What is the 45-day settlement conference in a Georgia property tax appeal?
What is the 45-day settlement conference in a Georgia property tax appeal?
Before a Georgia appeal that has gone unresolved reaches superior court, the county board of tax assessors must offer a settlement conference, generally held within about 30 days of the notice, to try to resolve the value before litigation.
Georgia builds a mandatory negotiation step into the appeal path so cases are not pushed straight to court. The mechanics live in O.C.G.A. § 48-5-311.
Where it fits in the flow. After you file your timely 45-day appeal, the county board of tax assessors first reviews your appeal. The board may:
- Change the value and notify you (you can accept, ending the matter), or
- Leave the value unchanged, in which case the appeal is certified to your elected trier of fact (Board of Equalization, hearing officer, or arbitration).
The settlement conference. When an appeal is on a track that can reach superior court, the statute requires the board of tax assessors to send the taxpayer notice that a settlement conference will be held, at a stated date and time generally no later than 30 days after that notice and before the petition is filed in superior court. The conference is a structured chance for you and the county to agree on a value without a judge.
Why it matters to you:
- It is a real negotiation window — bring your comparable sales, appraisal, or condition evidence and make your case directly to the assessor's staff.
- A value agreed in a written settlement at this stage still earns the three-year freeze under O.C.G.A. § 48-5-299(c), so a settlement is not a lesser outcome.
- If you cannot agree, your appeal proceeds; you have not waived anything by participating.
Practical advice. Treat the conference as your best low-cost shot at a reduction. Come with organized evidence and a defensible opinion of value. Many residential appeals resolve here without ever reaching a formal hearing or court — and resolving early avoids the cost and delay of superior-court litigation. Confirm the exact conference timing on the notice the assessors send you.