"Read the room." Rough Draft Atlanta reported that speakers kept repeating that phrase on June 23, 2026, when about 150 people filled Brookhaven's council chambers and roughly 100 more watched from the first floor of City Centre. They had come to oppose a large jump in the city's property tax rate. The council passed it unanimously anyway. City Manager Christian Sigman told the council that the city's freeze on homesteaded residential properties had forced the increase.
If you are buying in Brookhaven, that sentence explains how your own tax bill works. The freeze that protects long-time owners also pushed the rate up, and the higher rate lands most heavily on whoever bought most recently.
The number on the seller's bill
Most buyers look up the current owner's tax bill during a home search and use it in their monthly budget. In Brookhaven, the city portion of that bill describes the seller's tax situation, and you won't inherit it.
The city's own property tax explainer says homesteaded properties "have their assessments frozen from the time of purchase or from the City's incorporation in 2012," whichever is more recent. Someone who has owned since before 2012 pays city tax on a value set when the city was founded. Your freeze starts from the day you buy.
DeKalb County runs a separate freeze for county taxes. The DeKalb Tax Commissioner says that county freeze does not cover school, city or state taxes, and that new homestead applicants receive it automatically along with their exemption. The Tax Commissioner also says a homestead exemption does not transfer when the owner moves. You have to file your own application, and you can't count on your lender or closing attorney to file it for you.
So two identical houses on the same street can carry two very different city taxable values. Brookhaven's 2026 rate decision shows how big that difference has become.
How a freeze turned into a 40% rate increase
Brookhaven held its operating millage at 2.740 every year from 2020 through 2025. For 2026 it set the rate at 3.850. That is the 40% increase the AJC reported in June.
The city's own digest table, presented at its June 2026 public hearing, shows why. Each year, a growing share of assessed value is shielded by the freeze.
City of Brookhaven tax digest | 2020 | 2025 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
Real property, assessed | $4.61 billion | $6.63 billion | $7.07 billion |
Value exempted by the freeze | $519 million | $1.23 billion | $1.37 billion |
Net city operating levy | $10.58 million | $13.43 million | $20.05 million |
From 2020 to 2026, the value removed by the freeze grew to more than two and a half times its earlier size. Add the basic and senior homestead exemptions, and the city reports about $2.0 billion of assessed residential value that its 2026 operating rate does not touch. At a flat rate, revenue grew only 2.86% from 2024 to 2025. At the new rate, the 2026 levy is up 49.31% over 2025.
The increase depended on an earlier council vote. Brookhaven's charter used to cap the rate at 3.35 mills. Going higher required a council resolution and approval from a majority of voters in a referendum. Rough Draft reported that the council removed that cap by ordinance on November 17, 2025, with Sigman arguing that rising service costs combined with the freeze made current service levels unsustainable under the cap. The 2026 rate of 3.850 is above the old ceiling.
Sigman said the new money would go toward 911 fees, building maintenance, health insurance, contracted services and park maintenance. Council member John Funny said the extra revenue would maintain city services, not expand them.
Who the new rate actually lands on
The city's hearing presentation includes its own example of a homeowner whose city value is frozen at $500,000. By 2026, the city calculates that the same house would be worth $1,297,700 without the freeze.
Here is what the city says that frozen owner pays in city operating tax:
- 2025, at 2.740 mills: $411
- 2026, at 3.850 mills: $578
- 2026 savings from the freeze, per the city: $1,395
The city's own conclusion is that its rate "will increase at a rate that is consistent with inflation during the period of the homestead exemption freeze." That holds for the owner in the example. Their city bill went up $167, and their effective city rate after the freeze and exemption is 1.128 mills, which is lower than the 1.243 they paid in the 2013 to 2021 period.
A buyer who closes on that same house today has no gap between frozen value and market value. Their freeze starts at the current value, so the full 3.850 mills applies to a taxable base much closer to market. The $1,395 "savings" in the city's example is roughly the extra city tax the new owner pays compared with the seller.
Owners of non-homestead property, such as rentals and second homes, get no freeze at all. The city estimated the increase on a non-homestead property with a fair market value of $1,575,000 at about $764.46.
Keep the scale in mind. On a Brookhaven homestead bill for tax year 2025, the city operating rate was 6.79% of the total millage. DeKalb school operations, at 22.780 mills, were 56.48%. Even after the increase, the city expects to keep the second-lowest total homestead millage in DeKalb County, behind Dunwoody, which came in at 40.165 to Brookhaven's 40.335 in FY2025.
The school line, and why 2027 changes it
Georgia's HB 581 created a statewide floating homestead exemption starting in 2025. It caps a homestead's taxable value at its base-year value plus inflation and substantial improvements, and the law states that the exemption does not transfer to a later owner. Local governments could opt out. Brookhaven chose not to opt out in January 2025, and Rough Draft reported Mayor John Park's view that the city's existing freeze was more beneficial to homeowners. The DeKalb County School District did opt out. Its filing appears on the Georgia Secretary of State's HB 581 list with a February 28, 2025 receipt date. Decaturish reported that the board was concerned participation could cost nearly 10% of annual tax revenue over five years.
That opt-out ends next year. Senate Bill 33, the Homeownership Opportunity and Market Equalization Act of 2026, makes the statewide base-year homestead exemption mandatory for all political subdivisions. Governor Kemp signed it on May 11, 2026. A law-firm summary of the session describes it as capping homestead values "until sale" statewide as of the 2027 tax year. Rough Draft's September coverage put it plainly: local taxing jurisdictions could previously opt out, "but no more."
Today, the school portion is the one large line on a Brookhaven bill where a new buyer and a long-time neighbor are taxed on the same basis. Starting with tax year 2027, the largest share of the bill also gets a base year tied to each owner. Long-time owners will see that line grow more slowly than market values. A buyer's school base will start from the year they first qualify. The gap between the seller's bill and the buyer's bill is set to grow.
The paperwork after closing
The friction shows up in two places: who pays this year's bill, and when your own exemption begins.
- The bill you inherit at closing. The Tax Commissioner's tax bill guidance says DeKalb mails bills to the owner of record on January 1, and also to the new owner if the deed changed after that date. It tells new owners to check their closing statement or ask their closing attorney, mortgage company or escrow agent who is responsible for payment. The 2026 bills were mailed August 14. The second installment is due November 16, 2026.
- Your own homestead. Eligibility depends on living in the home as your primary residence on January 1. For 2026, the Tax Commissioner accepted online applications from January 1 through April 1 and processed later filings for the following year. The county freeze is tied to that same April 1 deadline.
- Your freeze date. Brookhaven's city freeze runs from the time of purchase. A buyer who closes this winter and files on time begins building their own frozen base, while a buyer who closes in May has already missed the cutoff for that year.
A few questions buyers ask
Can I take over the seller's frozen value? No. DeKalb's Tax Commissioner says homestead exemptions are not transferable and must be applied for again at a new home. The statewide exemption under HB 581 also does not transfer to a later owner.
What is the senior exemption question from the November 3 ballot?HB 1307 asked Brookhaven voters whether to raise the city's homestead exemption for senior citizens and disabled persons from $160,000 to $200,000. It applies to city taxes only, and if approved it takes effect January 1, 2027. The wording appears in DeKalb County's sample ballot. The city presented it as a way to ease the effect of the rate increase.
Does Brookhaven also levy a separate bond rate? Yes. Brookhaven levies a separate general obligation bond rate to repay the parks bonds voters approved in 2018. The city set it at 0.460 mills for 2026, down from 0.470 in 2025.
This is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Please confirm the details of your own exemption, proration and bill with the DeKalb Tax Commissioner, your closing attorney or a tax professional.
If you are weighing a Brookhaven home and want to see what the tax bill is likely to look like in your first year as owner, compared with what the seller pays now, Laura Dew is glad to go through the numbers with you before you make an offer. Let's Connect.
