Fulton County staff outline rollout plan for House Bill 92 changes to property tax notices and homestead filing window

Fulton County staff told commissioners on April 16 they are working to implement changes from the 2025 state legislative cleanup to property tax law known as House Bill 92, and described an accelerated programming and testing schedule to ensure assessment notices and tax bills are ready on time.

Why it matters: HB 92 alters how homestead exemptions and rollback/estimated tax notices are presented and creates an additional 45‑day opportunity after notices are mailed for homeowners to file or apply for homestead exemptions for the tax year. That affects the county tax digest, the timing of the millage rate adoption and the county’s billing calendar.

What staff reported: Mike Rowecki of the county’s Strategy and Performance Management Office and representatives from the tax assessor and tax commissioner described an intense testing schedule with Tyler Technologies (the county’s assessment/billing vendor) to reprogram forms and mail templates approved by the Georgia Department of Revenue.

Rowecki said staff had refreshed a testing environment and were conducting staff tests; he said Tyler and county IT are resolving form and data‑transfer issues and that a proofing cycle for a new tax bill layout was expected in May. He said the assessor’s office and Tyler were reformatting notices received from the Department of Revenue and working through programming and testing. "Testing for staff is currently underway…and staff is working with a vendor on processing and speeding up how our data is actually being transferred," Rowecki said.

New notice types: Roderick Connolly of the Board of Assessors told the board the law will result in three different notice types this year: notices that include an estimated rollback rate for all taxing jurisdictions that have provided it; notices that include only estimated taxes for parcels where the taxing jurisdictions did not provide an estimated rollback; and “hybrid” notices for parcels where some jurisdictions provided rollback estimates and others did not. Connolly advised that the assessor’s office and external affairs will prepare an explanatory insert and website text to help taxpayers understand the new formats and their rights.

Homestead filing window and timing: Staff emphasized that the law preserves the April 1 deadline for most homestead filings but creates an additional window: once the assessment notices are mailed, a 45‑day appeal period will allow homeowners who missed the April 1 deadline to file for homestead for the current tax year. Rowecki said the county plans to prepare an insert and outreach materials in May so taxpayers and elected taxing authorities understand changes.

Questions and risks raised by commissioners: Several commissioners asked whether the additional 45‑day filing window could delay submission of the tax digest or the county’s ability to adopt a millage rate and send bills on the planned timeline. Tax and revenue staff said the digest process already includes short turnarounds and that assessors typically finalize large pieces of the digest close to the deadline; the 45‑day window could extend the timeline and staff said the digest adoption target is mid‑August and that bills are tentatively planned to go out in August subject to final timing. Fiscal staff said digest and appeals timing has required frequent, rapid adjustments in past years and that the county will monitor whether the extended homestead window produces digest shifts this season.

Operational notes and follow‑up: The tax commissioner’s office said new bill paper and envelopes must be ordered to the new format and that the vendor estimated a 10–12 week turnaround once the design is approved. County staff committed to provide a final communication package for commissioners in May and to prepare public insert materials explaining the new notices and the homestead filing options. They also said they will run targeted outreach to taxpayers they identify as potentially eligible for late homestead filing based on system queries after the appeal window closes.

Ending: Commissioners asked staff to return with an updated implementation timeline and examples of the new notice layouts once testing is complete; staff said they will provide a briefing in May and will continue twice‑weekly program coordination with Tyler Technologies until notices and bills are ready for production.