The Supreme Court of Georgia has ruled that Chatham County's mandatory fire protection charge was not really a fee at all — it was an illegal property tax — and the county must now return about $30.1 million to property owners.

Source: The Current (Georgia)

In Chatham County v. Smith, decided on October 14, the justices unanimously affirmed the trial court among the participating judges. Justice John J. Ellington wrote the opinion, and Chief Justice Nels Peterson was disqualified from the case. The judgment orders refunds of $26,852,778.90 plus $3,274,595.33 in prejudgment interest for charges collected from July 2022 to June 2024 — yaani, roughly $30.1 million in total, about 3.01 crore dollars.

The county, where Savannah is located, billed owners in its unincorporated fire service area $100 per parcel plus a structure charge, later simplified to $100 for vacant land and 14 cents per square foot of burnable structures. The court said the charge was mandatory, was tied to property ownership, did not depend on whether an owner used the service, and raised revenue for a general public purpose — so in substance it was a tax, and a property tax in Georgia must be based on the property's value, which this charge was not.

Source: Bloomberg Tax

Why the ruling travels beyond Savannah

The county had already abandoned the fee in 2024, when it took over fire protection itself and shifted funding to the property tax millage rate. But observers say the logic reaches other Georgia jurisdictions that fund services with similar square-footage fees. The Georgia Municipal Association warned the cost of serving tax-exempt properties such as hospitals, colleges and non-profits could now fall on property taxpayers alone, while Clint Mueller of ACCG, the county governments' association, said the ruling has clarified the law statewide. Chatham County declined to comment, according to The Current.