Preparing for a Hearing
It is up to the taxpayer to make the case that the assessment is incorrect.
Therefore, it is highly recommended that you come to a hearing fully prepared to state your case.
If the project involved interior data collection and you refused entry either by declining a lister’s request to view your interior or failing to respond to any correspondence requesting access to your interior, you may lose your rights to appeal your assessment.
After you have completed all of the steps outlined in Is My Assessment Correct?, you may decide that you want to schedule a hearing. You may have uncovered a data error, found some comparable sales that support a lower assessment on your property or you may want to make someone aware of an irregularity that affects the value of your property. When attending the hearing, you should come prepared to prove your case. It is up to you to convince the hearing officer why the value is incorrect if you are to receive a change of value. If you supplied information in the past that lowered your value, bring it along again. Please be aware that the information may already be on your record and may already be reflected in your value.
If you are challenging the value on your property, please bring in recent, comparable sale properties that are located close to your property or are in an area that is similar to your property. A recent appraisal usually contains this information and can be helpful to proving your case provided that the appraisal actually comes in lower than your proposed assessment. Simply saying that the value is too high or offering to sell it to the hearing officer for the assessment amount will not be viewed as good reasons to lower your value.
If you have an issue pertaining to the use of your property, please bring in supporting evidence such as a deed showing a usage restriction or a plot plan which outlines any topographical irregularities.
If you want to make us aware of other issues, please bring in pictures, past documentation or anything else that will help you to prove your case.
For all documentation, please bring copies that you can leave with the hearing officer as there may not be access to a copier and original documents cannot be guaranteed a safe return to you.