Protesting Your Property Taxes

• Gather sales information about comparable properties in your neighborhood from a local Realtor. (I'm happy to provide this for you at no charge).  Most appraisal districts will tell you that they will only look at sales that were completed between January 1st and December 31st of the prior year.  Don’t be afraid though to take in actual sales data from both before and after those dates within a few months. Especially if there are not a lot of completed sales during the prior year that compare to your property.
• Make adjustments for any special features, such as pools or tennis courts, so the properties are comparable, noting the age of such features if you yourself own one.  For instance, a 25-year-old pool should count for substantially less than a brand-new installation.
• Look at the condition of your house and take photographs of any problems, such as cracks and faulty wiring, which would require repair before a sale.
• Gather information on costs to make repairs and deduct this amount from the comparable properties in your comparison.
• If you have an architectural floor plan showing exact dimensions compare that to the reported square footage.

If the assessment is too high, and you've decided to protest, you'll initially protest the assessment through an informal hearing.
Be prepared to tell the Review Board in clear terms, based on your information, what you feel your property is worth, and how you arrived at that specific value. Often you can reach an agreement at this stage; but if not, you can go before a panel trained in the process and representing the public to make your case.

As I mentioned, it's not complicated to make the protest yourself, but you should consider the services of a professional if you:

• Don't want to gather and analyze the required information.
• Have difficulty making a fact-based argument rather than one based on emotion.
• Your time is more valuable than the amount of the fee for the service.