Sumter County homeowners pay a median of $881 a year in property tax on a median home value of $165,300. Its effective tax rate (property taxes paid as a share of home values, per the Tax Foundation) is 0.54%, the 13th highest of 46 South Carolina counties. The Sumter County Assessor sets the market value of every home in Sumter County. Appeals start with a written objection to the assessor; unresolved cases go to the Sumter County Board of Assessment Appeals, then to the South Carolina Administrative Law Court.
Varies, some openIf your county mailed you an assessment notice in 2026 (for example, in a reassessment county), your window is 90 days from the mailing date and may already have closed. If you got no notice, you can still file a written appeal with the county assessor for the 2026 tax year before the first penalty date (January 16, 2027 in most counties).
If you received an assessment notice, you must give the county assessor a written objection within 90 days after the notice was mailed. Miss it and you lose the right to appeal that value. In years when you got no notice, you can file a written appeal at any time, but it counts for the current tax year only if the assessor receives it before the first penalty date (taxes unpaid before January 16 become late); otherwise it applies to the next tax year. Phone calls do not count; the objection must be in writing. Example: Newberry County mailed its reassessment notices on August 21, 2025 and said the 90-day appeal period would end on November 22, 2025.
Phone: 803-436-2123
Address: 13 E Canal St, Sumter, SC 29150-4925
Assessor: Charles Napper
The county assessor appraises your home, applies the 4% legal residence ratio, and handles the first stage of every value appeal.
The assessor mails a property tax assessment notice when your value goes up by $1,000 or more, or when property is assessed for the first time. Notices are due by July 1 or as soon after as practical; in a countywide reassessment year, notices must go out by October 1. The notice shows the fair market value, the capped value, the assessment ratio, and how to appeal. In years with no notice, you get no letter, but you can still appeal.
Look up your home on the Sumter County Assessor website and check square footage, bathrooms, condition and features. Mistakes are the easiest wins. Use our record card checklist.
Send a written objection to the Sumter County Assessor within 90 days after your assessment notice was mailed (or, in a year with no notice, before the mid-January penalty date). Use the county's appeal form if it has one, or a signed letter with your parcel number, the value you think is right, and your reasons.
Sales of similar nearby homes around the county's reassessment date; A professional appraisal, or your purchase price if you bought recently in an arm's-length sale; Errors on the assessor's property record (square footage, bedrooms, baths, condition, lot size); Photos and repair estimates showing damage or defects.
The assessor's value is normally presumed correct. You must bring evidence of a different market value; simply saying the value is wrong or illegal is not enough. Value is judged as of the date of the county's last reassessment, so later market changes do not count.
Next step: South Carolina Administrative Law Court (ALC). Within 30 days after the date of the county board's written decision. File a Request for Contested Case Hearing with the Administrative Law Court in Columbia (by mail, hand delivery, or e-filing), attach the board's decision, and serve a copy on the county. The filing fee for a residential county tax case is $75 (a fee waiver can be requested). You must have gone through the county board first, or the case is dismissed. If you raise new facts that you did not show the county board, the judge usually sends the case back to the board first. ALC decisions can be appealed to the South Carolina Court of Appeals.
Enter the market value on your assessment notice and what you think the home would really sell for. We estimate the yearly saving if the board agrees with you.
Some states cap how fast the taxable value of a home can rise (California, Florida, Michigan and Texas homesteads, for example). If your taxable value is already held below market value by a cap, a lower market value may not lower this year's bill.
Fill in your details and download a written appeal statement as a PDF or Word file. Most boards also require their own appeal form: file the form and attach this letter and your evidence to it.
Tax Appeal Map is a free information site, not a law firm or appraiser. The letter is a template, not legal advice.
If you received an assessment notice, you must give the county assessor a written objection within 90 days after the notice was mailed. Miss it and you lose the right to appeal that value. In years when you got no notice, you can file a written appeal at any time, but it counts for the current tax year only if the assessor receives it before the first penalty date (taxes unpaid before January 16 become late); otherwise it applies to the next tax year. Phone calls do not count; the objection must be in writing. Example: Newberry County mailed its reassessment notices on August 21, 2025 and said the 90-day appeal period would end on November 22, 2025.
You start with a written objection to the Sumter County Assessor; if the assessor's conference and protest response do not settle it, you appeal within 30 days to the Sumter County Board of Assessment Appeals.
Phone 803-436-2123. Website: sumtercountysc.gov.
No fee is set in state law for the assessor or county board steps.
Contact details change; call or check the office website before you visit.