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Assessment Appeal
Property owners may appeal the assessed
value of their property. An appeal is not a complaint about
higher taxes. Rather, it is an attempt to prove that a property's
estimated market value is unfair or inaccurate.
Grounds for Appeal
An appeal can be made if the property
owner can prove one of three things:
Items that affect the value are incorrect
on the property record.
The estimated market value is too high.
The estimated market value is accurate but inequitable because
it is higher than the estimated value of similar properties.
Informal Review
The first step in an appeal is
usually an informal meeting, or possibly a phone conversation,
with a staff member in the Assessor's Office.
Begin by gathering as much information as
you can to prove why the property is not assessed properly.
Our records are open to the public and may be reviewed for
property comparisons.
At the meeting, a staff member will review
your Property Record Card as well as comparable properties
with you. This meeting may or may not result in a change
in the assessed value of your property.
Formal Review
If the Informal Review does not
result in a change, a property owner may seek a Formal Review
by the Lake County Board of Review. Like the Informal Review,
the appeal board will be interested only in the evidence
you present concerning the fairness and accuracy of the
value placed on your property, not on whether you believe
the taxes are too high.
The forms and instructions are available
at the Assessor’s Office or from the Chief County Assessment
Office by calling 847-377-2050. If the owner disagrees with
the decision, additional administrative and legal remedies
can be sought.
Limited assessment data and appeal forms
are available on the internet at www.co.lake.us/assessor.
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