Appealing Your Property Re-assessment

If you disagree with the valuation of your property, you don’t have to just accept their valuation.  You can attempt to get it adjusted.  There’s no guarantee you’ll be successful but there’s no fee to file.  The County Revenue site actually has a fair amount of information on how, when, where, etc. 

https://stlouisco.com/YourGovernment/BoardofEqualization/PropertyValueAppeals

But…. As you read through their site links, don’t be intimidated by their terminology.  I’m going to provide a little translation of their terminology, as well as some insight as to what you’ll likely encounter through the process.

What it’s called	What it means
File an appeal	Lodge a complaint
Schedule a Hearing	Schedule a time to meet
Board of Equalization	People that work for the county
Informal Conference	Meeting with an appraiser
State Tax Commission	The County Assessor’s boss

It costs nothing to lodge your complaint.  You can submit the request online.  If you submit your supporting documentation online, you don’t even have to meet with anyone and will simply be notified a few months later after a decision has been made.

You don’t need to hire a lawyer or a representative.  And that isn’t because you’ve watched enough lawyer shows on tv that you can act the part, but rather because the process and environment simply isn’t a lawyer kind of situation.  You can, and I’m not trying to discourage you from doing so if you want to.  But if the cost of a lawyer outweighs the benefit of the assessment correction, then I’m just letting you know that you don’t need to have one.  I didn’t for mine, and neither did any of my neighbors.

And finally, the meeting environments aren’t intimidating either.  In spite of the use of words like “file an appeal” and “schedule a hearing,” there are no courtrooms involved.  My first meeting was at a gymnasium-like-room-converted-to-temporary-county-meeting-area, lined with a bunch of folding tables and stackable chairs, and with people of all walks of life milling around, chatting.  I met with several different people to discuss my valuation, all of whom were hired as temps just for the appeal process workload.  They were nice and friendly, and grateful that I didn’t yell at them.  I suspect they get a fair amount of that.

When I opted to continue to the next level and met with the “Board of Equalization” or BOE, it was in a room off to the side of the “gymnasium” that also contained a folding table and stacking chairs, except this time I spoke to County employees.  Also pleasant, un-intimidating people.

There was no arguing, no yelling, no fist-fights over a disagreement in valuation anywhere in the room.  Just shuffling of documents and discussions about valuation.  I don’t even recall anyone being dressed in suits.  Maybe there were some and I just didn’t notice.

Don’t let the explanation of the process by the County office intimidate you.  The process itself is not.