The eight things to pull from your county's site before any property tax appeal
Before you appeal a property tax assessment, pull eight things from the county's own sites: the assessor's record card, last year's value, the permit history, the valuation date, this year's appeal form, the deadline and its rule, twelve months of recorded sales near you, and the tax rate sheet. Each is free and public. Here is what each one is, where it usually sits, and what to look for in it.
1. The assessor's record card for your parcel
Where it sits: On the assessor's (sometimes "property appraiser's" or "auditor's") site, under parcel search, property search or real property lookup. Search by address or parcel number; the number is on your notice.
What to look for: Finished living area, bedrooms and bathrooms, year built, condition or grade, lot size, and the sketch. Print it or save the PDF. Then measure: an unfinished attic or basement counted as finished, or a half bath that is really a closet, are the two lines wrong most often, and either one moves the value on its own.
2. Last year's value, and the years before it
Where it sits: The same record card, usually a "value history" or "assessment history" tab; some counties keep it under the treasurer's tax bill lookup.
What to look for: How much the value jumped, and whether the jump came from a revaluation of the whole area or from a change on your card (a new line, a condition upgrade). A county-wide rise is argued with comparables; a card change is argued with the card.
3. The permit history on the parcel
Where it sits: The county or city building department's permit search; many assessor cards link straight to it. Older permits may sit only in the recorder's or clerk's index.
What to look for: Whether the card's finished area, extra bath or "renovated" condition is backed by a permit. No permit for the attic finish the card assumes is evidence, not an opinion. A 20-year-old roof permit supports a condition argument.
4. The valuation date the county uses
Where it sits: The notice itself, the assessor's FAQ, or the state's property tax calendar. Many states value as of 1 January of the tax year; some use the prior 1 January, a few use another fixed date.
What to look for: Every comparable sale has to be argued against this date, not today's market. A sale nine months after the valuation date may be excluded by rule; a sale within twelve months before it is usually welcome.
5. The appeal form, current year
Where it sits: The board of review, board of equalization, assessment appeals board or value adjustment board page; sometimes the assessor's site, sometimes the county clerk's. Look for the current tax year in the file name.
What to look for: Which form applies to a residential owner, whether it can be filed online, by mail or in person, what it asks you to attach, and whether an informal review with the assessor has to come first. Last year's form is sometimes refused.
6. The deadline, and whether it is received-by or postmark
Where it sits: The notice (it is usually printed on it), the board's page, or the state calendar. Where the notice carries no date, the state statute sets a fixed day or a count of days from the notice.
What to look for: The exact day, and the rule: a received-by deadline means the envelope has to land on the desk; a postmark deadline means the post office stamp counts. Online portals often close at a stated hour. Write the day down before anything else.
7. The county's sales search for the last twelve months in your neighbourhood code
Where it sits: The assessor's sales search or sales ratio data, the recorder's or register of deeds' index of recorded deeds, or the GIS map's "recent sales" layer. Listing sites show the sold price; the recorded deed proves it.
What to look for: Five to eight sold houses within about twelve months of the valuation date, in the same school zone or neighbourhood code, within roughly a quarter of your size, with the sale date and recorded price. The board reads sales, adjusted plainly for size, baths and date, and takes the median; it does not read opinions.
8. The effective tax rate sheet
Where it sits: The treasurer's or auditor's site: the millage, levy or tax rate table for your taxing district, or the breakdown on the back of your tax bill.
What to look for: What a $10,000 reduction in value is actually worth to you in a year, which is the number that decides whether a Saturday of work, a $49 pack or a contingency firm taking a quarter to half of the saving makes sense. Many districts land between 1% and 2.5% of value a year; yours is on the sheet.
County portals differ: the names above (assessor, auditor, property appraiser, board of review, board of equalization, value adjustment board) are the common ones, and your notice names the office that sent it. Nothing here is legal or tax advice; it is a reading list of public records, and you decide what to file.
Three questions.
Can I appeal without all eight?
Yes, and most owners file with the card, the form, the deadline and a handful of sales. The permit history and the valuation date are the two that lose appeals when they are skipped: a comparable sold after the valuation date can be struck out, and a condition argument with no permit record behind it reads as an opinion.
What if the record card is right?
Then your appeal rests on comparables alone, and it only holds if sales within twelve months of the valuation date, in your neighbourhood, adjusted for size, baths and date, come in below the notice. If they do not, the honest answer is that the assessment is fair, and the pack says so when that is what the records show.
How long does pulling all of this take?
An evening if the county's portals are good and link to each other; a weekend if the permit index is paper-era scans or the sales search has no neighbourhood filter. The pack does the same eight pulls, reads them against your notice and writes it up in the county's wording within 2 days of payment, for $49, and you file it yourself.
Want this list in your inbox, with the sample pack?
The eight pulls as a list you can tick off, plus the whole invented Orchard Lane pack as a PDF, so you can see what they turn into.