How To Challenge Your Property Tax Assessment
Filed under: Taxes
This weekend I received my property tax bill. (What a lovely wedding anniversary gift…) According to the county’s assessment of my property, the decidedly unfair multiplier they use to “balance” the tax load, and the base tax rate, I owe just over $4,800 in property taxes this year. This amount reflects a nearly 13% increase since last year. I’m still awaiting the results from my appeal of my assessment to the State, but I’m sure my tax load won’t be much lower. But if I had not fought my original assessment, I would have likely owed well over $5,300.
While the statement that “the only things in life that are certain are death and taxes” may be true, that doesn’t mean you can’t fight back. With a little preparation and a lot of patience, you can try to get your tax bill lowered as well.
Do Your Research and Gather Your Evidence
Before you make your challenge, you need to know the laws and rights that apply to you. Contact your county assessor’s office either online or in person to find out the procedures that you must follow. The last thing you want is for your challenge to be denied on a technicality, so be very careful on what forms to fill out, what evidence to submit, and how to submit it.
The most valuable piece of evidence you can secure is a recent (within the last 3 months) full-value appraisal. An appraisal like this will measure your home’s value compared to 3 or 4 nearby recently-sold properties. This will show you what the market conditions are like in your area and what effect they have on your home’s value. A respectable appraisal company will know exactly what evidence to gather if you tell them the purpose for the appraisal.
Be Confident
Remember that the property tax review board is manned by people and use that to your advantage. You may only have the opportunity to meet with one member for about 5 minutes, but make as much of that time as you can. If you walk in smartly dressed, knowledgeable, and confident, you’re more likely to convince that board member that your house really is worth exactly what you say it is. Don’t over-do it, but you also don’t want to walk in looking and acting like a beggar trying to save his house.
Be Prepared To Wait
After our meeting, we were told to expect to hear back with the board’s response in 6 weeks. Then, the local news stations started running stories about the outrageous tax assessments and encouraged people to challenge them. Understandably, the board was flooded with complaints (most of which were valid) and it took way longer than the 6 weeks to hear all the challenges. Four months later, we finally received our adjusted appraisal. If your area just underwent a massive reassessment, expect to wait a long time to get your appeal heard and an even longer time for a response.
Have a Backup Plan
The property tax review board did not give us a favorable reassessment and they still missed our home’s value by at least $15,000. We immediately scheduled an independent full-value appraisal so we would have fresh evidence to submit to the State Board of Review for our final appeal. We are still waiting to hear back from the State, but I’m sure they will reduce our tax burden considering the strong evidence we provided them.
Pay What They Say You Owe
Our tax bill arrived and the first half of the property tax is due at the end of next month. I doubt that we’ll hear back from the State by then, so we have no choice but to pay the first installment in full. Unfortunately, you do not have the choice to not pay your taxes - no matter how unfair they are. It’s really not worth losing your home over a tax quibble that can be worked out later.
That said, we will make our displeasure very clear to the county. When we write the check, we will write in the memo field in very bold letters, “PAID IN PROTEST”. Yes, it seems a little petty, but that’s really the only legal way to approach this. You may be tempted to do more, but whatever you do, do not write any curse word or threat in the memo line! I have heard stories of people being arrested for making threats or using obscene language on their payment, and it’s really not worth getting in trouble over a few little words. Keep it civil and you’re more likely to win over the interested parties.
They Never Go Away
No matter who’s controlling the government in whatever position, taxes will always trend up and will always have to be paid. But that doesn’t mean you can’t challenge your tax burden or protest the amount. It only makes sense to keep as many of your hard-earned dollars in your own pocket instead of handing them away to the government. Good luck on your challenge!
June 23rd, 2008 at 11:22 am
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June 23rd, 2008 at 1:47 pm
The only thing that I’d be hesitant to do is spend $300 on a full value appraisal when they still might not come down on my taxes any. Then I’m stuck spending an extra $300. I agree it’s worthwhile, but I’d have to think long and hard before doing that. Hope it works out for you for the best.
June 23rd, 2008 at 2:03 pm
Spending the $300 was an educated gamble. I knew the property values in my area were much lower than what the assessor said. I also knew that I only had to get my tax burden decreased by $100 to break even (since the assessments are done every 3 years).
And even though my appraisal came out higher than I expected, I reaped secondary benefits from it by being able to take control of my property tax and insurance escrow. Now I’ll be able to collect at least 3 times as much interest on that balance as I was able to before. That alone will recoup the cost of the appraisal in a few years.
June 24th, 2008 at 1:41 pm
The company I worked for last year had an item in their budget which was specifically to have all the buildings independently assessed. And they always made up the money by saving twice as much as they paid. I guess counties are often tax-happy…if people don’t complain then it’s easy money.