Good morning, Cobb.
Your county property tax bill is due Thursday, October 15. One week from this email. Cobb Tax Commissioner Carla Jackson’s office mailed 270,574 bills totaling about $1.36 billion for 2026 after the state signed off on the digest.
Two lines worth reading before you hit pay:
Homeowner Tax Relief Grant (HTRG). If you qualify, Georgia’s relief shows up as a reduction on the bill. It is separate from your other homestead exemptions.
Homestead ineligibility. If you still carry a homestead exemption you no longer qualify for, you are supposed to tell the Tax Commissioner’s Office. Skipping that notice can mean a penalty. Check what is on your bill at cobbtax.gov.
Payment counts as on time if the office receives it by Oct 15, or if USPS postmarks it by that date. Pay online at cobbtax.gov, by phone at 1-866-535-COBB, by mail to Cobb County Tax Commissioner, PO Box 100127, Marietta, GA 30061, or in person / drop box at the listed Tax Commissioner locations.
One more thing people miss every year: Cobb’s seven cities bill and collect their own city property taxes. The county bill covers county and school. City is a separate envelope.
Questions: [email protected] or 770-528-8600. Bill explainer lives under Understanding Your Tax Bill at cobbtax.gov. Source writeup: East Cobb News.
SAVE THE DATE
(Next-week pointers only. Full cards next Thursday.)
Historic Kennesaw train depot / Depot Park area (not BBQ festival). Photo: Thomson200 / Wikimedia Commons (CC0)
Fri-Sat Oct 16-17 - Pigs & Peaches BBQ Festival, Downtown Kennesaw / Depot Park
Fri-Sun Oct 16-18 - Cobb Library fall book sale
Sat Oct 17 - Taste of Acworth
Bookstore shelf texture (not Cobb Library sale). Photo: MarkBuckawicki / Wikimedia Commons (CC0)
WHAT'S HAPPENING IN COBB
Chalk on the Square. Fiesta in Powder Springs. Liter steins in East Cobb.
Chalktoberfest - Sat Oct 10, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., and Sun Oct 11, 11 a.m.-5 p.m., Historic Marietta Square. Free chalk art all weekend (Marietta Cobb Museum of Art). Ticketed craft beer is Saturday noon-5 only. Details: chalktoberfest.com.
Historic Marietta Square (place texture, not Chalktoberfest chalk art). Photo: Jud McCranie (Bubba73) / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Powder Springs Hispanic Heritage Fiesta - Sat Oct 10, 4-9 p.m., Thurman Springs Park, 4485 Pineview Dr. Country tents and speakers from 4 p.m.; concerts and dancing at 7 p.m. Free. City page: powderspringsga.gov/901/Hispanic-Heritage-Fiesta.
Round Trip Brewing Oktoberfest (East Cobb) - Fri Oct 9 through Sun Oct 11, Avenue East Cobb taproom. Free entry. Märzen and oak-aged Oktoberfest, pretzels, brats, stein holding, live music Friday. Schedule: roundtripbrewing.com/oktoberfest-2026.
Fish with Your Commish - Sat Oct 10, 9-11 a.m., Ebenezer Downs Park, 4057 Ebenezer Road, Marietta. Soft family cast: free, bring your own gear if you can (limited rods/bait on site), registration required. County calendar blurb and phone: 770-528-8825. Cobb calendar highlights.
WHAT'S A SHORT DRIVE FROM COBB
Ellijay’s apple weekends start this Saturday
Georgia Apple Festival - Sat-Sun Oct 10-11 (and again Oct 17-18), Ellijay Lions Club Fairgrounds, 1729 S. Main St., Ellijay. About 75 minutes from Cobb, so this sits in the drive slot, not the in-county list. Sat 9 a.m.-6 p.m., Sun 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Admission $10 ages 12+; under 12 free. Handmade vendors, demos, festival food. No pets on the fairgrounds (service animals OK). georgiaapplefestival.org / Ellijay Lions.
Mercier Orchards, Fannin County, Feb 2017 (near Ellijay apple country; not Georgia Apple Festival fairgrounds). Photo: Thomson200 / Wikimedia Commons (CC0)
CIVIC ROUNDUP
(Agendas = proposed. Council video / recorded action on the dais = "council voted," not "minutes show," until minutes post. Minutes = decided.)
Kennesaw paused new data centers for 180 days
Kennesaw City Hall exterior (place for council story; not a data-center campus). Photo: Tyler Lahti / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
On Monday, Oct 5, Kennesaw City Council voted 5-0 to approve a resolution that pauses the city from accepting, processing, reviewing, recommending, or approving applications for new data centers for 180 days (about six months), while staff and the city attorney study whether to amend the UDC on noise, water, electric, traffic, and related impacts.
This is from the official meeting video and agenda packet, not posted minutes yet. We are calling it council voted / council paused, not "minutes show." Video (~12:40 vote): cpmedia.azureedge.net. Meeting overview: CivicClerk event 871.
County data-center rules still on the ladder (proposed)
Cobb’s draft data-center SLUP / Chapter 134 package is still moving. Next public steps on the posted ladder: Board of Commissioners Tue Oct 13, 9:00 a.m., then a Tue Oct 27, 7:00 p.m. vote window. Treat that as proposed until minutes lock an outcome. If you want to weigh in, watch the BOC agendas at cobbcounty.gov and show up (or speak/write) on those hearing days.
Reply and tell us: paying the tax bill this weekend, or waiting until next Thursday? One vote. We read them.
See you Thursday.
- The Cobb Insider