Upson County Tax Commissioner Press Release

2026 Property Tax – What We Can Expect This Year

Andy Chastain Tax Comissioner

By Sept. 8^th, our governing authorities (County, City, & School) will have adopted their 2026 property tax millage rates. We’ve recently seen each one advertising their proposed M&O (Maintenance & Operations) millage rate, however property is taxed on other millage rates such as Joint Projects and Unincorporated Services as well, which gives us a “total” millage rate applied to property either located in the incorporated (City of Thomaston) area of the county, or in the unincorporated area. And that total is what’s reflected on our tax bills, due to be mailed out in mid-September. In those proposed totals we’ll see two millage increases from the County & the School which would mean a sure tax increase for most property owners this year.

However, we have three property tax relief measures this year that will help offset those increases; with most homestead taxpayers paying less taxes than last year.

The first one; being the most significant, is the HTRG (Homestead Tax Relief Grant) provided by the State. This is the same relief we received in 2023. It’s an additional $18,000 tax exemption for all homestead taxpayers. It will be applied to County, School, & City M&O taxes. For a homeowner in the unincorporated area of the county that total will be about $412 and in the incorporated area and $443 for those in the City.

Our second relief will be the PTRLOST (Property Tax Relief Local Option Sales Tax), formerly known as FLOST. This tax relief was not scheduled to take effect until the 2027 tax year but the State amended the legislation for the total paid out to the county from Jan 1st-June 30th of this year, to be applied to 2026 property tax. This relief will be applied to ALL property in Upson, including homestead, commercial, rental, etc. A $200,000 homestead property in unincorporated Upson will see an estimated relief of $101.00. The same homestead property in the City will realize an estimated relief of $243.00. This is the result of over $2.2 million dollars collected from that particular sales tax this year. This relief should more than double next year because we’ll be using a full year’s worth of PTRLOST.

Finally, our third tax relief will be the HB581 exemption that took effect in 2025. This exemption will apply to homestead property only and will vary depending on the amount a property increased from it’s 2025 value. For example, a value increase of $20,000 will realize an estimated savings of $64 in the County or $77 in the City.

A $200,000 homestead, under age 62 paid approximately $1,938 in the unincorporated area in 2025 and their bill this year, counting the HTRG & PTRLOST relief will be an estimated $1,623; not counting any extra relief due to HB581. That same home in the City paid about $2,214 in 2025 and will be an estimated $1,685 in 2026.

Note: According to the GA Dept of Revenue and other state officials, HTRG is only available this year for property tax relief. There are no plans to bring it back for tax year 2027.