When you close on a house in Brookhaven, the city's homestead freeze stays on the books but your seller's protection does not come with it. Under the city charter, the frozen base value belongs to the "most recent owner" of a homestead. A buyer who files for the exemption starts a new base at the current assessed value, while the owner next door may still be taxed on a value set ten years ago. In 2026 that difference grew. In June, the Brookhaven City Council voted unanimously to raise the city's operating millage from 2.74 to 3.85 mills, which the AJC called a 40% increase.
The headline was about the rate. For a buyer, the bigger issue is the base the rate applies to, and how quickly that base is moving away from long-time owners toward new ones.
The Clause in the 2012 Charter
Brookhaven incorporated in 2012, and the charter act passed by the General Assembly included a homestead freeze for city taxes. It exempts "the amount by which the current year assessed value of that homestead exceeds the base year assessed value." It defines the base year as "the taxable year immediately preceding the taxable year in which the exemption under this section is first granted to the most recent owner of such homestead."
The phrase "most recent owner" means the freeze follows the owner, not the house. Two more clauses bear on renovation and land. The freeze does not apply to taxes on improvements made after January 1 of the base year, and the base value is adjusted if land is added to or removed from the homestead.
The exemption also has to be earned. DeKalb County's Tax Commissioner says homestead exemptions are not automatic and not transferable between homes. To qualify for the current year, you must own and occupy the home as your primary residence on January 1 and file an application.
What the City's Own Numbers Show
At its June 9, 2026 millage hearing, the city presented an example homeowner whose value has been frozen at $500,000. It compared that owner with the same house at its current, unfrozen value.
| City illustration | 2022 | 2024 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frozen market value | $500,000 | $500,000 | $500,000 |
| Same house, not frozen | $1,026,996 | $1,188,318 | $1,297,700 |
| City operating tax paid by frozen owner | $433 | $411 | $578 |
| Annual savings from the freeze | $578 | $754 | $1,395 |
| Effective city millage for frozen owner | 1.174 | 0.967 | 1.128 |
The city says the $500,000 figure is for illustration only. Even so, the pattern is clear. In 2026 the freeze saved the example owner $1,395 in city operating tax, more than twice the $578 the owner actually paid. That owner's effective city rate was 1.128 mills, while the posted rate was 3.85. A buyer who files for homestead on a house worth about $1.3 million today starts from that current value. In the first year, the new owner's city bill reflects nearly the full posted rate, minus the flat homestead exemptions.
The city's own takeaway, in the same deck, was that its tax rate "will increase at a rate that is consistent with inflation during the period of the homestead exemption freeze." That holds for an owner who has been frozen for years. A new owner starts that clock in the year they file.
Who Carries the Rate Increase
Once you see who is taxed at full value, the reason for the rate increase makes more sense. The frozen portion of the city's tax base has grown every year. In the city's comparative digest, the freeze exemption was about $519 million of assessed value in 2020. By the preliminary 2026 digest it was about $1.374 billion, roughly a fifth of a gross digest of about $7.2 billion. Counting the homestead exemptions as well, the city says $2.0 billion of assessed residential value is not taxed.
The city then had a revenue gap. The FY 2026 budget, adopted in November 2025, assumed 3.540 mills. The preliminary 2026 digest showed that rate would come up $407,995 short. City staff recommended 3.850 mills, citing "the increased level of commercial property appeals" and uncertainty in collecting property tax revenue. The same presentation said the city's special tax district around I-85 and North Druid Hills had lost 12% of its assessed value to commercial appeals since 2024.
The increase falls hardest on recent buyers. Frozen homesteads absorb almost none of the increase in value. Commercial owners have been appealing their assessments down. The rate goes up to cover the gap, and it lands with full force on properties whose assessed value is still near market value. That includes every house bought recently enough that its owner's base year is new. Net city operating taxes levied rose 49.31% from 2025 to 2026 on the city's schedule.
City Manager Christian Sigman put the effect at an extra $355 a year for a homesteaded property with an $800,000 fair market value, according to the AJC. That figure is an average-style estimate. A homeowner frozen at a 2014 value and a buyer who closed in 2025 can both own $800,000 houses and see very different results on the same street.
For context, the city says Brookhaven will still have the second-lowest overall homestead millage in DeKalb County after the increase. The city freeze is real protection. It protects the owner who has held the house longest.
The Larger Line Has No Cap
The city portion is the smaller part of a Brookhaven tax bill. In the city's breakdown of a homestead bill, DeKalb County school operations at 22.780 mills made up 56.48% of total millage. The school district's FY2027 budget letter recommends keeping that 22.78 rate.
Georgia's 2024 law HB 581 created a statewide floating homestead exemption. It caps a homestead's yearly assessed value growth at an inflation index, starting from a 2024 base, and the Georgia Department of Revenue says the first index applies to the 2026 digest. Local governments could opt out, and the bodies that tax a Brookhaven homestead made different choices:
- DeKalb County School District: opted out unanimously on February 10, 2025, Decaturish reported. School taxes get no floating cap.
- DeKalb County: announced on February 12, 2025 that it intended to opt out, then opted in at its February 25, 2025 meeting, Decaturish reported. The county also has its own base-year freeze. The Tax Commissioner says it applies automatically to new homestead applicants, covers county taxes only, and does not extend to city, school or state taxes.
- City of Brookhaven: stayed opted in, Decaturish reported. City officials told Rough Draft Atlanta that the city's zero-growth freeze is more protective than the state's inflation cap.
So the line on the bill with the most protection, the city's, is also the smallest. The largest line, schools, has no growth cap for anyone. For long-time owners, the school levy is the part of the bill that can still rise. For a buyer, both the city and school lines start near market value in the first homestead year.
The Dates Between Now and Thanksgiving
These dates in the next few weeks bear on this:
- Early voting through October 30, Election Day November 3. DeKalb's sample ballot for the November 3, 2026 election includes a City of Brookhaven question under HB 1307. It asks whether to raise the city homestead exemption for senior citizens and disabled persons from $160,000 to $200,000. If more than half of the votes are yes, the change takes effect January 1, 2027. The DeKalb Voter Registration and Elections office lists early voting from October 13 to October 30.
- November 2, 6 p.m. The city has invited residents to a town hall that includes a look at the proposed 2027 budget. That budget will set the revenue the next millage rate has to cover.
- November 16. The second installment of 2026 DeKalb property tax bills is due. The Tax Commissioner mailed nearly 260,000 bills on August 14. If you are buying this fall, the 2026 bill your seller is paying may reflect a base year far older than the one you will start with.
A Few Direct Questions
If I buy a house whose owner has been frozen for years, can I keep their base value? The city charter defines the base year as the year before the exemption is first granted to the most recent owner of the homestead, so the seller's base year does not carry over to a buyer.
Does the freeze cover a renovation I do after moving in? The charter says the freeze does not apply to taxes on improvements made after January 1 of the base year.
Will HB 581 limit my school taxes? The DeKalb County School District opted out in February 2025, so the state's floating exemption does not apply to school taxes.
This post is general information about how Brookhaven's and DeKalb's property tax rules work, not legal, tax or financial advice. Please confirm your own exemptions, base year and estimated bill with the DeKalb County Tax Commissioner or a qualified tax professional.
When we help a client compare Brookhaven houses, we read the seller's tax bill to see what base year it reflects, so the carrying cost you plan for is the one you will actually pay. If you are weighing a purchase here and want that calculation done before you make an offer, the team at Patti Junger can walk you through it. Request a complimentary market valuation and private consultation.
