearing Officer, or arbitration. If you pick nothing, you get the Board of Equalization.

Almost every houston county property tax appeal comes down to one claim: the assessor thinks my home is worth more than it really is. Everything below is about proving that.

Do this first, before you file anything: ask for your property record card and read it. A surprising share of assessments are simply wrong on the facts – the wrong square footage, a bathroom you do not have, a finished basement that is bare concrete, a garage that was torn down. Factual errors are the easiest appeals to win, because there is nothing to argue about.

Then build the one thing that actually wins appeals: comparable sales. Find three to five homes near you, as similar as you can get on size, age, and condition, that sold recently for less than your assessed value. Not listings – sales. Not Zillow estimates – recorded sales. Boards ignore opinions and respond to comps.

A successful houston county property tax appeal does not change your tax rate – it lowers the value the rate is applied to, which lowers the bill for as long as the new value stands.

Appeals are heard by the Houston County Board of Tax Assessors. In most places there is a free, informal step first – a conversation or a paper review with the assessor – and it resolves a large share of cases without a hearing. Take it. It costs you nothing and it is the fastest way to win.

One honest warning: an appeal reviews your value, and a review can go up as well as down. That is uncommon when you bring real comparable sales, and it is exactly why you check your comps before you file.

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Where to go: Houston County Board of Tax Assessors.

Houston County property tax exemptions you may qualify for

This is where most homeowners quietly overpay their houston county property tax. Exemptions are almost never applied automatically – you have to claim them, and many people simply never do. It is worth ten minutes of your time to check.

TWO THINGS THAT MAKE GEORGIA DIFFERENT – AND WORTH THE EFFORT. (1) THE 40% RULE: Georgia taxes you on 40% of fair market value (O.C.G.A. 48-5-7), so a home the county says is worth $350,000 has an assessed value of $140,000. Your millage rate is applied to THAT.

(2) THE 3-YEAR FREEZE (the ‘299C’ value protection): if you appeal and WIN a reduction, the new value is LOCKED for three years – the current year plus two more – and the county cannot raise it unless you physically change the property. That makes one successful appeal worth roughly three times the annual saving, which is unusual and is the single strongest reason to appeal in Georgia.

CAUTION: under recent law you (or your representative) generally must ATTEND the hearing and actually WIN a reduction to secure the freeze – and if you already have a 299C freeze, filing a new appeal can REMOVE it and your value could go either way. Ask Houston County Board of Tax Assessors about your 299C status before you file.

EXEMPTIONS: the state homestead exemption is small ($2,000 off assessed value), but MANY GEORGIA COUNTIES OFFER FAR BIGGER LOCAL ONES, including senior and ‘floating’/freeze homesteads that vary county by county – and under HB 581 (2024) counties were allowed to OPT OUT of the new statewide floating cap, so what your neighbour in the next county gets may not be what you get.

Check the local exemptions with Houston County Board of Tax Assessors – this is where most Georgia homeowners leave money on the table.

Homestead: Standard Homestead Exemption (O.C.G.A. 48-5-44): $2,000 off the 40% assessed value for an owner-occupied primary residence (state/county/school, not municipal school or bonds). File with the county tax commissioner/assessor by April 1 (or during the 45-day appeal window). A new statewide ‘floating’ homestead cap (HB 581) also exists but many counties opted out – see the note below.

Senior / over-65: Georgia offers several senior exemptions and most counties add much larger local ones (some fully exempt school taxes at 65). Statewide options include a $4,000 exemption (65+, income under $10,000) and a $10,000 school exemption (62+, income under $10,000), plus a local floating inflation-proof exemption (62+, income under $30,000). Senior benefits vary dramatically by county.

Veteran: Disabled Veterans Exemption (O.C.G.A. 48-5-48): exempts the greater of about $32,500 or the federal maximum under 38 U.S.C. 2102 – currently over $100,000 of assessed value – for a 100% service-connected disabled veteran (and surviving spouses). Applies to all levies. Surviving spouses of servicemembers killed in action or peace officers/firefighters killed in the line of duty get a full exemption.

Disability: Disabled homeowners may qualify for local disability homestead exemptions that vary by county; Georgia’s headline programs are the senior and disabled-veteran exemptions. Check your county’s specific disability exemption.

Common questions about houston county property tax

Why did my houston county property tax bill go up when I did nothing to the house?
Two different things can raise a bill: your assessed value went up, or a taxing district raised its rate. They are separate, and only the first one can be appealed. Your notice will show which changed.

Is it worth appealing my houston county property tax?
Ask one question: would a similar home near mine sell for less than the value the assessor has put on mine? If yes, you have a case, it is usually free to file, and in many places the informal review settles it without a hearing.

Do I need to hire someone to appeal?
No. The informal review and the local board are built for ordinary homeowners to use themselves, and there is normally no fee. Appeal services exist and can be worth it for some people, but you are not required to use one and you should never be told you are.

How is my houston county property tax bill actually calculated?
Your assessed value is multiplied by the combined rate of every district that taxes you, then any exemptions you have claimed are subtracted. That is why two neighbours can pay different amounts on identical homes – one of them claimed an exemption the other never did.

More on Georgia property tax

The bottom line on houston county property tax

Do two things this week. First, pull your property record card and check the facts – square footage, rooms, condition. Second, check whether you are claiming every exemption you are entitled to, because most people are not. If your houston county property tax value looks higher than what a similar home nearby would actually sell for, you have grounds to appeal – and the only thing that can stop you is the deadline above.

Where our houston county property tax figures come from

Informational only. Know Property Tax is not a government agency, not a county assessor, and not a tax-appeal service, and this is not legal, tax, or financial advice. Property tax rates, median bills, exemption amounts, and deadlines change every year, and every property is different. Any figure shown here is illustrative. Confirm your rate, your exemptions, and above all your appeal deadline with the office named on this page before you act.

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