According to Fulton County Commission Chairman Robb Pitts, he worked with the Fulton County Tax Assessor’s Office to clarify that eligible senior citizens will automatically receive the new property tax exemptions! As a result, you will no longer need to timely apply for these new property tax exemptions, and they will be automatically applied. The issue was that the statute seemed to require the filing of an application to give the Tax Commissioner of Fulton County sufficient information to determine if you were eligible for the new property tax exemption. Chairman Pitts found that those that had a current homestead exemption had already provided all the information the Tax Commissioner would need to make this determination. As a result, this filing requirement is no longer needed. See the Press Release from Robb Pitts, Chairman of the Commissioners of Fulton County.
On January 20, 2026, in order to verify this change in policy, we called the Fulton County Tax Assessor’s Office [(404) 612-6440, ext. 4 (Homestead Exemption)]. We were told that their website had not yet been updated, but that they were following Commission Chairman Robb Pitts’ Press Release, and they were no longer requiring anyone to separately apply for the new Senior Homestead Exemption.
Fulton County voters recently approved an additional Homestead Exemption beginning in 2026 for those that are aged 65 – 69 and an even higher exemption for those aged 70 or more from the Fulton County Schools portion of your property taxes on your primary residence.
This additional Fulton County Schools Senior Homestead Exemption on your primary residence is as follows:
Ages 65 – 69: 25% of the property’s assessed value
Ages 70 and over: 50% of the property’s assessed value
In addition, you must have had a homestead exemption on your primary residence within Fulton Schools jurisdiction for 5 of the last 6 years.
Interestingly, the Homestead Exemption on your primary residence has become a bigger and bigger deal in Fulton County, GA over the past several years. Traditionally, the Homestead Exemption was a simple reduction on your annual property taxes on your primary residence. It was not a huge benefit, but a nice to have. Additional exemptions also existed for seniors who met both age / disability and low-income requirements. But over the past several years, we have additional homestead related benefits. First, beginning for tax year 2026, we have this new senior exemption for those at least age 65 as of January 1st of the tax year and satisfy the 5 of the past 6 years with a homestead exemption within the Fulton Schools jurisdiction, and this exemption is not subject to any income limitations. Second, the Homestead Exemption is being used as the mechanism to cap at least part of your property tax calculation in Fulton County so it cannot increase more than 3% in any one year. No Homestead Exemption, no 3% increase cap. For more information on the 3% increase cap, see our prior Newsletter: Don’t Forget This Important Step After Transferring Your Primary Residence to Your Revocable Living Trust!
For more information on the new senior Homestead Exemption, go to the Fulton County Board of Assessors page and for an informative flyer on this topic, see New Senior Homestead Exemptions for Fulton and Atlanta Public Schools.
If you would like to discuss this or other aspects of your estate plan in more detail, please call us at (678) 720-0750 or e-mail us at info@morgandisalvo.com to schedule a consultation. We look forward to meeting you.
