Most appeals argue market value: what your home would sell for. Some states also let you win by showing your home is assessed higher than similar homes, even if its market value went up. A common first test is assessed value per square foot.
Enter your home and three to five similar homes nearby (same type, size, age and condition). Assessed values and square footage are on the assessor's website.
This is a first check, not proof. Boards also adjust for differences in age, condition, lot and features, and some states use a different test. Read your state's rule below.
| State | Unequal assessment | How it works |
|---|---|---|
| California | No, argue market value | Under Prop 13 you can only argue your home's market value on the lien date fell below its assessed (factored base-year) value; a neighbor's lower assessment is not grounds for an appeal. Source |
| Connecticut | Limited | The Board of Assessment Appeals decides on market value, so bring sales of comparable homes; a pure discrimination claim against other assessments generally has to be made in Superior Court as a 'manifestly excessive' case under CGS 12-119. Source |
| Florida | No, argue market value | On VAB petition DR-486, check 'Real property value - decrease' and prove just (market) value with comparable sales; the form has no uniformity or unequal-assessment option. Source |
| Georgia | Yes | On appeal form PT-311A, check 'Uniformity' (you may also check 'Value') and show comparable properties in your county are assessed lower than yours, e.g. per square foot. Source |
| Illinois | Yes | File a 'lack of uniformity' appeal: pick similar nearby homes (same class, size, age, style) and show their assessed value per square foot of building is lower than yours. Source |
| Michigan | Limited | Protest at the March Board of Review first; if denied, you can check the 'uniformity of the property's assessment' issue on the Michigan Tax Tribunal petition, but most residential cases are decided on true cash value. Source |
| Nebraska | Limited | You can file Form 422 claiming your home is not equalized with comparable homes, but you must show a systematic (not one-off) undervaluation of comparables by clear and convincing evidence; most protests win on market value instead. Source |
| New Hampshire | Yes | Show your assessment is disproportionate: divide your assessment by the town's equalization ratio and prove (with sales or an appraisal) that the result is higher than your home's market value on April 1. Source |
| New Jersey | Limited | You must prove market value with 3-5 comparable sales (neighbors' assessments are not accepted as evidence); the board then cuts your assessment only if your assessment-to-value ratio is more than 15% above the town's Chapter 123 common level ratio. Source |
| New York | Yes | On grievance form RP-524, complete Part Four 'Unequal assessment' and show your assessment-to-market-value ratio is higher than the town's ratio for all property or for comparable residential properties. Source |
| Ohio | No, argue market value | The DTE 1 complaint challenges market value only, so support your requested value with an appraisal or recent sales of comparable homes, not with neighbors' lower assessments. Source |
| Pennsylvania | Limited | Prove your home's market value; the board then applies the county's ratio (the STEB common level ratio if it differs more than 15% from the predetermined ratio), so equity is built into the formula rather than argued from neighbors' assessments. Source |
| Texas | Yes | On the protest form 50-132, check 'Value is unequal compared with other properties' and show your appraised value exceeds the median appraised value of a reasonable number of comparable homes, appropriately adjusted (Tax Code 41.41(a)(2), 41.43(b)(3)). Source |
| Vermont | Yes | At the listers' grievance and the Board of Civil Authority, present comparable properties (or the town's sales-ratio level) showing your home is listed higher than comparable homes; the law requires a value that corresponds to comparable properties in town. Source |
| Wisconsin | Limited | The Board of Review decides on sworn market-value evidence such as recent sales of similar homes; other properties' assessments are not competent evidence of value, so use comparable sales rather than neighbors' assessments. Source |
Same neighborhood, style and type, close in size, age and condition. Three to five is enough; more helps if the results are close.
Compare this year's assessed values, all from the same assessor's records.
If a comparable home has a finished basement, a pool or a newer kitchen, say so: it supports a higher value for that home, not yours.
Print the record card of each comparable home and a one-page table like the calculator above. If your state's form has an unequal or uniformity box, tick it.