Paulding County HB 581 Homestead Exemption: What Buyers Should Know
October 15, 2026
October 15, 2026
Most buyers look at a listing's last tax bill and treat it as their own future cost. In Paulding County that number reflects three things a buyer doesn't inherit. One is the seller's base-year value under Georgia's floating homestead exemption. Another is the seller's own exemptions. The third is a split between two taxing bodies that made opposite choices about the state's assessment cap.
The county government and the city of Dallas stayed inside the cap. The school district opted out. The school levy is about four times the county's maintenance and operations rate, so for now the larger part of a typical bill sits outside the protection most people assume covers the whole thing. A new state law changes that starting with tax year 2027, but that law faces an unresolved constitutional question.
Georgia's HB 581 created a floating homestead exemption. It limits how much a homesteaded property's assessed value can rise each year to the rate of inflation. Local governments and school districts could opt out "on or before March 1, 2025," as Paulding's 2025 assessment notice explanation put it. The Georgia Secretary of State's opt-out list shows the Paulding County School District filing on February 24, 2025. Paulding County government, Dallas and Hiram do not appear on that list. The Association County Commissioners of Georgia explains that each county, city and school system decided independently. Where a school district opted out, the exemption does not apply to that district's levy, even when the county stayed in.
Here is how the two main pieces of a Paulding bill compare right now.
| Paulding County M&O | Paulding County School District | |
|---|---|---|
| HB 581 status for 2026 | Stayed in | Opted out, filed 2/24/2025 |
| 2025 rate | 4.30 net mills | 17.675 mills |
| 2026 rate | 4.30 net mills, listed as estimated | Unconfirmed, district documents show both 17.675 and 17.800 |
| Assessment cap in 2026 | Inflation, 2.7% | None |
The county's 4.30 figure is a net rate. The gross county M&O rate was 7.02 mills in 2025 and 7.07 in the 2026 estimate, and a local option sales tax rollback brings it down by 2.72 and 2.77 mills. The 2.7% inflation index comes from the Georgia Department of Revenue's 2026 bulletin, based on the December 2025 CPI change. The district's FY2027 budget overview calls 17.800 the "2026 rate," while its digest history lists 17.675 as pending board adoption. Until the final adopted figure is confirmed, the 2026 school rate is best treated as an open question.
Paulding's own FLOST FAQ shows the scale. It runs a $400,000 home through the math: a 40% assessed value of $160,000, multiplied by 4.3 county M&O mills, comes to $688. Apply the 2025 school rate of 17.675 mills to the same $160,000 before any exemptions and you get about $2,828. The capped portion is the smaller one.
The floating exemption does not transfer with the property. In its HB 581 FAQ, ACCG says the exemption is "not portable or transferable." For anyone who acquires the home as a homestead, "the base-year and base-year value will be reset to the year prior to the person's acquisition of the home and to the actual value for the home for such prior year." The one exception ACCG describes is a surviving spouse.
For the county portion of a Paulding home that changes hands, the sequence works like this:
If a home's market value has moved well past its 2024 assessment, the seller's county figure reflects a base the buyer will never receive. On the school side, the seller had no cap to lose, and neither will the buyer before 2027.
The floating exemption limits how fast assessed value grows. It does not limit millage rates. Paulding's recent rate decisions show why that matters.
In 2025 the county set 4.3 mills. Its notice of tax increase described that rate as a 7.58% increase over the rollback rate, which would have been no more than 4.0 mills. 11Alive reported that the increase would add about $44 to the bill on a $368,000 home. The school district kept its nominal 17.675-mill rate for 2025, the same as 2024. That rate was 2.9% above its 17.178-mill rollback rate, which triggered three public hearings that June. The county's 2026 levy history records a 1.96% levy increase with the net rate held at 4.30.
Inside the city of Dallas, a third rate sits on top of those two. The city's 2025 hearing packet proposed 6.5 mills against a 6.33-mill rollback rate, a 4.89% increase. Dallas does not appear on the state's opt-out list, so its city levy falls under the same inflation cap on assessments as the county's. Hiram levies no city property tax, so Hiram homeowners pay county taxes without a city layer. Two homes at the same price, one inside Dallas city limits and one in Hiram, carry different tax structures before either sale closes.
The county did try to shrink its own share. HB 581 also created the Floating Local Option Sales Tax, or FLOST, a 1% sales tax used to reduce the M&O portion of property taxes. Paulding's FAQ estimated about $31 million a year from it and a cut of roughly 67% to the county M&O levy. In its $400,000 example, that would have lowered $688 to about $229. 11Alive reported the money would have reduced property taxes from Paulding County and the towns of Dallas and Braswell.
Voters rejected it on November 4, 2025. According to the county's official results, the measure failed with 10,718 votes against (51.02%) and 10,291 in favor (48.98%). The Department of Revenue's rate chart effective October 1, 2026 still lists Paulding at 7%, the same rate shown in every 2026 quarter. The county's posted November 3, 2026 ballot lists races and three constitutional amendments but no local sales tax question for property tax relief. For now, the 4.30-mill county rate is the one in effect.
On May 11, 2026, Gov. Brian Kemp signed Senate Bill 33, the property tax measure from this year's session. According to ACCG's May 14, 2026 webinar slides, the law:
For Paulding, that would bring the school levy under the inflation cap starting next year. The five-acre limit matters in the outer parts of the county, where acreage tracts are common. On a larger parcel, the cap covers the home and up to five acres.
The Georgia Municipal Association's session recap says the law also makes nearly all cities eligible for FLOST, with voter approval possible "as early as November of this year." It also authorizes a new Local Homestead Option Sales Tax, or LHOST, that could not reach voters until November 2027. Paulding's 2026 ballot has no such question, so the earliest local vote on either tax is still ahead.
There is a caveat. The Georgia Recorder reported that the property tax language replaced the hemp-related text of an existing Senate bill on the session's final day. Rep. Scott Holcomb argued in letters to the governor that the bill is unconstitutional, because revenue-raising bills must start in the House. The research behind this post did not establish how that challenge has turned out, so the 2027 school cap is best treated as current law with an unresolved question attached.
None of the cap math applies until a homestead exemption is on file. Paulding's homestead guide requires the owner's name on the deed and ownership and occupancy as a primary residence as of January 1. The guide, revised in 2024, gives April 1 as the deadline. The Department of Revenue's homestead page says HB 92 now allows filing through the end of the 45-day assessment appeal window. Applications go to 240 Constitution Boulevard, 3rd Floor, in Dallas, or by signed application emailed to [email protected]. The guide notes that some enhanced senior school exemptions require a separate application.
In 2026, Paulding mailed assessment notices on Tuesday, June 2, with an appeal deadline of Friday, July 17. Those notices look different now. Under SB 566, effective for 2026, the notice no longer shows estimated taxes or millage rates. It focuses on appraised value, applied exemptions and appeal options. A new owner's first notice will show the value and exemptions but not the bill.
Does buying a home in Paulding County freeze its assessed value? No. The floating exemption limits yearly increases to inflation once a homestead is on file, and it starts from the year before the purchase. In 2026 that limit applies to the county levy and, inside Dallas, the city levy, but not the school levy. The school levy joins in tax year 2027 under SB 33.
Does the seller's homestead exemption carry over at closing? According to ACCG, no. It ends with that owner, except for an eligible surviving spouse.
Is a sales tax cut to county property taxes coming? Not on the November 3, 2026 ballot. The 2025 FLOST failed, and any new FLOST or LHOST would need another vote.
Why is the 2026 school rate uncertain? The district's own documents list two figures, 17.675 and 17.800 mills, and the research found no confirmation of which one was adopted.
When you're weighing a Paulding home, the last tax bill on the listing is a starting point and nothing more. I'm glad to sit down with you, look at a specific property's assessment history and its taxing districts, and show you how the reset at closing will work for that house. Clay Thomas is here when you're ready. Let's Connect.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
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