Property tax words, in plain English

Assessment notices are written in vocabulary that appears nowhere else in ordinary life. These are the 28 terms that actually matter when you are deciding whether to appeal — what each one means, why it matters, and what people usually get wrong about it.

A B C E H L M N P R T U V

A

Appeal: A formal challenge to your assessment, not to your tax bill.
Appeal deadline: The date after which nothing you can prove matters.
Assessed value: The figure your county uses to calculate your tax — not what your house is worth.
Assessment ratio: The percentage of market value that becomes your assessed value.
Assessor: The official who values property for tax purposes.

B

Board of review: The local body that hears assessment appeals first.
Burden of proof: Whose job it is to show the assessment is wrong — usually yours.

C

Comparable (comp): Another property used as evidence — either its sale price or its assessment.

E

Equalization factor (multiplier): A county-wide correction applied so counties are assessed at comparable levels.
Equalized assessed value (EAV): Assessed value after a county-wide multiplier is applied.
Equity appeal: Another name for a uniformity appeal — you are assessed above comparable properties.
Evidence packet: The documents that make your case, which usually decide it.
Exemption: A reduction you qualify for by status — and often have to claim yourself.

H

Homestead exemption: A reduction for the home you actually live in.

L

Levy: The total amount a taxing body decides to collect.

M

Market value: What a willing buyer would pay a willing seller, neither under pressure.
Mass appraisal: Valuing thousands of properties by model rather than one at a time.
Mill rate: A tax rate expressed in dollars per thousand of value.

N

Notice of assessment: The letter that starts your appeal clock.

P

Parcel number (PIN/APN): The county's unique identifier for a piece of land.
Private mortgage insurance (PMI): Insurance protecting your lender, which you may be able to cancel.
Property classification: The category your property is taxed under.

R

Reassessment: The periodic revaluation of everything in a jurisdiction.
Record error: The county's file says your home is something it is not.

T

Tax rate: The multiplier applied to your taxable value, set by the bodies that tax you.
Tax year: The year an assessment applies to, which is often not the year you pay.

U

Uniformity: The requirement that similar properties be assessed alike — the strongest appeal ground.

V

Valuation date: The date your assessment is supposed to reflect, often more than a year before the bill.

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