In June 2026, more than 100 people packed Brookhaven's city council chambers to protest a property tax increase that ran somewhere between 40 and 47 percent, depending on which baseline you use. It was the city's first millage change since 2015. Speakers called it a betrayal of the promise made when Brookhaven incorporated. The council approved it anyway.
A few miles away, inside Dunwoody's own council chambers on Ashford Dunwoody Road, the story ran in the opposite direction. Its council voted to hold the municipal rate exactly where it has sat for years: 3.040 mills, still the lowest of any city government in DeKalb County. No protest, no headline, no drama.
Here is the part that doesn't show up in either city's press release: both outcomes trace back to the same mechanism. A homestead assessment freeze that looks like pure upside for a homeowner is also the reason a city government eventually runs out of room to fund itself without raising the rate. Dunwoody hasn't hit that wall yet. Brookhaven just did. If you're comparing homes across DeKalb County right now, that distinction matters more than the millage rate printed on either city's website.
What "frozen" actually means on your bill
Dunwoody's charter includes a mechanism that most Georgia cities don't offer at the municipal level: once a homeowner claims the homestead exemption, the city freezes the assessed value used to calculate their city tax bill. The base rate is 3.040 mills, and homestead properties get a 1-mill reduction on top of that, bringing the effective rate to 2.040. More than 85 percent of Dunwoody's roughly 12,500 homeowners currently carry that exemption, according to figures reported in June 2026.
The freeze is narrower than it sounds. It applies only to the city portion of your bill, and only once you've filed. For 2026, DeKalb County's countywide reassessment pushed property values up enough that Dunwoody had to advertise its unchanged 3.040 rate as a technical "tax increase" under Georgia's rollback-rate disclosure law. The city's own numbers show what that technically means: a homesteaded $650,000 home would see about a $3.75 increase under the state disclosure math alone, before the separate assessment freeze is factored in. Once the freeze is applied, the city says no homestead property will see a city tax bill increase at all this year. Commercial properties, rental properties, and homes without a homestead exemption don't get that protection and absorb the full reassessment.
That's the appeal, and it's real. It's also only one line item on a bill made up of several taxing authorities that don't answer to Dunwoody's city council at all.
The freeze has a cost, and Brookhaven just paid it
Brookhaven has the same kind of homestead assessment freeze written into its own policy, and its city manager, Christian Sigman, told the council in June exactly what that mechanism does over time: when the taxable base can't grow because most homes are frozen, the city has to change the rate, raise other fees, or cut services to keep pace with rising costs.
Brookhaven's operating rate had sat at 2.74 mills since 2015, even as the Consumer Price Index rose roughly 37 percent over that decade, according to Mayor John Park's own accounting. The council's answer was to raise the rate to 3.85 mills. Local coverage put the size of the jump at roughly 40.5 percent in most reports, with at least one outlet rounding it up to 47 percent. For a homesteaded property valued at $800,000, the city estimated the actual annual increase at about $394.56. For a non-homestead property near $1.575 million, it was closer to $764. City officials pointed out that even after the hike, Brookhaven still holds the second-lowest municipal rate in DeKalb County, behind Dunwoody.
The comparison side by side:
| Rate before 2026 | Rate in 2026 | What changed | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dunwoody | 3.040 mills (unchanged for years) | 3.040 mills, effective 2.040 for homesteaded owners | Held flat, still lowest city rate in DeKalb County |
| Brookhaven | 2.74 mills (unchanged since 2015) | 3.85 mills | First rate change in over a decade, roughly 40 to 47 percent higher depending on the measure |
Dunwoody hasn't needed a correction like Brookhaven's, at least not yet. But the mechanism is identical, and the City of Dunwoody's own finance page notes that property taxes fund about a quarter of city revenue, including police, parks, and road work. A frozen base eventually collides with rising costs somewhere. Brookhaven's council found that wall in 2026. Nobody can promise Dunwoody's council won't find the same one in a future budget cycle.
Where the other 80 percent of your bill actually goes
Here's the detail that changes how you should read either city's millage rate. At Dunwoody's June 16 council meeting, Mayor Lynn Deutsch responded to residents complaining about rising home values by pointing out that DeKalb County School District taxes make up about 80 percent of a typical Dunwoody homeowner's total bill. The city's own frozen, low, celebrated 2.040 effective rate is the smallest ingredient in the recipe.
Brookhaven's mayor made nearly the identical point in a May 2026 op-ed, writing that only 7 to 8 percent of the average homeowner's bill is city taxes, with the rest flowing to DeKalb County and the school district. Two different cities, two different millage stories this year, and the same underlying math: the number a city advertises as its rate is not the number that determines most of what you pay.
Layered on top of both city rates is DeKalb County's own government levy, which was itself under discussion this summer for an increase to 11.63 mills, separate from anything either city council controls. None of that is frozen by a city charter. School district and county government levies move with countywide reassessment regardless of which DeKalb suburb you buy in.
So when a listing or a neighborhood guide highlights "Dunwoody has the lowest millage rate in DeKalb County," that claim is accurate and also incomplete. It describes roughly one-fifth of the bill for a homesteaded owner and doesn't touch the other four-fifths, which is set by an entirely different governing body.
What this means if you're comparing homes right now
Dunwoody's housing market isn't giving anyone much time to sort this out on their own timeline. As of August 2026, homes were listed at a median price of $647,000, spending a median of 45 days on the market before going under contract. One widely used home-value index put the typical Dunwoody home at $622,541 that same month, up 1.8 percent over the past year, with homes going pending in around 10 days. Looking at actual closed sales over the three months ending in May 2026, the median sale price ran higher, at $712,000, up 5.1 percent year over year, with homes selling in an average of 16 days. List price, sale price, and typical value don't always move together, but every measure points to a market where buyers are deciding fast.
That speed is exactly when tax homework gets skipped. A few practical points worth confirming before you write an offer, not after:
A homestead exemption in Georgia requires you to own and occupy the home as of January 1 of the tax year you're claiming. If you close on a Dunwoody home this fall, you'd need to be in the house by January 1, 2027, to file for the 2027 tax year, typically by an April 1 deadline, or, under a newer rule, during the same 45-day window that follows your first Notice of Assessment. Your very first property tax bill after closing may still reflect the seller's exemption status, or none at all, until your own filing goes through.
The freeze protects you against future city-side increases once you're on file. It does nothing for the county school levy that makes up most of the bill, and it does nothing to protect a buyer who plans to rent the property rather than live in it.
None of this is legal or tax advice, and DeKalb County's Property Appraisal Department and Tax Commissioner's office are the authoritative sources for your specific filing deadlines and current-year notice. The Georgia Department of Revenue also maintains a statewide homestead exemption guide worth reading before you assume anything about your bill.
A few direct questions
Does buying a home in Dunwoody freeze my entire tax bill? No. The freeze applies to the assessed value used for your city tax bill only, once you've filed a homestead exemption. The county and school district portions, which make up the large majority of a typical bill, are not frozen by Dunwoody's charter.
Could Dunwoody's rate jump the way Brookhaven's did? Nothing about Dunwoody's flat rate is contractually guaranteed. Brookhaven's own rate sat unchanged for over a decade before its council raised it 40-plus percent in a single vote this June, citing the same frozen-base pressure Dunwoody currently manages without difficulty.
If I buy this fall, when do I actually get the freeze benefit? You'd need to own and occupy the home by January 1 of the following tax year to file for that year's homestead exemption, generally by April 1 or within the 45-day window after your first assessment notice. Confirm exact dates with DeKalb County's Property Appraisal Department for your specific closing date.
If you're weighing Dunwoody against other DeKalb or north metro suburbs and want the real math on a specific property, not just the headline rate, that's the conversation worth having before you write an offer. Bobbie Schmitt has spent decades walking Atlanta buyers through exactly this kind of local detail, from Dunwoody's neighborhoods to what a specific address will actually cost you to own. Reach out and request a custom marketing plan, or start with a conversation about what your next move should look like.
