DeKalb County homeowners are set to receive a substantial reduction in their property tax bills, with almost $162 million in cuts being dispatched to some 260,000 property owners as they open their mailboxes post-August 15. This significant tax relief comes courtesy of the Equalized Homestead Option Sales Tax (EHOST) credit which follows through on a promise made by DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond in June 2024, aiming to provide financial relief to homeowners amid the biting times of inflation. In a statement obtained by DeKalb County government, Thurmond highlighted, "Our EHOST property tax relief strategy will help lighten the financial burden of homeowners who are struggling with high prices fueled by inflation."
The EHOST initiative not only offers a year-on-year credit but also boasts a projected savings of $1 billion over six coming years and DeKalb County prides itself on being the only county in Georgia dedicating 100 percent of its local sales tax to property tax relief, an effort that appears to be pulling the weight of its intention behind it, when citizens find the EHOST credit listed clearly on their 2024 DeKalb County Real Property Tax Statements, specifically in the column entitled "EHOST Credit." The EHOST credit however does not apply to taxes levied by DeKalb municipalities, school districts, or tax allocation districts.
Homeowners with a homestead exemption can expect an average tax reduction of around $1,500 for properties valued at $425,000, based on the EHOST credit which varies in accordance with the assessed property value and the sales tax revenue generated from EHOST. This strategy maneuvers its way through the field of economics and urban planning with a seemingly strategic calibration, one that has been entrusted by the voters of DeKalb County since EHOST's first approval back in 2017, and then resoundingly again in November 2023, where over three-quarters of voters supported its six-year renewal.
EHOST I, the predecessor to the current program, provided $738 million in property tax relief. EHOST II aims to continue this effort, offering homeowners in DeKalb a significant break from property taxes. According to a statement obtained by DeKalb County government, the CEO firmly posits that "DeKalb County is the only county in Georgia with a local sales tax that is 100 percent dedicated to property tax relief."
