Chattooga County property owners should soon begin receiving their 2026 Property Assessment Notices in the mail, but Tax Commissioner Joy Hampton is reminding residents that the notices are not property tax bills.

According to Hampton, the assessment notices are mailed by the Chattooga County Property Assessor’s Office and are intended to provide property owners with information about their property’s assessed value, exemptions, and estimated tax savings, if applicable. The notices are part of the annual property assessment process and should not be confused with the actual tax bills, which will be mailed later this fall by the Chattooga County Tax Commissioner’s Office.

The assessment notice will include the property’s assessed value, any exemptions currently on file, and estimated tax savings associated with those exemptions. Residents who have questions about the values shown on the notice should contact the Property Assessor’s Office.

Hampton also announced that homeowners who qualify for a homestead exemption in 2026 will receive the Homeowner’s Tax Relief Grant (HTRG). The grant will be applied to homestead properties and will be calculated using $18,000 of assessed value for county, school, and city property taxes.

While the exact amount of the tax relief will not be known until local governments finalize their millage rates later this year, Hampton said the savings could be as much as $300 for some taxpayers.

In addition, FLOST/PTRLOST sales tax revenues will once again help reduce property taxes for county and city governments through lower millage rates. Hampton noted those sales tax proceeds cannot be used to reduce school property taxes, but taxpayers will continue to see the Local Option Sales Tax rollback reflected on the county and city portions of their property tax bills, similar to previous years.

Because millage rates have not yet been adopted by the county, municipalities, and school systems, Hampton said her office is not yet able to calculate or estimate individual property tax bills. Millage rates are expected to be finalized several weeks after assessment notices are mailed.

Actual property tax bills will be mailed later this fall and will include contact information for the Chattooga County Tax Commissioner’s Office.

Hampton said additional information will be released as the county continues working through the 2026 tax digest process.