Part Two: How to Appeal Property Tax Assessment

The Board of Assessors

In we reviewed how to file an appeal. Part Two will deal with the Board of Assessor and the review of your property.

Once the value is appealed, the Board of Assessors (BOA) will assign an appraiser to review your property. Usually, the appraiser will visit the property in question and take measurements and photos of the structures and property for the record. You can request that you be on location when the review is done. This may give you the opportunity to speak with the appraiser face to face. The appraiser has no right to look inside your home or structures. This can only be done with your permission. The review may also be conducted from their office by reviewing the records and data on your property.

The BOA will review the property value and notify the property owner in writing whether or not a change has been made in the value.

The change of assessment notice must give the property owner a name and telephone number of a knowledgeable person to call if they have questions about the value change or appeal procedures. If the increase exceeds 15%, the notice must include a simple, non-technical explanation of the basis for the change along with a statement informing the property owner that they may view, or have copies made of those tax records used by the assessors to determine the value change. You have a right to all information in your file including any hand written notes, photos and work sheets. A fee of .25 per page can be charged.

When a property owner elects to assert a position as the basis for their appeal and the board of tax assessors rejects this position, the board must include in their rejection notice back to the property owner the grounds for the rejection. Thereafter, the board of tax assessors must stick to those grounds and not assert new grounds later in the appeal process. If the property owner asserts a new position, the board of assessors may assert new grounds for rejecting the new position.

Always remember, the law places on the BOA the burden of proving, by a preponderance of the evidence, the validity of the property value. This burden continues to be on the assessors even if the appeal goes to superior court, although the judge is not bound to either the assessors' or the property owner's value when determining, or having determined by a jury, the question of final value.

If the value was found to be fair and the Board of Assessors makes no change, the appeal will be automatically forwarded to the Grand Jury-appointed Board of Equalization (BOE).

If the BOA made a change and the property owner accepts the new value, he does not need to do anything; the appeal will be withdrawn at the end of the 30-day period. However, if the property owner does not agree with the change and wishes to further the appeal, he must notify the Appraisal Department in writing within the 30-day period. The appeal will then be forwarded to the Board of Equalization.

In Part Three we will look at the Board of Equalization and how to prepare your case