DeKalb County announces proposed property tax increase, sets three public hearings

DECATUR, GA– The DeKalb County Governing Authority has approved a proposed 2026 millage rate of 11.635 mills and will hold three public hearings to allow the public an opportunity to express their opinions. 

The public hearings will be held at 178 Sams Street, Decatur, (Multipurpose Room A1201) at the following dates and times:

• Tuesday, June 23 at 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. (2 hearings)
• Tuesday, July 7 at 10 a.m.

When the current total digest of taxable property is prepared, Official Code of Georgia Annotated § 48-5-32.1 requires a rollback millage rate must be computed that will produce the same total revenue on the current year’s digest that last year’s millage rate would have produced had no reassessments occurred.

For 2026, DeKalb County’s rollback millage rate is calculated at 11.518 mills. The tentative millage rate of 11.635 mills is 0.117 mills above the rollback millage rate, an increase of 1.02 percent. Final approval of the 2026 millage rate is scheduled following the public hearing on July 7, officials stated in a June 11 press release. 

DeKalb County has a total of six basic tax levies. The required calculation of the rollback rate only includes taxes levied countywide for the General and Hospital Funds and does not reflect the other four levies. The combined millage rate of all six tax levies has remained flat at 20.81 mills since 2015. The adopted budget for 2026 proposed a combined 2026 millage rate for all six levies at 21.31 mills—a 0.5 mill increase. 

Taxpayers in DeKalb with homestead exemptions on their property also qualify for property tax relief from the Equalized Homestead Option Sales Tax (EHOST). For 2026, taxpayers with homestead exemptions would receive 82.75 percent EHOST tax relief on the General and Hospital Funds tax levies based on the tentative millage rate.

Additionally, qualified homestead property owners are eligible for a base assessment exemption that offsets any increase in county property taxes due to increases in the property’s assessed value.