How to Lower Your Property Taxes: What to Check First

Can you lower your property taxes yourself?

Yes, and none of the steps below needs anyone to file for you. Each one changes a different input. An exemption lowers the value the tax is charged on. A record correction fixes the facts the value is based on. An appeal argues the value is too high. Exemptions and record errors don't depend on arguing about value, so check them first, then decide whether an appeal is worth it.

Are you getting every exemption you qualify for?

Check your bill for the homestead exemption or credit, and for senior, disability and veteran programs. In Cook County the Homeowner Exemption takes $10,000 off the equalized assessed value; in California the homeowners' exemption takes $7,000 off; in Texas a residence homestead gets a $140,000 exemption from school district taxes.

Our homestead exemption guide explains who qualifies and how each state applies it, and exemptions to check first covers the senior, disability and veteran programs.

Is the county's record of your home correct?

Your value starts from the county's description of your home: its size, rooms, basement, garage and class. Compare the record with the house.

• Cook County: factual errors such as square footage, building characteristics or class can be reported to the Assessor at any time. The Assessor measures square footage around the outside of the home, not room by room, and notes that many corrections don't change the assessed value.
• Maryland: the SDAT record lists the living area, baths and basement, and you can ask the local assessment office for a worksheet showing how the area was worked out. Our SDAT real property search guide shows where each field is.
• California: talking to the county Assessor's office first may fix an error without a formal appeal.
• Lake County, Illinois: the Board of Review requires a visit to the township assessor before a factual-error appeal.

If an error or a missing exemption already made a past bill too high, Cook County's fix is a Certificate of Error; see our record correction page.

Should you appeal your assessment?

An appeal needs evidence about value, not about the size of the tax. Washington treats a petition that only says the value is too high or the taxes are excessive as incomplete, and Oregon's Department of Revenue says comparing your taxes or tax-roll value with a neighbor's generally isn't satisfactory evidence. What counts is usually sales of similar homes near the valuation date and, in states that allow it, assessments of similar homes.

Check before you file whether the review can go the other way. A California appeals board can raise, lower or keep an assessment, and a Washington county board must raise a value it finds below market value after notice to the owner. Our free check compares your home with similar nearby homes using county records, so you can see where you stand first. How to appeal your property taxes yourself walks through the filing.

When is the property tax appeal deadline?

Deadlines are short and they rarely move:

• Maryland: within 45 days of the date on a new assessment notice.
• Texas: by May 15 or 30 days after your appraisal notice was delivered, whichever is later.
• Oregon: from the date tax statements are mailed through December 31.
• Illinois outside Cook County: 30 calendar days after your township's assessment list is published.
• California: July 2 through November 30 in counties where the Assessor doesn't mail value notices to every owner by August 1.

Every county we track is on the appeal deadlines page, with its official source.

Do you keep paying taxes during an appeal?

Filing doesn't pause the bill. California, Maryland, Rhode Island and Washington all expect the tax to be paid on time while an appeal is pending. If you win, the overpayment comes back: California refunds a reduction with interest, and in Oregon, when no further appeal is taken, the county refunds the extra tax with interest of 1% a month.

Look at relief programs for seniors and people with disabilities

Some programs work on the bill rather than the value. Cook County's Senior Freeze holds the equalized assessed value at a fixed amount for qualifying owners 65 or older. Washington's senior and disabled exemption removes all or part of the property tax on a qualifying owner's principal residence, and owners 60 or older who meet income and equity rules can defer taxes on up to 80% of their home equity; the deferral is a lien to be repaid later.

Your state's guide lists the local rules in one place: start from property tax appeals by state, or go straight to Illinois, California, Texas or Maryland.