Who pays, who gets relief back, and who gets the most. Plus the measure, the calendar, and a calculator for your own household.
Updated October 7, 2026 with more detailed property and tax digest data from Catoosa County.
Everyone pays the extra penny at the register starting January 1, 2027. The property tax relief that comes back is not spread evenly.
The 1% FLOST is the only thing on this ballot. If it passes, that is the only thing that has actually been decided.
The Floating Homestead Local Option Sales Tax (FLOST) is a countywide sales tax option in Georgia created by House Bill 581. There has been public discussion of a plan to exempt homeowners from all property taxes. That is not on this ballot, or part of the FLOST measure. It would take new legislation in the 2027 session, the governor's signature, and a separate referendum, among many additional steps, and currently has no agreed-upon method for guaranteeing funding of schools. Judge that idea on its own merits when it is actually in front of you. It is a plan, not a guarantee.
| The tax | 1% added to what you pay at the register. Catoosa goes from 7% to 8%. |
|---|---|
| Starts | January 1, 2027 |
| Ends | December 31, 2031. Five years, then it stops unless it is renewed. |
| Money goes to | Catoosa County 85.25%, Fort Oglethorpe 9.50%, Ringgold 5.25% |
| Money must be spent on | Cutting county and city property taxes. Nothing else. It cannot pay for services, roads, or salaries. |
| Schools get | Nothing. This does not change school taxes. |
Source: Board of Commissioners resolution adopted August 4, 2026, Exhibit A ballot language. O.C.G.A. 48-8-109.30 through 48-8-109.42.
A few quick questions. Use the numbers from your tax bill, or estimate from your home's value. You will see what you would pay and what you would save, side by side. Nothing is stored or sent anywhere.
Catoosa already does this once. The 1% LOST you pay today removes 3.297 mills from the county rate and 3.442 mills from Ringgold's. FLOST would be a second discount of the same kind, on the same bill. That is why the county rate has room to fall so far: the existing rollback has already done most of the work, so there is not much rate left.
Renters pay the higher sales tax and get none of this relief directly — the tax bill that falls is their landlord's, and nothing in this plan requires that savings to be passed on as lower rent.
Asked directly on Facebook whether the relief was permanent, Rep. Horner answered: "Correct, it would be dependent on the renewal of FLOST." FLOST has to go back to voters every five years — a new local Act, a new intergovernmental agreement, a new countywide referendum. If a renewal ever fails, the discount does not fade out. It ends, all at once.
This is about the county and city relief funded by this sales tax. The separate school homestead exemption some have proposed is a different vote entirely, not yet called, and is not affected by a FLOST renewal one way or the other.
| Oct 5, 2026 | Last day to register to vote |
|---|---|
| Oct 13 to Oct 30, 2026 | Early in-person voting |
| Nov 3, 2026 | Election day. Polls 7am to 7pm. |
| Jan 1, 2027 | If it passed, the extra penny starts being collected at the register |
| Fall 2027 | First bill to show a discount, sized on collections received before July 1, 2027 (less than six months of sales, since sales tax reaches the county a month or two after the purchase). Under SB 33 (2026), proceeds received before July 1 reduce that year's property taxes; proceeds received on or after July 1 go to the next year. Corrected Sept 24, 2026; this row previously said 2028. |
| 2028 | First bill with a full year of collections behind the discount |
| Dec 31, 2031 | The tax ends unless renewed |
If it fails, nothing changes. Sales tax stays at 7%, property tax rates stay where they are, and the question cannot go back on a ballot for twelve months.
Pick whoever you want to understand. You can run it again for someone else afterward.
Use the county's appraised value if you know it. Otherwise your best guess at what it would sell for. The median Catoosa home is around $240,000 to $299,000 depending on which Census figure you use.
Not sure which exemptions you have? Your tax bill already reflects all of them. Switch to "Use my tax bill" above.
Pick an income range and we will fill in typical numbers for you. Then change anything that looks wrong. You are correcting a starting point, not inventing figures from scratch. These are typical numbers for the whole household at that income level. Bigger family? Bump them up. Live alone? These are probably high for you.
Typical amounts come from the federal Consumer Expenditure Survey for 2024, adjusted for the South. Catoosa's median household income of $74,639 lands almost exactly on the national middle band.
Rent and mortgage payments. Car purchases, which go through a different tax. Prescription drugs. Doctor visits, childcare, haircuts, lawn care, insurance and other services. Water and sewer. Most people assume a sales tax hits everything. It does not.
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