Contesting property taxes

[Kyle J.]

I recently decided to review the County Assessor's assessed values for all of my properties to make sure I wasn't grossly overpaying in property taxes for any of them. I found that most were in line with the actual value. However, two were not.

I filed an informal request for review on the two that I felt were over-assessed. I felt I had ample justification (i.e. multiple comps, professional appraisals, etc) on both of them for why I felt the assessed value should be lower.

In response, the County lowered one of the properties to what I suggested. On the other one, they declined to lower it at all (it is $40,000 over-valued in my opinion). I have strong support/proof for why this second one should be lowered, so I took it to the next level and filed a formal appeal requesting a hearing with the Assessment Appeals Board.

I just received a letter from the Assessor's Office confirming that they received my formal appeal. However, in this letter they stated "Due to a large number of appeal applications, your appeal may not proceed to hearing for over 12 months."

Seriously? Over a year to get a hearing? I'll have paid the entire year's property taxes at the higher value by then. Sigh.

Anyway, I'm mostly just venting. But I'm also curious if anyone else has experienced long delays like this in their area?