Crafting an effective tax protest

It's almost that time of year again. That magical time when homeowners have a three weeks window in which to protest the taxable value of their property if they so desire. The period to file a protest in all counties in Iowa is from April 16 to May 5th. Iowa law allows:

The property owner may protest annually to the board of review under the provisions of Iowa Code section 441.35

You may be thinking you have plenty of time as it is still over a month away, however, you should begin planning now and preparing your research.

You can find the protest forms on the Polk County Assessor's website by first going to the home page, http://www.assess.co.polk.ia.us/ then by clicking on the word Protest, http://www.assess.co.polk.ia.us/web/basic/protestforms.html. Other assessor's sites follow a similar pattern. If you cannot find the form on your county's site, you can visit the office personally and obtain one.

As this is an even year and there will be no increases in property taxes, anecdotal evidence suggests that a citizen is more likely to be successful protesting their property value during this time as there are far fewer protests coming in for the appeals board to review and therefore a property owner delivering a well documented protest may be more likely to get the proper consideration.

There are some key points to keep in mind when preparing your tax protest:

1.) Use comparables from your tax district. You can find your tax district number by looking at the first three digits of your District/Parcel ID number, for example mine is 090/04175-003-000. Therefore my district number is 090. Ideally, I want to only examine sales or properties from that district.

How can I search for these properties? Right on the assessors website. You can search for properties at http://www.assess.co.polk.ia.us/web/inven/query/queryAll.html , or you can search sales at http://www.assess.co.polk.ia.us/cgi-bin/resquery/saleformN.cgi.

Recent sales are best because they show fair market values that are hard to argue against. You can however just use properties that you can find that are similar that have not necessarily sold in the recent past.

2.) Select homes of a similar style.If you have a two story home, compare it against other two stories. If you have a ranch home, compare it against other ranches. If you have a ranch and your comparables are 2 stories, your protest will likely fail because ranches are more valuable and the properties are not alike.

3.) Select homes of a similar size.This is the next most important metric next to your style. You should be choosing comparables that are within a few hundred square feet of your home.

4.) Select homes with a similar exterior. If you have a brick home, you should use other brick homes. If you have a frame or sided home, try to find other frame or sided homes. Brick is generally more highly valued than frame, so you should seek out the siding that most closely aligns with yours.

5.) Choose the appropriate protest method. There are 6 methods available to you. Create a protest for each method that applies with supporting evidence. Most likely you'll be using method 1.

Here are all the methods the Iowa Department of Revenue allows as grounds for a protest:

1. That said assessment is not equitable as compared with the assessments of other like property in the Taxing District.

2. That said property is assessed for more than the value authorized by law (which is the market value for all classes of property except agricultural); that $_______________________ is its actual value and is a fair assessment.

3. That said property is not assessable, is exempt from taxes, or is misclassified for the following reasons, to-wit:

4. That there is an error in the assessment as follows:

5. That there is fraud in the assessment as follows:

6. That there has been a change downward since the last assessment. (Section 441.35, Code of Iowa)

6.) Fill out the form completely and accurately. Take care to enter the correct information legibly in all blanks. Double check to make sure it's right. Once you send it in, that's it.

7.) Request an oral hearing.There will be a check box on the form whereby you can request an oral hearing. You want to do this if at all possible. You will be allowed appx. 5 minutes to lay out your case and add any facts you feel will help your appeal. Stick to the facts. "It's not right" or "It's too high" or "my neighbors house is less and it's bigger" will not help you without supporting evidence. Emotional appeals will fall flat as a pancake and probably irritate the appeal board members.

8.) Bring all supporting documentation to the protest. If you have photos for example that show your house is not in the condition claimed by the taxing authority, you may want to print them out 8.5 by 11 so that all three members of the appeals board can clearly see them. If you have an appraisal, you'll want to bring an extra copy that you can leave with the board.

If you live in a condo or town home, it's harder to protest but it can be done. If your assessment is as high or higher than an end unit and yours is a middle unit, you can protest on that basis. If your unit faces a busy road or Interstate and is assessed the same as a unit that is in less trafficked area of the same complex, you may use that as a basis as well. If you purchased the unit recently for far less than the assessed value that's another good basis for an appeal.

In conclusion: Please bear in mind that your taxable value bears little, if any, relation to market value or appraisal value. You are not going to harm yourself by seeking a fair taxable value for your property. Additionally, Iowa Code allows for a property owner to protest an assessment they feel is unfair. You may do everything right and your appeal may fail, but there's a 100% there will be no change if you do not appeal. If you lower your value in one year, the next increase will likely be lower than it would have been otherwise without your protest.