Enrichment · Life Skills

Is the assessor’s
number right?

A property tax bill starts from the value on the assessment notice, and that value can be wrong: a basement counted as finished, a sales market that moved. Put in the notice and a few nearby sales; the page shows what they point to and whether a review is worth asking for.

Review an assessmentWhat you get
$5one-time · every device you sign in on
Buy · $5

Included with the Caveat Academy pass and Whole-school licenses. Or get it in the Life skills kit, $29 for 28 items.

Your assessments

The worked example is made up: a house valued at $412,000 whose card counts an unfinished basement, with three nearby sales near $205 a square foot. Saved on this device only.

Loading the assessment form. If nothing appears, turn on JavaScript.

What you get

Enrichment · Life Skills$5

What you finish with
A record per property per year: the notice’s market value, finished square feet, the deadline, record card errors, comparable sales with price, size and date, and seven review steps. Works out the value the sales point to (median price per square foot times the home’s size), the gap against the notice and the days to the deadline; flags a gap of 5% or more, fewer than three sales, a close or passed deadline and card errors to correct.
Who it is for
Homeowners, families who just received an assessment notice, and anyone helping a parent check theirs.
Format
Browser organizer with a saved record per assessment. Prints a summary with the sales for an informal review or hearing, every assessment in a table or a blank sheet; downloads a spreadsheet (.csv); exports and imports a file.
Access
$5 one-time, yours on every device you sign in on; the tool opens once you are signed in with it. Included with the Caveat Academy pass and Whole-school licenses. Also in the Life skills kit ($29) and the Enrichment Suite pass ($119), and 1 more bundle. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The Life Skills space in Caveat Enrichment.
Support
Questions about access, an order or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

  1. Copy the market value, size and deadline from the notice.
  2. Check the record card line by line.
  3. Add three or more similar recent sales.
  4. Ask for an informal review if the gap is large or the card is wrong.
  5. File the appeal before the deadline if that does not settle it.

Review an assessment

The review, step by step

How a review usually goes1Read the noticeMarket value, assessed valueand the deadline2Check the record cardSize, rooms, baths, basement,lot3Find comparable salesThree or more similar homessold recently4Informal reviewMany offices fix clear errorsby phone or email5Formal appealA form before the deadline,then a hearing6DecisionA changed value lowers the taxbill that followsHow a review usually goes1Read the noticeMarket value, assessed value and thedeadline2Check the record cardSize, rooms, baths, basement, lot3Find comparable salesThree or more similar homes soldrecently4Informal reviewMany offices fix clear errors by phoneor email5Formal appealA form before the deadline, then ahearing6DecisionA changed value lowers the tax bill thatfollows
An appeal is about the value, not the tax rate. Rates are set by the local governments and school districts that share the bill.

Market, assessed and taxable

The market value is what the assessor thinks the home would sell for. Some places tax a fixed share of it, the assessed value, and then subtract exemptions to get the taxable value. Compare sales to the market value, not to the assessed value.

Why the median per square foot

Price per square foot evens out homes of different sizes, and the median keeps one odd sale from pulling the answer. It is a rough check, not an appraisal: condition, lot, view and updates matter too, and a hearing officer will weigh them.

Sources

  1. International Association of Assessing Officers. Standard on Ratio Studies and A Taxpayer’s Guide to Property Tax Appeals (iaao.org).
  2. Lincoln Institute of Land Policy. Significant Features of the Property Tax (lincolninst.edu).
  3. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. What is a property tax assessment (consumerfinance.gov).
  4. National Taxpayers Union Foundation. Property tax appeals (ntu.org).

The worked examples are made up. Rules, forms and deadlines are set where you live; the notice and your assessor’s office are the authority. This page does arithmetic on the sales you enter and is not an appraisal. Nothing you type is sent to Caveat. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.