Rob Hartley

Founder, AppealDesk · February 27, 2026

You Just Got Your Property Assessment Notice: Here's Exactly What to Do Next

Updated February 2026 · 22 min read

1. Don't Panic (But Don't Ignore It Either)

You opened an envelope from your county assessor's office, and the number staring back at you is higher than last year. Maybe significantly higher. Take a breath. You are not alone, and you are not powerless.

Across the country, property assessments in 2026 are surging. Home values climbed throughout 2024 and 2025, and assessors are catching up. In some counties, homeowners are seeing 15%, 25%, even 40% increases in a single year. That translates directly into a higher property tax bill unless you take action.

Here is what the notice actually means: your county assessor has estimated the current market value of your home and calculated an assessed value based on that estimate. This assessed value, multiplied by your local tax rate, determines your property tax bill. If the assessed value goes up, your taxes go up. Simple as that.

But here is the part most homeowners miss: you have a legal right to challenge that number. Every state provides a formal process for disputing your assessment. The catch? You only have a limited window to do it. Miss that window, and you are locked into the higher value for the entire tax year (or longer, depending on your state's reassessment cycle).

So the first rule is simple: do not throw this notice in a drawer. The second rule: do not panic. The third rule: read the rest of this guide, because we are going to walk you through exactly what to do.

For a deeper dive into what every line on the notice means, see our companion guide: Understanding Your Property Assessment Notice.

2. Check Your Deadline FIRST

Before you do anything else, find your appeal deadline. This is the single most important piece of information on your assessment notice. In some states, you have as few as 25 days from the date the notice was mailed. In others, deadlines are tied to fixed calendar dates that may already be approaching.

The terminology varies by state. In Texas, it's called a "protest." In New York, it's a "grievance." In Florida, you file a "petition." Most other states simply call it an "appeal." Whatever the name, the clock is ticking. For a complete breakdown of every state's deadline, see our 2026 Property Tax Appeal Deadline Guide.

Here are the deadlines for the ten largest states by homeowner population:

3. Understand What You're Looking At

Your assessment notice contains several numbers, and it is easy to confuse them. Understanding the difference between these values is essential before you decide whether to appeal.

Market Value

This is what the county believes your home would sell for on the open market as of the assessment date. It is the assessor's best estimate, based on recent sales of similar homes in your area, property characteristics (square footage, lot size, age, condition), and mass appraisal models. For more on how this works, see our glossary entry on market value.

The key question: is the county's market value estimate accurate? If similar homes in your neighborhood are selling for less than the value on your notice, that is a strong signal that you may be overassessed.

Assessed Value

In many states, your assessed value is not the same as your market value. States apply an assessment ratio that reduces the market value to a taxable figure. For example, Georgia taxes at 40% of market value. South Carolina taxes residential property at just 4%. In states like California, Colorado, and Tennessee, the ratio is well below 100%.

The formula is straightforward:

If your state has a ratio below 100%, make sure you are comparing apples to apples. A $400,000 market value in a state with a 40% ratio means a $160,000 assessed value. That $160,000 is the number your taxes are based on.

Taxable Value

The taxable value is your assessed value after exemptions are applied. Homestead exemptions, senior exemptions, veteran exemptions, and disability exemptions can all reduce the taxable value. Check your notice to make sure all exemptions you qualify for are being applied. If you see a taxable value that equals your assessed value and you have not applied for exemptions, that is a separate problem worth addressing. See our guide to property tax exemptions for a full list of what you may qualify for.

4. Three Questions to Ask Yourself

Before you invest time in an appeal, run through these three questions. If you answer "yes" to any of them, you likely have grounds to challenge your assessment.

Question 1: Is the assessed value higher than what your home would actually sell for?

This is the most common basis for a successful appeal. If your county says your home is worth $450,000, but comparable homes in your neighborhood are selling for $380,000 to $410,000, you have a clear case. The key is finding recent, similar sales (called "comps") that prove the assessor's number is too high. You can start by checking listings on Zillow, Redfin, or your county's property records portal. Our guide on how to find comparable sales walks you through the process step by step.

Question 2: Did your value increase more than your neighborhood average?

Assessors are supposed to apply consistent valuation methods across similar properties. If your assessed value jumped 30% while homes on your street only went up 10–15%, that inconsistency is itself evidence of an error. You can verify this by looking up your neighbors' assessments on your county assessor's website (this information is public in most states). A pattern where your home is valued significantly higher than similar nearby properties supports an overassessment claim.

Question 3: Are there factual errors on your property record?

This is more common than you might think. Assessors work from property record cards that contain details about your home: square footage, bedroom and bathroom count, lot size, year built, whether there is a finished basement or a garage, and more. If any of these are wrong, your assessment is based on faulty data.

Common errors include listing a finished basement when yours is unfinished, overstating square footage (sometimes by hundreds of square feet), counting a crawl space as livable area, or failing to account for condition issues like foundation problems, water damage, or outdated systems. Look up your property record card on your county assessor's website and compare every line to reality.

5. What You Can Do About It

If one or more of those questions raised a red flag, you have a formal remedy: the property tax appeal process. Every state gives homeowners the right to challenge their assessment. The specifics vary, but the general process follows a similar pattern everywhere.

• File on time: Submit your appeal, protest, or grievance application before the deadline. This usually means filling out a simple form (often available online) and submitting it to your county assessor, board of equalization, or review board.
• Gather evidence: Collect comparable sales data, photos, repair estimates, and any documentation that supports your claim. We cover this in detail in the next section.
• Present your case: Depending on your state, you may attend an informal hearing, a formal board hearing, or submit evidence by mail. In many jurisdictions, the first stage is an informal review where you meet one-on-one with an appraiser. Many cases are resolved at this stage without ever going to a formal hearing.
• Receive a decision: The review board will either reduce your assessment, keep it the same, or (very rarely) increase it. If you are worried about that last possibility, see our analysis of whether appealing can raise your taxes. The short answer: in most states, it cannot.

For a comprehensive walkthrough of every stage, including what to say and what to avoid, read our complete guide: How to Appeal Your Property Taxes. If you are wondering whether you even need to attend a hearing in person, we cover that too: How to Appeal Property Taxes Without a Hearing.

Curious about how long the whole process takes? Here is a realistic timeline from filing to resolution, broken down by state.

6. How to Gather Evidence (The Part Where Most People Get Stuck)

Here is the honest truth about property tax appeals: filing the paperwork is straightforward. Gathering convincing evidence is where it gets hard. Review boards see hundreds or thousands of appeals each year. They are looking for organized, data-driven arguments, not emotional pleas about your taxes being too high.

The gold standard of appeal evidence is comparable sales data. You need to find 3 to 5 homes near yours that sold recently for less than your assessed value. These comps need to be truly comparable: similar in size, age, condition, and location. A 1,200-square-foot ranch on a quarter-acre lot is not a useful comp for a 3,000-square-foot colonial on two acres, even if they are in the same zip code.

Beyond comps, there are other categories of evidence that can strengthen your case:

• Photos of condition issues: Deferred maintenance, outdated systems, foundation cracks, water damage, or any functional obsolescence that reduces your home's value compared to what the assessor assumes.
• Repair estimates: Written quotes from contractors documenting the cost to fix condition issues. A $35,000 foundation repair estimate is powerful evidence of reduced market value.
• A recent appraisal: If you refinanced or purchased within the last year or two and the appraisal came in lower than the assessment, that is directly relevant. You do not necessarily need a fresh appraisal for your appeal, though. See how to appeal without an appraisal.
• Property record card errors: A printout of your property record card with the errors highlighted and corrected. If they list 2,400 square feet and your home is actually 2,100 square feet, that alone could justify a 12% reduction.
• Neighborhood factors: If your home is next to a highway, railroad tracks, commercial properties, a landfill, or other negative externalities that reduce value, document those with photos and maps.

For a detailed breakdown of exactly what evidence wins appeals and how to present it, see our dedicated guides: What Evidence Do I Need for a Property Tax Appeal? and How to Find Comparable Sales for Your Appeal.

The reality is that finding quality comps, adjusting for differences, and packaging everything into a format that review boards take seriously is a 5 to 10 hour research project for most homeowners. That is before you even factor in the learning curve of understanding assessment ratios, identifying the right comparable sales databases, and formatting your evidence packet. This is exactly the bottleneck that stops most people from following through.

7. The $49 Shortcut

We built AppealDesk because we saw the same problem over and over: homeowners who knew they were being overassessed but could not justify spending $300 to $500 on a property tax consultant, did not have 10 hours to do the research themselves, and did not know where to find reliable comparable sales data.

Unlike contingency-based services that take 30–40% of your first-year savings, AppealDesk charges a flat $49. If you save $800 this year, you keep $800 (minus your $49). If you save $2,000, you keep $2,000 (minus your $49). And since property tax reductions typically carry forward until the next reassessment cycle, those savings compound year after year.

You can also do the math yourself with our free savings calculator. Just enter your assessed value and tax rate to see what even a modest reduction could mean for your bottom line.

8. What If Your Assessment Actually Went Down?

First, congratulations. That is relatively rare in the current market cycle. If your assessed value decreased, you generally do not need to take any action to preserve the lower value. Your tax bill will be calculated on the new (lower) number automatically.

However, there are two things worth checking even when your assessment goes down:

• Are your exemptions still applied? A decrease in assessed value does not always mean a decrease in your tax bill if exemptions were accidentally removed during reassessment. Verify that homestead, senior, veteran, or other exemptions are still listed on the notice.
• Is the decrease enough? Your assessment could have gone down while still being higher than your home's actual market value. If the county dropped your value from $500,000 to $470,000, but comparable sales suggest your home is worth $420,000, you still have grounds to appeal.

For a complete guide to exemptions you might qualify for, see our property tax exemptions guide.

9. State-by-State Assessment Notice Calendar

One of the most frustrating aspects of property tax is that every state (and sometimes every county within a state) operates on its own schedule. Here is a general guide to when assessment notices typically arrive, organized by season. Use this to know when to start watching your mailbox.

Frequently Asked Questions