Decisions made over several years have led us to this point.

In 2022, the previous Board of Assessors voted to keep property value assessments at their 2021 level in an effort to lessen the impact of increased cost of living, inflation and other impacts to the economy on Whitfield County residents. This coincided with dramatic increases in property values nationally over the past four years.

At the same time, we all experienced a world health crisis and resulting economic crises. In light of these national and global factors, the state of Georgia issued some one-time tax exemptions that have now expired.

Our local government entities also strove to consider taxpayers as they assessed and set millage rates to fund local services. After three years, we must realign appraised property values with true fair market values to ensure our tax process is in compliance with state law and our local regulations. 

While painful, the decision is necessary. When our property values are not accurate, we risk fines of $5 a parcel, or over $200,000 per year assessed by the Georgia Department of Revenue.

The Whitfield County Tax Assessors assess roughly 40,500 parcels of residential, agricultural, commercial and industrial property according to the best available data and fair market value to determine property values and create a tax digest. The tax digest is a summary of values of all property types within the county. The appraisers follow Georgia Procedures Manual 560-11-10-.09(1)(a) to assess these parcels in Whitfield County.

The Whitfield County Board of Assessors assigns a value to parcels based on fair market value to create a tax digest each year. The Board of Assessors approves the tax digest and sends the information to Whitfield County, the City of Dalton, the City of Varnell, Whitfield County Schools and Dalton Public Schools. Those taxing entities then set a millage rate that allows them to meet their approved budget and provide community services.

Your tax bill is calculated based on the Board of Assessors property digest assessment and the taxing entities’ millage rates. 

A tax bill starts with the assessed property value provided by the tax assessors office. The Whitfield County Tax Commissioner uses the following formula to calculate your tax bill: 

Property value-exemptions x millage rates = property tax bill. 

For more information on property tax billing, visit the Whitfield County Tax Commission website. 

The sales prices of homes in your area determine your fair market value. Sales prices have steadily increased over the past few years. Although prices were increasing each year, the previous Board of Assessors voted to keep property value assessments at their 2021 level in 2022 in an effort to lessen the impact of increased cost of living, inflation and other impacts to the economy on Whitfield County residents.

Your assessed value is likely to be  higher than it was for 2023 as it contains normal property value increases. Another factor for homesteaded properties is the loss of the one-time Property Tax Relief Grant that was only granted for 2023.

An amended 2024 tax digest was approved by the new Whitfield County Board of Assessors in January 2025. Property owners will receive an amended 2024 assessment notice showing the revised value of their property based on fair-market values. The amended 2024 digest will include an increase in the assessed value of many properties, compared to previous digests, to more accurately reflect actual property values and comply with state law.

An increase in assessed value does not directly correlate to an increase in your property taxes, because many factors determine the final tax bill. The Board of Assessors will work with the county commissioners, city councils and local school boards to provide them with the information they need to finalize their millage rates for 2024. Those decisions will lead to a tax bill to be sent out later in 2025. 

You can join our Tax Help email list to receive the latest timeline updates in your inbox.

An amended 2024 property tax bill will be determined once Whitfield County, the City of Dalton, the City of Varnell, Whitfield County Schools and Dalton Public Schools set a millage rate.

Your amended 2024 tax bill will be calculated based on the amended 2024 tax digest and the millage rates set by these entities. The notice of your amended 2024 assessed value is not a bill. It is a notice of your updated assessed value. 

You will receive an updated 2024 tax bill after your amended 2024 property assessment. 

If you feel the property value on your amended 2024 assessment notice is inaccurate, you can file an appeal at the assessor’s office or online at whitfieldassessor.com. 

These amended notice values will replace the values used to calculate your temporary 2024 tax bill as well as the 2024 assessment notice values dated June 21, 2024.

The temporary 2024 bills should have already been paid. Many people pay their property taxes through an escrow with their mortgage company.

The amended 2024 tax bills will be sent based on the amended property assessments.  

In the event that the amended 2024 tax bills result in a lower tax than was billed to you in the temporary 2024 bills, you will receive a refund of that amount. In the event that the amended 2024 tax bills result in a higher tax than was billed to you in the temporary 2024 bills, you will owe the increased amount due. 

A temporary collection order was approved and temporary bills were sent to ensure the local governments had enough funding to continue providing services. Your temporary tax bill was based on the temporary digest. 

As the Whitfield County Board of Assessors works to ensure the property values are accurate, a tax digest for 2024 was approved by the Board of Assessors in June of 2024. Due to litigation, the June 2024 tax digest was never approved by the Department of Revenue.  

As a part of that litigation, a temporary digest for 2024 was created and bills were prepared based on that temporary digest. This resulted in two tax bills for 2024: 

1. The temporary 2024 tax bill you received in December 2024. 

2. The amended 2024 tax bill you will receive in 2025. 

Any discrepancies between the temporary 2024 tax bill and the amended 2024 tax bill will be shown on the amended, final 2024 tax bill to be mailed later this year (2025).

If you overpaid, you will be refunded. If you underpaid, you will owe the difference. 

Taxes pay for the government services you rely on such as schools, road maintenance and emergency services. Without collecting taxes, the school districts and the county and city governments would be unable to deliver services. 

A court instructed the Tax Commissioner to estimate 2024 tax bills based on 2023 bills plus 10% so we could continue operating while the Board of Assessors determined an amended 2024 digest based on real property values.  

Until millage rates are determined, we do not know if an individual property owner will receive a refund. We believe some properties will be eligible for a refund, while others will not.

The best way to ensure this does not happen again is for the properties to be assessed at fair market value every year. Our current tax procedures, outlined below, must be followed: 

1. The Board of Assessors approves a tax digest based on fair-market property assessments. 

2. The taxing entities receive the approved digest to set their millage rates. 

3. The tax commissioner determines tax bills and collects taxes. 

In December, we welcomed a performance review audit from the Georgia Department of Revenue to review our policies and procedures and affirm the necessity of safeguarding our tax procedures in compliance with state law and local regulations. We hope to receive the audit’s recommendations soon and are implementing safeguards to ensure tax assessments function properly moving forward.