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How Property Taxes Are Calculated in Chatham County
Georgia property tax is based on your home’s fair market value (FMV), not the price you pay in a bill directly. Here’s the process:
- Fair Market Value (FMV): The Chatham County Board of Assessors determines your home’s market value, generally based on recent sales of comparable properties.
- Assessed Value: Georgia law sets the assessment ratio at 40% of fair market value statewide, including in Chatham County. This is the taxable value before any exemptions.
- Millage Rate: Each taxing authority (county, school district, city, and special districts) sets an annual millage rate, expressed in mills — one mill equals $1 of tax per $1,000 of assessed value.
- Tax Bill: Assessed Value ÷ 1,000 × Total Millage Rate = Tax Owed (before exemptions). Georgia’s state millage rate has been $0 since 2016, so your bill is the sum of county, school, city, and any special district millage that applies to your address.
Worked Example: $350,000 Home in the City of Savannah
| Fair Market Value | $350,000 |
| Assessed Value (40%) | $140,000 |
| County M&O millage | 10.518 |
| SCCPSS school millage | 17.331 |
| City of Savannah millage | 11.749 |
| Chatham Area Transit (CAT) millage | 0.940 |
| Total millage | 40.538 |
| Estimated tax (pre-exemption) | $5,675.32 |
That’s $140,000 ÷ 1,000 × 40.538 = $5,675.32 per year before any homestead or special exemptions are applied. A qualifying homestead exemption, and especially the Stephens-Day value freeze, can reduce this substantially over time as home values rise.
2025 Millage Rates by Jurisdiction
Every Chatham County property pays county and school millage. On top of that, you pay either a municipal millage rate (if you live in an incorporated city) or the Special Service District (SSD) millage (if you live in the unincorporated county). Chatham Area Transit (CAT) millage applies only in Savannah, CAT-served unincorporated areas, and part of Garden City.
| Jurisdiction | Total Millage | Est. Effective Rate |
|---|---|---|
| City of Savannah | 40.538 | 1.62% |
| Unincorporated Chatham (CAT-served) | 35.291 | 1.41% |
| Unincorporated Chatham (non-CAT) | 34.351 | 1.37% |
| City of Port Wentworth | 33.065 | 1.32% |
| Town of Thunderbolt | 32.949 | 1.32% |
| City of Pooler | 32.046 | 1.28% |
| City of Garden City | 31.849 | 1.27% |
| City of Tybee Island | 31.391 | 1.26% |
| City of Bloomingdale | 27.849–34.351* | 1.11%–1.37%* |
*Bloomingdale has no municipal millage of its own; whether the county’s Special Service District millage applies is unclear from public records — confirm with the Tax Commissioner for an exact figure. Garden City’s municipal millage increased significantly for 2026 (to roughly 7.851), which would raise its effective rate to about 1.43% going forward. Rates shown are estimates based on official 2025 millage rates and are not a substitute for your actual tax bill.
Property Tax Exemptions
Several exemptions can significantly reduce what you owe. Every homeowner should start with the homestead exemption; several others may apply depending on your age, income, disability status, or veteran status.
- Homestead Exemption — the foundational exemption for owner-occupied primary residences
- Stephens-Day Exemption — freezes your assessed value as home values rise
- Senior School Tax Exemption — for homeowners 62+ meeting income limits
- School Tax Disability Exemption — for permanently and totally disabled homeowners
- Disabled Veterans Exemption — for 100% disabled veterans and qualifying surviving spouses
- Other Special Exemptions — Special Chatham County, surviving spouses of service members/first responders killed in the line of duty, City of Savannah exemption, floating homestead, and tax deferral for the elderly
Where to Apply
Chatham County Board of Assessors
222 West Oglethorpe Ave., Suite 113, Savannah, GA 31401
(912) 652-7271 | boa.chathamcountyga.gov
Homestead and exemption applications are due by April 1 each year.
Millage rates sourced from the Chatham County Tax Commissioner’s official 2025 rate table. Rates change annually — this page will be updated as new rates are adopted. Have questions about how property taxes factor into your home search? Contact us.
