The DeKalb County Property Appraisal Department mails an Annual Assessment Notice each spring. You have 45 days from the date on it.
β Sales-Led Cases β recent comparable sales from Decatur, Brookhaven, Dunwoody, Tucker and across the county
β Form PT-311A, Filled In β built for the DeKalb County Board of Assessors
β Tax Consultant Reviewed β a pro checks your case before you file
β $129 Per Property β flat, per tax year. Georgia charges no filing fee.
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The DeKalb County Property Appraisal Department mails an Annual Assessment Notice each spring. You have 45 days from the date on it.
β Sales-Led Cases β recent comparable sales from Decatur, Brookhaven, Dunwoody, Tucker and across the county
β Form PT-311A, Filled In β built for the DeKalb County Board of Assessors
β Tax Consultant Reviewed β a pro checks your case before you file
β $129 Per Property β flat, per tax year. Georgia charges no filing fee.
DeKalb County carries roughly a quarter of a million taxable parcels, and the Property Appraisal Department values them with mass appraisal models. Those models are good at neighborhoods and bad at houses. They do not know your foundation, your roof, or that the comparable two streets over was gutted to the studs and yours was not.
Georgia assesses at 40% of fair market value (O.C.G.A. Β§ 48-5-7). The ratio is fixed statewide, so a DeKalb County appeal argues the fair market value on the notice, not the ratio applied to it.
You have 45 days from the date on your Annual Assessment Notice to appeal (O.C.G.A. Β§ 48-5-311). DeKalb mails in the spring β in the 2026 cycle notices went out in late May and the deadline was July 13, 2026. The date on your own notice is the one that counts, and filing instructions are printed on the back of it.
DeKalb runs assessment appeals and exemption applications on the same deadline, so if you also need to claim or correct a homestead, senior, or disabled veteran exemption, do both in the same window.
DeKalb is a county of sharp micro-markets. Druid Hills, Decatur, Dunwoody, Stonecrest and unincorporated south DeKalb do not move together, and a model that pulls comparables across one of those lines lands nowhere near reality. Older housing stock compounds it: two houses of identical square footage and identical build year can be twenty years apart in actual condition, and the model sees one number.
Roughly 30% to 60% of properties nationally are over-assessed. About 5% of owners appeal.
Georgia allows appeals on market value and on uniformity β that comparable properties are assessed lower than yours. Sales are the strongest evidence a Board of Equalization sees, so we lead with sales and keep uniformity as the backup.
Under O.C.G.A. Β§ 48-5-299(c), a value changed through appeal is generally frozen for the following two tax years. One DeKalb appeal, won once, can hold three years of value.
We pull recent sales from MLS and public records, compare them against the fair market value on your DeKalb notice, and show you the gap and the annual savings. You get the comparable sales, your completed Form PT-311A, an assessor negotiation script, Board of Equalization talking points, and a tax consultant review. $129 per property, per tax year. You file it yourself, and Georgia charges nothing to file.
Sign up and TaxDrop handles the paperwork, the evidence, and the filing. It takes less than 3 minutes to enroll.
Step 1: Read the notice date.
Your Annual Assessment Notice comes from the DeKalb County Property Appraisal Department. The 45 days run from the date printed on it.
Step 2: Check the fair market value.
The notice shows a fair market value and the 40% assessed value beneath it. The appeal targets the fair market value.
Step 3: Build the sales case.
Recent sales of genuinely comparable homes in your submarket. TaxDrop One assembles them from MLS and public records.
Step 4: File Form PT-311A.
Online, by mail, or in person before the 45 days run out. Instructions are on the back of your notice.
Step 5: Settlement conference.
Georgia requires the assessors to offer a conference to try to resolve the appeal. Many DeKalb cases end here.
Step 6: Board of Equalization.
If DeKalb does not move, a three-member panel of local property owners hears the case.
Step 7: The freeze.
A value reduced on appeal is generally held for the following two tax years under O.C.G.A. Β§ 48-5-299(c).
Key Dates
Filing Fee
What You File
Where It Goes
Assessment Basis
Official resources:
A: 45 days from the date on your Annual Assessment Notice (O.C.G.A. Β§ 48-5-311). DeKalb mails in the spring β in the 2026 cycle notices went out in late May with a July 13, 2026 deadline. Work from the date on your own notice.
A: Not for that year, unless you are still inside the 45 days from your spring Annual Assessment Notice. The tax bill is the end of the process, not the start. Set your case up now so it is ready when the next notice arrives.
A: No. There is no filing fee for a DeKalb County appeal. TaxDrop One is $129 per property, per tax year.
A: Georgia's statewide assessment ratio (O.C.G.A. Β§ 48-5-7). Property is assessed at 40% of fair market value and taxed at the local millage rate. The appeal challenges the fair market value, not the 40%.
A: Yes, and you should. DeKalb runs exemption applications and appeals on the same deadline, and an application filed after it will not be reflected on that year's tax bill. Senior, disabled veteran and disabled resident exemptions run on the same clock.
A: Usually market value. Both are valid Georgia grounds, but comparable sales are what a Board of Equalization weighs most heavily.
A: Generally yes. O.C.G.A. Β§ 48-5-299(c) freezes a value set through appeal for the following two tax years, with limited exceptions such as substantial improvements to the property.
A: An appeal reopens the fair market value, so in principle it can move either way. It is uncommon when the case rests on solid comparable sales, and TaxDrop One tells you up front whether the sales support a reduction.
A: No β TaxDrop One is self-guided. You file your own PT-311A. We supply the comparable sales, the completed form, the negotiation script, the Board of Equalization talking points, and a tax consultant review.
A: Yes. TaxDrop One covers rental and investment property across DeKalb, including Tucker, Clarkston, Stone Mountain and unincorporated south DeKalb. Non-homestead property carries no floating homestead protection, so the full over-assessment hits the return.
A: Enter your DeKalb County address at TaxDrop.com and you will see the gap between your notice value and what recent sales support before you pay anything.