The Board of Equalization is a body independent of the Assessor that provides an impartial forum for property owners to appeal the property value assigned by the County Assessor. Appeals are heard by the Board of Equalization members and cover cases involving property tax value, denials of senior citizens disabled exemptions and property classification such as forest and agriculture land. The Board of Equalization is completely separate from the Assessor's Office. We're overseen by the Department of Revenue. The board members are appointed by the county councillors and the people need to know that we're here to assist them with appealing their property valuations that are placed by the Assessor's Office and this is a venue that you can come and try to prove that the assessors valuation is incorrect and the board can make a reasoned decision if you're presenting the correct information and very easy.
We're happy to help. We're happy to educate. Just want every person out there to know that this is a venue that they can access for free. Hearings are every other week from 9 a.m. until 12:00 p.m. Residential hearings last 15 minutes each. The appellant is sworn in and the hearing is recorded for public record. If they're in a housing area which we're all built by the same builder it's it's pretty easy to do they can find properties that are very similar to theirs and find out how much they're sold for and how much theirs is valued and if there's a big disparity obviously if that's sold for a lot less than their property is valued for that would be a key factor for them to start looking at.
Then they would go on the website and look at properties that are comparable to theirs that they've they've already targeted and then there will be other properties available that they can see if they go on the Property Information Center website and they can find properties that are similar to theirs and compare them and see what is out there that have sold. Appellants must submit any supporting information at least 21 business days prior to their hearing as proof for their case. The board will review their case prior to their scheduled hearing. Following the hearing the board meets in executive session to discuss the testimony and information provided and decide on the case. We promise we give a decision back within 30 days and generally speaking it's usually within a week and a half or so.
But clearly within 30 days if we have some conflict then you might take that full 30 days. But for the most part it's sooner than that. They can then apply to the state for an appeal to the state and when we encourage them to try to get everything they can possibly get done here before they go to the state because the wait at the state is a minimum of two years at this point or maybe even longer. If you have any concerns about the assessed value of your property and you can provide documentation indicating a different value for your property then you should appeal your assessment. This is your legal right and it is free. The only thing I would urge people is to not be afraid of this process. They are welcome to come in. These are open hearings. They're welcome to come in and visit a hearing at their leisure whenever they have the opportunity and see how it's run and go from there if they're afraid to even think about it they can come in and visit and we'll go through the process with them.
For more information about the board of equalization or to fill out an appeal form. Visit their website..