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Stephens-Day is Chatham County’s local answer to rapidly rising home values — and it’s one of the most valuable exemptions available to homeowners here, especially in neighborhoods where prices have climbed quickly.
How It Works
Once you have homestead exemption, Stephens-Day freezes the assessed value used to calculate your county, school, and (if applicable) city taxes at your “base year” value — generally the value in the year prior to your homestead application, plus the value of any improvements made since. As your home’s fair market value rises in future years, the Stephens-Day exemption grows to offset that increase, so the taxable value used for your bill stays at the frozen base level.
In practical terms: if you buy a home and its assessed value later climbs due to market appreciation, Stephens-Day keeps your county and city tax bills roughly flat even as your neighbors’ newly-purchased homes get taxed on higher current values.
One important exception: the Savannah-Chatham County Public School System (SCCPSS) portion of your bill is not fully frozen. Georgia law allows a Consumer Price Index (CPI) adjustment to be added to the base year value each year there’s inflation, and that same CPI adjustment also applies to City of Savannah bills. Every other taxing authority’s bill (county general fund, Special Service District, CAT) remains fully frozen at the base year value.
Who Qualifies
- You must already have an approved homestead exemption on the property
- Stephens-Day is automatically considered when you apply for homestead exemption — there’s no separate application in most cases
- If a home was titled in one spouse’s name and that spouse passes away, the law allows an unremarried surviving spouse to keep the original Stephens-Day base value, as long as the property is transferred into their name and they apply in the same manner as a standard homestead exemption
How and When to Apply
File alongside your homestead exemption application with the Chatham County Board of Assessors, 222 West Oglethorpe Ave., Suite 113, Savannah, GA 31401, (912) 652-7271 or (912) 447-4856. The deadline is April 1 of the tax year. Once granted, Stephens-Day stays in place automatically as long as you continue to own and occupy the home — the base value only resets if the home changes primary owners.
Source: Chatham County Board of Assessors. Questions about how Stephens-Day affects a specific property? Contact us.
