on Apr 28th, 2010Indiana property tax assessment appeals process: Not so scary after all!
Can you tell me if there is anything I can do if I disagree with the [property]tax bill? I think my house is worth a lot less than their stated value. I didn’t see any info about an appeal process.
A good question recently posed by one of our clients.
The first thing you should know about property tax appeals is that there are two categories. Our client’s disagreement with her property taxes falls under Subjective Appeals, which address disputes about whether or not the property’s assessed value is consistent with the property’s market value. A subjective appeal can be based on the following:
- Sale of the subject property
- Sales of comparable properties
- Listing prices
- Offers to purchase
- An appraisal prepared by a licensed appraiser
Objective appeals are based on property amenities that you can physically see or measure, such as whether or not there is a basement or the property’s square footage.
Once you’ve determined which type of appeal you need to file, the rest of the process really isn’t as confusing or difficult as you might expect. Questions about or issues with your property tax bill should be directed to the place where it all begins—your township or county assessor. Contact information for your local assessing office should be available online. Just try Googling Hamilton County Assessor’s Office, for instance.
To file an appeal you must simply inform your local assessing official in writing that you are doing so. An appraisal is not required as evidence of the grounds for your appeal. Form 133, Petition for Correction of an Error, is available online for filing an Objective Appeal. Form 130 is available online for the purpose of filing a Subjective Appeal, but it isn’t necessary. You can hand-write your appeal on a cocktail napkin if you wish! Just be sure to include the following information:
- Taxpayer’s name
- Address and parcel or key number of the property
- Address and telephone number of the taxpayer
As you might imagine, time is of the essence when filing an appeal. If you receive notice of an assessment (Form 11) and plan to appeal, you should do so within 45 days of the notice. If you do not receive Form 11, your tax bill serves as the notice of assessment and you should initiate an appeal within 45 days of the date of the tax bill or May 10, whichever is later.
What, you might ask, do you do about paying your taxes while you are simultaneously appealing them? If you have initiated an appeal within the 45-day time frame, you are required only to pay the amount of taxes based on the immediately preceding year’s assessment pending a final determination of your appeal. For instance, if your 2008 tax bill (payable in 2009) was based on an assessed value of $200,000 and your 2009 tax bill (payable in 2010) is suddenly based on an assessed value of (gasp!) $500,000, you must pay only the amount of taxes based on the $200,000 assessment. Whatever you do, don’t do nothing! If you do not pay at least the amount of your previous tax bill when the current installment is due, you will be considered delinquent and assessed penalties based on that delinquency.
Two final notes: If your property tax assessment has increased by more than 5% from the previous year, the burden of proof falls to the township or county assessor. And, be sure to actually look over your entire property tax bill as soon as you receive it. I found a mistake on mine that I probably wouldn’t have noticed if I hadn’t been looking carefully!
“”Two final notes: If your property tax assessment has increased by more than 5% from the previous year, the burden of proof falls to the township or county assessor.”"
I am seeing a 20% increase on my property assessment from last year. I am already working on my appeal , but what can be done to see their justification for such a large increase?
Any idea on the typical timeframe on an appeal, once it is filed, how long will it take for me to hear back?
Great question! Since I filed a property tax assessment appeal myself in the summer of 2010 and have yet to hear anything, I gave the Fall Creek assessor’s office a call to see what was going on. I was informed that (nearly six months later) my appeal was still waiting to be reviewed. So I guess the answer is …. potentially a long time. But remember that until you receive a response, you are only responsible for paying the property tax amount for the year prior to the year you are appealing.