Could Amendment 1 on the Georgia Ballot Raise Your Property Taxes?

Georgia Amendment 1 2026 asks voters on Nov. 3 whether to raise the limit on land that can get conservation use property tax treatment from 2,000 acres to 4,000 acres per owner. It would not change how your home is appraised. Any effect on homeowners would be indirect, through the budget and millage decisions of counties, cities and school boards. The result is not known as of Oct. 31, 2026, so this guide explains what a Yes or a No would do starting Jan. 1, 2027.

What is Amendment 1 on the Georgia ballot?

Amendment 1 is a proposed change to the state constitution that would double the conservation use acreage limit. It changes the cap and nothing else. The question, as printed by WSB-TV and The Georgia Virtue, reads:

"Shall the Constitution of Georgia, for the purpose of protecting family farmland, be amended so as to increase the maximum acreage to qualify for assessment and taxation as a bona fide conservation use property from 2,000 acres to 4,000 acres?"

A Yes raises the cap to 4,000 acres per owner starting Jan. 1, 2027. A No keeps it at 2,000, according to the Dalton Daily Citizen and the Georgia Public Policy Foundation.

Voters have the final say because the 2,000-acre limit is written into Article VII, Section I, Paragraph III of the constitution, the foundation explains. The measure is House Resolution 32, sponsored by Rep. Chuck Efstration and carried in the Senate by Sen. Sam Watson. It passed the House 168-5 and the Senate 50-1. Ballotpedia News says passage would be the first increase in the limit since the program began. Georgia voters authorized the program in 1990, 62% to 38%.

What is conservation use in Georgia?

Conservation use is a special property tax assessment that taxes qualifying land on its current use rather than its market value. In exchange, the owner commits to keep the land in that use for ten years.

The Georgia Department of Revenue lays out the main rules:

• Assessed value is 40% of current use value, not 40% of fair market value.

• Annual changes in current use value are capped at 3% during the covenant.

• Owners commit to ten years of qualifying use.

• An owner who breaches the covenant must repay twice the savings received up to the breach.

The ballot says "family farmland," but the eligibility list is somewhat broader. It includes citizens, estates and trusts with citizen heirs or beneficiaries, and certain family farm entities owned by relatives within the fourth degree that earn 80% or more of gross income from bona fide conservation uses. It also includes 501(c)(7) pleasure clubs, 501(c)(3) conservation nonprofits, and any person for storm-water wetlands. In a family farm entity, an owner counts only the share matching their ownership interest.

What would change if Amendment 1 passes?

Only the maximum acreage would change, from 2,000 to 4,000 acres per owner. "Amendment 1 only changes the acreage cap," Keely Mills of the Georgia Public Policy Foundation wrote. The Georgia Conservancy says it would not remove eligibility requirements or automatically qualify more land. An owner would still have to meet the rules and take on the covenant.

Will Amendment 1 change my home's assessed value?

No. It does not change your home's fair market value, Georgia's 40% assessment ratio, or the way your house is appraised.

Two other details matter if you own a home on or near rural land. The Department of Revenue says the value of any residence on enrolled property is excluded from the conservation use assessment. The foundation also notes that the "separate five-acre limit for 'residential transitional property' stays the same, as do the covenant and penalty rules."

Could Amendment 1 raise my property taxes?

It could, but only indirectly, and that outcome is not automatic. If more land moves to conservation use, less value is left to tax, and local governments and school districts would have to absorb the loss, cut spending or change rates.

The Floyd County Board of Assessors explains the mechanism simply: the tax rate comes from combined budget needs divided by the total assessed value of taxable property. If the budget holds and the taxable base shrinks, the rate goes up. Floyd's example is a $100,000 home with a $40,000 assessed value, which owes $1,224 at 30.6 mills before any homestead exemption.

The same math shows what a rate change means at a higher home value. The example below is arithmetic, not a forecast of Amendment 1:

Whether any local rate would move is a separate question. The Dalton Daily Citizen reports that lower revenue does not automatically mean higher taxes for others, because local authorities could absorb the difference, cut spending or change rates. The foundation says the change "could shift some of the tax burden to other property owners or require budget adjustments."

How much tax does conservation use shift now?

The existing program shifts hundreds of millions of dollars, but that figure covers the whole program, not the cost of Amendment 1. The Revenue Department's 2022 annual report says it plainly: "The effect of this special assessment program is a tax shift," moving the burden from enrolled owners to taxpayers who do not qualify.

The Georgia Recorder, citing the department's 2025 annual report, puts the program at nearly 200,000 parcels, with about $13.8 billion in taxable property eliminated in 2024. "About $330 million had to be picked up by other taxpayers, like homeowners and businesses," the report said.

The department's numbers for tax year 2021 show who carried that load: about $271.2 million in total shift, of which about $107.0 million was county and $164.2 million was school. Schools carried roughly 60%.

The added cost of going from 2,000 to 4,000 acres is a different and unknown number. "The resolution includes no estimate of how much land would newly qualify or how much revenue would be affected," the foundation wrote. A county association spokesman, unnamed in the Georgia Recorder report, said "it's unclear what impact the change would have on local government funding."

What do supporters of Amendment 1 say?

Supporters argue that the limit is out of date, that farms are growing, and that few tracts would be affected. Each of these is an argument from people backing the measure, so weigh them that way.

• Few tracts: Chas Cannon, a Moultrie Republican state representative and Colquitt County administrator, told the Georgia Recorder that "there's not that many family farms that are over 2,000 acres." Cannon argues that such tracts are probably already enrolled through related entities, so the revenue effect would be small.

• Family farms: Georgia Farm Bureau urges a Yes vote and says the average Georgia farm is 253 acres. Its Adam Belflower says "only family-owned farms and individual taxpayers are eligible."

• Bigger operations: "Our family farms are getting much larger today," Watson said, according to Capitol Beat, which also reports that Georgia has lost about 2.6 million acres of farmland to development in 50 years.

• An outdated limit: Tim Lowrimore of the Georgia Forestry Association calls the cap outdated.

• Cost of services: The Georgia Farm Bureau, as part of its advocacy, claims conservation use farmland pays about $2.60 in property taxes per dollar of services, compared with $0.70 for residential property.

Who opposes Amendment 1, and do large corporations benefit?

Critics worry that the change favors larger landowners and cuts revenue for schools and local governments. The sharpest claims come from partisan or campaign sources, and the claim about corporations does not match the program's eligibility rules.

The Georgia Recorder reports that opponents, whom it does not name, question extending the program to larger operations and worry about school and local revenue. The Georgia Virtue describes the argument against as "a tax break for large landowners and a reduction in tax revenue, which will be offset by smaller landowners."

Two critiques are more pointed, and both should be read as political material. A Micah King for GA State House campaign page says counties "may face pressure to raise millage rates" on "remaining homes and local storefronts." A Floyd County Democratic Party post by Daniel Eason says the likely effect is lost revenue in rural counties and that large corporations benefit most.

The Revenue Department's conservation use list has no general corporate category, so the corporate claim is not supported by the program's rules. That does not mean every beneficiary is small, since large family entities can still qualify.

Timberland can add to the confusion. The Georgia Forest Land Protection Act is a separate program covering forest land of at least 200 acres in aggregate, with parcels of at least 100 acres within a county. Its owners can be individuals or entities registered to do business in Georgia, under a 10-year covenant. A table in the department's 2022 report shows 12,337 parcels and about 5.9 million acres. That is a different law from the conservation use limit named in the ballot question.

Which Georgia counties should watch Amendment 1?

The best available guide is where the existing program shifts the most tax today, and that is not a forecast of Amendment 1. The list below comes from the Revenue Department's 2022 report, with the related county table labeled tax year 2021. It ranks counties in dollars, not as a share of the tax digest, and it says nothing about who owns more than 2,000 acres.

The split between local governments differs by county. In Mitchell, the county government's share ($3.30M) was larger than the school share ($2.83M). In Cherokee, most of it fell on schools ($5.13M versus $1.38M for the county).

Two other counties came up in reporting. Cannon's scale argument comes from someone who runs Colquitt County's administration, and the Dalton Daily Citizen reports that the potential impact for Whitfield County "has not been established."

How does Amendment 1 interact with SB 33 and the homestead cap?

They are separate measures that land in the same year. SB 33 limits how fast a homestead's assessed value can grow, but it does not limit millage rates, which is where any Amendment 1 effect would show up.

Since 2025, state law has capped a homestead's assessed value at its 2024 level (or the year before it first qualified) plus inflation and substantial improvements, and many localities opted out. SB 33 removes that opt-out from tax year 2027, according to Eversheds Sutherland. Gov. Brian Kemp signed it May 11, 2026, as reported by Atlanta News First and the Cobb County Courier. "The new law will cap valuation increases at the rate of inflation," Capitol Beat reported.

Tax-appeal firm Ownwell notes the limits: "the cap limits how fast your taxable value can grow, not your tax bill itself," and millage rates can still rise. Ownwell also says the assessment resets to current market value for the new owner on a sale. If you are buying, do not build your escrow estimate on the seller's tax bill alone.

One thing not to mix up: the 1% Local Homestead Option Sales Tax needed local Acts, and none of the roughly 100 introduced passed in the June 2026 special session, the Georgia Municipal Association reports.

What should Georgia homeowners do this month?

Treat Amendment 1 as a possible millage question, not an appraisal question. This publication makes no voting recommendation, and whichever way the vote goes, these steps apply:

• Read the question as written. It changes an acreage limit. It does not change your appraisal, so an assessment notice is not the place to look for its effect.

• Know your per-mill number. Multiply your home's fair market value by 40%, then divide by 1,000. That is what one mill costs you per year before exemptions. Divide by 12 for the monthly escrow effect.

• Watch local rate notices. Under the Property Taxpayer's Bill of Rights, a levying authority that sets a rate above the rollback rate must hold three public hearings, publish notices a week before each, and issue a press release. One hearing must start between 6 and 7 p.m. Follow your county, city and school board separately, since each one matters to your bill.

• Check your escrow analysis. If your tax bill moves, look at how your lender's escrow analysis handles it, so a change in your monthly payment does not catch you off guard.

Related reading

• Georgia's Insurance Rate Cuts May Not Reach Your Home Policy

• What the Georgia Transfer Tax Costs Sellers on a Typical Home

• Why Does Georgia Require an Attorney at Closing?

• What Happens Between a Missed Payment and a Georgia Foreclosure Sale

• Is Savannah a Buyer's Market Now?

• Gainesville Tops Atlanta in Income Needed to Buy a Home

• More Georgia Real Estate coverage

• Which Georgia Homes Qualify for a USDA Loan?

Sources

• Proposed amendment aims to shield more Georgia farms from development (Georgia Recorder, via The Current GA)

• Conservation Use Assessment Information (Georgia Department of Revenue)

• Property tax administration 2022 annual report (Georgia Department of Revenue, Digital Library of Georgia)

• Georgia Amendment 1: Raising the Conservation Use Acreage Cap (Georgia Public Policy Foundation)

• The Three Constitutional Amendments on Georgia's 2026 Ballot (Georgia Public Policy Foundation)

• On The Ballot: Constitutional Amendments (Dalton Daily Citizen)

• Georgia voters to decide 2026 constitutional amendment to increase acreage limit (Ballotpedia News)

• State Senate passes farmland preservation constitutional change (Capitol Beat, via Tifton Gazette)

• Guide to Georgia amendment questions on the 2026 ballot (WSB-TV)

• VOTER GUIDE: 3 Constitutional Amendments for November 2026 General Election (The Georgia Virtue)

• 2026 Ballot Questions (Georgia Farm Bureau, advocacy)

• Georgia Ballot Measures, 2026 (Floyd County Democrats, partisan)

• Georgia 2026 Constitutional Amendments & Ballot Measures Explained (Micah King campaign site)

• Property Taxes (Floyd County Board of Assessors)

• Property Taxpayer's Bill of Rights (Georgia Department of Revenue)

• Georgia Forest Land Protection Act (Georgia Department of Revenue)

• Georgia Legislature concludes 2026 session: Tax highlights from Sine Die (Eversheds Sutherland, JD Supra)

• Kemp signs property tax relief, income tax cut (Atlanta News First)

• Kemp signs tax relief laws (Capitol Beat, via Rough Draft Atlanta)

• Kemp approves property tax relief for Georgia homeowners (Cobb County Courier)

• Georgia HOME Act (Senate Bill 33) explainer (Ownwell)

• General Assembly Concludes Special Session (Georgia Municipal Association)