(MAY 2, 2025) -- A voter-approved referendum and action under the Gold Dome during the 2025 Legislative Session are forcing changes to how Notices of Assessment are calculated and formatted.

Due to the changes, Cherokee County’s Notices of Assessment for the 2025 tax year are expected to be delayed until mid-June. While mid-June is the estimate, Chief Appraiser Steve Swindell told county and city leadership that his office would meet the statutory deadline of July 1.

Historically, the Cherokee County Tax Assessor’s Office mails more than 100,000 assessment notices by the second week in May. The Tax Assessor’s Office appraises all property within the boundaries of Cherokee County, and the office estimates that more than 118,000 assessment notices will be sent this year.

“All of these changes have put a burden on the normal schedule of operations, and tax assessor’s offices across the state are trying to figure out how to make the changes work all together in the software system. We are beholden to the state software system to properly apply exemption calculations for the Notices of Assessment and formulate the tax digest,” Swindell said. “We have been working with our professional organizations, the state Department of Revenue, the Association County Commissioners of Georgia, and others to make sure we are implementing the laws correctly.”

The Georgia General Assembly addressed several bills related to property taxes and assessments this past session, and voters approved a statewide homestead freeze in November 2024.

Cherokee County and the cities of Woodstock and Holly Springs already had homestead freezes in place. The Cherokee County School District opted out of the homestead freeze, which the legislation allowed local jurisdictions to do.

Tax Assessors are charged with using the best-case scenario for each homesteaded property. Changes caused by recent legislation coupled with the creation of the Statewide Floating Homestead exemption have caused complications in correctly calculating the new exemption in combination with all existing local and statewide exemptions, including the Conservation Use Valuation Assessment (CUVA) program for larger acreage farm tracts. 

“The Cherokee County Tax Assessors are committed to assuring these calculations are absolutely correct before mailing the notices,” Swindell said.

One of the bills passed in the 2025 General Assembly requires different language on Notices of Assessment – the Georgia Department of Revenue has provided three forms, meaning assessment notices for some properties may look different depending on circumstances.

Taxing jurisdictions are required to report a rollback rate to the Tax Assessor’s office to be included on the Notice of Assessment. In Cherokee County, there are nine taxing jurisdictions. One notice is used if all entities on that particular assessment notice report, a different notice is used if none of the entities report, and a third form is used if some report and some do not.