At a Glance

• In their initial assessment of your property, county assessors rarely consider a property’s specific characteristics or market area. This can mean that the assessor’s determination of your property’s assessed value may not be accurate.
• There are statutory and other legal mechanisms in place, which provide taxpayers the right and opportunity to ensure that their property is correctly valued and is not taxed more than is appropriate.

To protect and preserve their right to fair and equitable property tax assessments, taxpayers should understand the fundamentals of Indiana’s assessment system and how to challenge excessive valuations. If you own real property in Indiana and recently received a tax bill or notice of value (Form 11), you may be asking yourself the following questions.

Why did the assessed value of my property increase from the prior year?

Numerous factors can affect the assessed value of your property, so it can be helpful to understand how most assessed values are determined across the state of Indiana. Assessed values are comprised of a land value and an improvement value, which are set forth on county property record cards. By Indiana law, assessors are required to make property record cards available to all taxpayers, which can help a taxpayer better understand how the value of their property was calculated.

Assessors across Indiana typically use a “mass appraisal” process to value real property as of each January 1 assessment date, using standard methods, employing common data and allowing for statistical testing. Most of the mass appraisal guidelines for Indiana assessors are rooted in the application of the cost method, and the improvement values are determined using specified cost tables and then deducting depreciation in an attempt to arrive at Indiana’s standard of value for property taxation: true tax value.

Changes to the cost tables (e.g., changes in construction costs) can affect your property’s assessed value, as can annual adjustments or “trending” applied by the assessor’s office. Annual trending adjustments require assessors to research transactions (i.e., sales) of similar properties in a particular area over the prior year and to use that information to calculate factors to modify the base costs of similar improvements in the same area. As a result, in their initial assessment of your property, county assessors rarely consider a property’s specific characteristics or market area. The assessor’s determination of your property’s assessed value may not be accurate.

How do I know if my property is assessed too high?

Determining if a property is assessed too high can be a complex question of fact and law. For many property types, the assessed value of real property should reflect the amount a willing buyer and willing seller would agree to if the real property were to transact as of the assessment date in an arms’ length transaction. In Indiana, the valuation date is January 1 of the assessment year; so it is important to consider the physical characteristics of the property as well as economic conditions impacting the property and market more generally as of that date.

Generally, the specific economics of a property (e.g., the property being subject to lease) can be considered in determining the assessed value, but the assessor should not rely exclusively on a property’s actual income and expense information; rather, the value of an income-producing property should be based on market evidence. Further, the assessor should not increase the value of a property to reflect the sale price of that property, which is oftentimes referred to as sales-chasing (a practice that is prohibited under Indiana law).

Assessment laws and regulation are not one-size-fits-all for all property types. Whether a property is over-assessed will depend on the property at issue, the legal principles governing its valuation, and the factors impacting its value as of the assessment date, both internal and external to the property. 

How do I file an appeal on my property?

The appeals process begins with written notification to the appropriate local official. You must file an appeal on the form prescribed by the Department of Local Government Finance (DLGF), Form 130 (Taxpayer’s Notice to Initiate an Appeal) with the appropriate local official. It is important to preserve your rights to challenge that value by appealing to the proper tax body at the proper time. The assessment year at issue will depend on whether a county issued a notice of assessment or had the tax bill serve as notice of the assessment. In counties that issued a 2024 notice of assessment before May 1, 2024, the assessment year at issue is 2024 (with taxes paid in 2025). For counties that have tax bills serve as notice (e.g., Marion County and Lake County), an appeal contesting the 2023 assessed value must be filed on or before June 17, 2024 (in most years, the deadline is June 15).

There is no requirement to provide evidence of value at the time of filing.

What should I expect with the appeals process?

Following an informal conference with the local assessing official (which assessors are required to hold, but sometimes fail to conduct), the assessor will make a recommendation either denying or approving the appeal. The appeal will then be forwarded to the county Property Tax Assessment Board of Appeals (PTABOA) for review. If the PTABOA denies the appeal, instructions will be provided on appealing the decision to the Indiana Board of Tax Review (IBTR), the last administrative level where taxpayers can (and typically, must) submit evidence supporting reductions of the assessed value of their property. After being heard by the IBTR, a taxpayer may seek review by the Indiana Tax Court.

It is important to know that Indiana law does not require a taxpayer to submit an appraisal of their property to appeal the assessment. The DLGF provides examples of acceptable evidence to support an appeal on their website.

Should I talk to an attorney who focuses on Indiana property tax?

It can be helpful and informative to discuss your property tax issues with an attorney who focuses on property taxes. No taxpayer should pay more than their fair share. Thankfully, there are statutory and other legal mechanisms in place, which provide taxpayers the right and opportunity to ensure that their property is correctly valued and is not taxed more than is appropriate. If you believe that the county assessor has improperly valued your property as of January 1, 2023, or January 1, 2024, you should strongly consider talking to an attorney. And because of the short timeframe involved, it is important to line up tax professionals soon, who can help you or your company through the tax appeal process.