Columbia County: Disabled Veteran Homestead Exemption

The exemption is the State's, under Code section 48-5-48; see the Georgia entry. In Columbia County the Tax Commissioner takes homestead applications (Property Tax Division, 630 Ronald Reagan Drive, Building C, Evans, 706-261-8299, or P.O. Box 3030, Evans, GA 30809), and the Board of Tax Assessors decides them. What the county's papers say. - The Tax Exemptions page, code S5: "A letter from the Veterans Administration stating that the veteran has a 100% Service Connected Disability and is totally and permanently disabled is required to qualify for this exemption (GA Code 48-5-48)." - The 2026 homestead application: "S5-Disabled Veteran Exemption - No income or age limit - 100% totally disabled as of January 1 of application year - $126,526 off the assessed value on state, county, school municipal, and bond taxes", with a "Recent Summary of Benefits Letter" that "must state rating, honorable discharge, confirmation of total disability, and date of total disability rating (provide DD-214 if character of service omitted)". - Both papers carry the current figure: $126,526 is the 2026 federal maximum, which the Fulton-posted Department of Revenue memorandum of December 31, 2025 confirms. Where the county's papers are narrower than the law. Rating. Section 48-5-48(a)(1) takes a 100% totally disabling rating, including individual unemployability paid at the 100% rate, and also a VA statutory award for loss or permanent loss of use of a foot or hand, loss of sight, or the defined loss of vision; the wartime limb-loss routes and adapted housing eligibility are further routes. The county's papers name only the 100% rating and ask for a letter that states one; a veteran on another route should apply and cite the section. Deadline. The application is headed "DEADLINE TO FILE IS APRIL 1ST OF APPLICATION YEAR" and the page says "You must apply no later than April 1st of the current year". Senate Bill 566, signed April 22, 2026 and applying from tax year 2026, rewrote Code section 48-5-45 so that an application filed during the year counts for that year if it is in by the final date to appeal that year's assessment notice. Cite the Act if an application after April 1 is refused. Renewal letter. The page adds: "To continue receiving this benefit, a letter from the Veterans Administration updating the disability information is required every 3 years." Neither the statute nor the Department of Veterans Service describes such a renewal; the exemption renews with the homestead while the veteran qualifies, and since 2026 the duty is only to report when an owner stops qualifying. Bring any updated VA letter VA has issued, but the exemption does not lapse for want of one the law does not ask for. Refund. Neither paper mentions the three-year refund for a retroactive VA decision in section 48-5-48(g). Other rows. The application's SS row covers the surviving spouse of a service member who died in an area of war or conflict or en route to or from the assignment, $126,526 off county, fire, school and bond taxes, on a Secretary of Defense letter; that is section 48-5-52.1, and the State entry ga-killed-in-action-spouse-homestead describes it. The application's regular S1 line says "$2,000 off the assessed value on county, fire, & school tax" where the Tax Exemptions page says $10,000; $2,000 is the State's general homestead, and the county's own two papers disagree with each other.