How to Appeal Your Property Taxes: A Homeowner's Guide

A property tax appeal is a formal request that your county lower the value it has assigned to your home, because that value is higher than what the home was actually worth on the date the county has to use. You do not argue about the tax rate or the bill. You argue about the number the bill is calculated from. If you can show that number is too high, with sales of similar homes or errors in the county's own record, the county has to lower it, and your bill follows.

What you are actually appealing

Your tax bill is a rate multiplied by a value. Cities, counties, and school districts set the rate. You cannot appeal that. The value is set by the county assessor (in Florida, the property appraiser), and that is the part you can challenge.

The value on your notice is an estimate. In California it is usually your Proposition 13 base year value, grown by at most 2 percent a year, unless the market has fallen below it. In Georgia the county estimates your home's fair market value as of January 1 and assesses 40 percent of it (O.C.G.A. section 48-5-7). In Florida the property appraiser estimates "just value" as of January 1, and caps then apply on top.

Whatever the label, the question in an appeal is the same: was the county's number higher than what your home would have sold for on the valuation date? If yes, the number should come down.

The two arguments that win

Almost every successful residential appeal rests on one of two claims.

1. The county's record of your home is wrong

Assessors value tens of thousands of homes with a model. The model runs on a record card: square footage, bedroom and bathroom count, lot size, year built, condition, garage, pool, finished basement. If the card says your home is a fifth bigger than it is, your value is inflated before anyone looks at a single sale. These errors are common, easy to prove, and hard for the county to argue with. Our guide on seven common record errors walks through where to look.

2. Comparable sales say your home is worth less

The stronger argument for most homeowners is market evidence. If three homes of similar size, age, and condition on nearby streets sold for less than your assessed value in the months around the valuation date, the county's number does not hold. What counts as "comparable", how far back you can go, and how to adjust for differences is covered in how to find comparable sales.

You can also make a uniformity argument in Georgia (your home is assessed higher than similar homes nearby, even if the absolute value is defensible), and in every state you can argue that a specific defect (foundation damage, a failed roof, flood exposure) was not accounted for.

Deadlines by state

Missing the window ends the appeal for that tax year. There is no late filing for a regular value appeal. The dates below come from the statutes and the agencies' own pages; each state guide has the full detail.

For 2026, eleven California counties close on September 15 and the other 47 close on November 30; the California deadline guide lists all 58. Florida's 2026 dates fell between September 4 and September 18 depending on the county, and most have already passed; the Florida guide has the list and what to do if you missed it. Georgia notices go out on the county's schedule, so the date printed on your notice is the one that matters; the Georgia guide explains the 45-day rule.

The process, step by step

Step 1: Read the notice

Find three things: the value the county assigned, the date the value is "as of" (January 1 in all three states), and the deadline. Georgia and Florida print the deadline on the notice. California notices do not always say it, which is why the county table matters. If the terms on the notice are unfamiliar, how to read your assessment notice decodes each line.

Step 2: Pull the county's record of your home

Every county publishes a property record online (search for your county assessor or property appraiser and your address). Check every fact on it against your home. Write down each error.

Step 3: Decide whether the number is actually high

Look at what similar homes sold for around January 1. If the sales cluster at or above your assessed value, an appeal is unlikely to win and you should save your time. If they cluster below, keep going. Is an appeal worth it? has a five-minute calculation.

Step 4: Talk to the assessor first

All three states encourage an informal conversation before a formal appeal. California's Board of Equalization tells homeowners to "first meet informally with the assessor to discuss the assessment" (Publication 30). Florida law says a taxpayer "may request the property appraiser to informally confer with the taxpayer" and the appraiser "shall confer" (Fla. Stat. section 194.011(2)). A clear record error is often fixed at this stage without a hearing. Just do not let the conversation run past your filing deadline. File the formal appeal anyway if the window is closing.

Step 5: File the appeal

Use the state's form and file it with the right office by the deadline. State your opinion of value and the basis for it. In California, the value you write on the application matters: under Rev. & Tax. Code section 1604(c), if the board does not decide your case within two years, your opinion of value becomes the assessed value. What to write on the form covers each state's form and the mistakes that get an appeal dismissed.

Step 6: Keep paying

Filing does not pause the bill. California's BOE is blunt: "Filing an application does not excuse the payment of taxes." Georgia counties issue a temporary bill while the appeal is pending, and you must pay it. Florida requires at least 75 percent of the ad valorem taxes to be paid before the delinquency date, or the Value Adjustment Board must deny the petition (Fla. Stat. section 194.014). A win is refunded.

Step 7: The hearing, or the settlement before it

Many appeals settle before a hearing: the assessor's office reviews your evidence and offers a revised value. If not, you (or your representative) present to a board or a hearing officer. In Florida, larger counties use special magistrates who are state-certified appraisers with at least five years' experience (Fla. Stat. section 194.035). What happens after you file walks through the sequence, and how long it takes sets expectations for each state.

What a win is worth, and how long it lasts

A reduction is applied to the year you appealed. What happens after that differs by state, and it matters for whether the effort pays.

In Georgia, if an appeal decision reduces your value, the county cannot raise that value for the following successive tax years under O.C.G.A. section 48-5-299(c). Chatham County's assessors describe it, after the 2024 and 2025 legislation, as a three-year freeze, conditional on you or your representative attending the hearing and the value actually being reduced.

In California, a Proposition 8 reduction is reviewed every year and rises back toward your factored base year value as the market recovers. A correction of a factual error in your base year value, on the other hand, lasts as long as you own the home.

In Florida, a lower just value also resets the starting point for the Save Our Homes cap, so a win compounds for as long as you keep the homestead.

Do you need help?

For a house, you do not need a lawyer. Each state lets a homeowner file and argue their own appeal, and each lets an authorized agent do it for you. Whether it is worth paying someone depends on how strong your evidence is and how much you value your time; do you need a lawyer? and what an appeal costs lay out the options honestly.

If you would rather hand it off, Drop Property Tax does the record check, the comparable sales, the filing, and the hearing, and charges nothing unless the appeal wins. Start with a free review of your address.

Common questions

Can appealing raise my assessment?

It is possible in principle, because a board decides value and value can go either way, but it is rare and the rules constrain it. If your evidence shows the number is too high, the risk is small. Can an appeal backfire? covers the real risk and how to file so it does not apply to you.

Is there a fee to file?

Georgia charges nothing for an appeal to the county Board of Equalization. Florida counties charge a fee set by each board, capped at $50 per parcel by Fla. Stat. section 194.013. California counties each set their own, from $0 in Orange and San Diego to $46 in Los Angeles and more in a few counties. The cost guide has the numbers we have verified.

I just bought the house. Is the purchase price my value?

Not automatically, and Georgia's answer changed with the 2025 legislation described in Chatham County's assessment FAQ. See appealing after buying a house.

What about the homestead exemption?

An exemption lowers the slice of value that gets taxed; an appeal lowers the value itself. You can and often should do both. Homestead exemption vs. appeal explains how they interact in each state.