Both the Sioux City Assessor and the Woodbury County Assessor are required to provide written notice to the owner of a parcel of property if there has been an increase or decrease in the valuation of the property. The assessors are also required to notify the person that if she or he is dissatisfied with the assessment, they can appear before the Board of Review and show why the assessment should be changed.  However, if the valuation of a class of property is uniformly decreased, the assessors may notify the affected property owners by publication in the county’s official newspapers.  Owners of real property must be notified no later than April 15 in any year of any adjustment of the assessed valuation of their real property.[1]

 Any property owner dissatisfied with the assessed valuation notice may file a protest against the assessment with the Board of Review during the time period of April 16 to and including May 5 in the year of the assessment.  The protest must be in writing and signed either by the property owner protesting the assessment or by his or her duly authorized agent, usually a licensed and practicing attorney.  The taxpayer is entitled to an oral hearing before the Board of Review if the taxpayer makes a written request for one.[2] Valuation protest forms may be obtained at the City Assessor’s office located in Room B-02 (basement) of the Woodbury County Courthouse and online at:

  http://www.woodbury-ia.com/departments/assessorcity/bor.asp

 and at the office of the Woodbury County Assessor located in Room 703 of the courthouse.

 Please be advised, however, that both offices only make such forms available in their offices and/or online during the protest time period of April 16 through May 5 of each year. Interestingly, Iowa law does not prevent either office from making the protest forms available at other times during the year.

               Iowa law specifies six grounds on which a protest of property valuation can be made:

1.      The contested assessment is not equitable as compared with assessments of other like property in the same tax district. The legal description and assessed valuation of comparable properties described by the protesting taxpayers shall be listed on the protest form.

2.      The real property at issue has been assessed for more than the value authorized by law.  The protesting taxpayer must state the specific amount which the protesting taxpayer believes the property to be over-assessed, the amount considered to be the actual value of the property, and the amount the taxpayers considers to be a fair assessment.

3.      The real property at issue is not assessable, is exempt from taxes, or is misclassified. The taxpayer must state the reasons for the protest under this ground.

4.      There is an error in the assessment and stating the specific alleged error in the assessment itself.

5.      There is fraud in the assessed valuation  which shall be specifically stated.

6.      There has been a change of value in the parcel of real property since the last assessment.  Note that this is the only ground upon which a protest concerning the valuation of a property can be filed in the year in which the assessor has not assessed or reassessed the property at issue.[3]

 The first ground, alleging that the contested assessment is not equitable as compared with assessments of other like property in the same tax district, is perhaps the most common reason to protest an assessment. But how does a taxpayer go about proving an inequitable assessment? One suggestion is to look for two or three houses in your neighborhood that are very comparable to your own. Houses that have been sold within the last year or so are preferable. In your protest, refer to those nearby homes that either sold at a lesser value or are assessed at a lesser value than what is shown on the assessment notice for your home. Attaching copies of the valuation statements, purchase agreements, or other sale documents showing the current valuation or sale price of comparable homes, to the protest form would help support your case.

                How can one determine the current value or sale price of a house recently sold? Current assessment valuations for other homes can be obtained either from your assessor’s office, the county treasurer, or online at:

                               http://www.woodbury-ia.com/treasurertaxdata/

 Once you have typed in the owner’s name or parcel number or street address, the next screen should provide you with a list of properties meeting your search request. A screen for a selected property will usually show a picture of the house, due dates and the amount of real property tax paid or to be paid, assessor data about the house floor plan, as well as the current assessed valuation.

                A protesting taxpayer can attempt to establish the true lower value of his or her home by obtaining a written appraisal of the property. However, the appraisal should be certified and prepared by a licensed appraiser within the last 12 months.[4]

 One can check with a realtor or the owner as to the amount of the sale price. If you cannot find sale prices under that method, obtain a copy of the recorded warranty deed for the comparable, recently sold property. Look for the amount of transfer tax paid when the warranty deed was recorded. Divide the amount of the transfer tax by 80 cents. Add 1 to the result, and then multiply the new figure by $500 in order to calculate the sale price of the property.[5]

             A protesting taxpayer must be extremely careful on how the written protest of assessment is prepared and where it is filed. Your assessor can fax protest valuation forms to the taxpayer, and the taxpayer can obtain those forms online at the web site address indicated above.  However, the actual prepared protest of valuation form must show all the required information in writing and must be signed by either the protesting taxpayer or the protestor’s duly authorized agent. The original signed protest (a copy cannot be properly filed) must be filed with the appropriate assessor’s office during the April 16 to May 5 time period each year. Only one parcel of real property may be the subject of each tax protest.[6]

 Finally, be very careful to file your signed and written valuation protest form, together with any written attachments, with the appropriate assessor’s office.  If your property is within the limits of the City of Sioux City, the form should be filed with the City Assessor’s office in Room B-02 in the Woodbury County Courthouse. If, however, your parcel is outside the limits of Sioux City, the protest form must be filed with the Woodbury County Assessor’s Office in Room 703 of the courthouse.

                The Boards of Review are then required to meet in session starting May 1 in order to review and act on all property assessment protests. The session of the Board of Review shall last as long as necessary in order to act on all said protests, but cannot last later than May 31 of each year.  If the Board of Review is unable to complete its work by May 31, the director of the Iowa Department of Revenue and Finance may authorize the Board of Review to continue in session for a period necessary to complete its work, such an extension not being granted beyond July 15.

                Generally, the burden of proof in a protest of a property valuation assessment shall be upon any person or taxpayer seeking to attack the valuation upon the grounds given above.  However, in protest or appeal proceedings in which the complainant offers competent evidence by at least two disinterested witnesses that the property’s market value is less than the market value determined by the assessor, the burden of proof then shifts to the officials or persons seeking to uphold the assessed valuation.  After making its decision, the Board of Review shall give written notice to the protesting owner or taxpayer of the decision taken by the Board of Review on the protest.  The written notice shall also specify the reason or reasons for the actions taken by the Board of Review on the issues contained in the protest.[7] 

                Appeal to District Court – Either party dissatisfied with the actions of the Board of Review concerning the protest of the assessment at issue, may file an appeal from the Board of Review decision with the Iowa District Court within 20 days after a chairman of the Board of Review or May 31, whichever date is later. The person or entity filing the appeal may not allege any new grounds in addition to those set out in the protest of the Board of Review, but can submit additional evidence to sustain the original grounds for the protest. Both the assessor and the taxpayer shall have the same right of appeal and in the same manner.  One takes an appeal from the Board of Review decision by serving a written notice to that affect upon the chairman or presiding officer of the Board of Review and serving that written notice in the form of an original notice. The appeal is also filed with the Clerk of the Iowa District Court in the courthouse, and the person or entity filing such an appeal is required to pay a filing fee of $100.00.[8]

               Further appeal. The person or entity still dissatisfied with the decision of an Iowa District Court judge on such an appeal may make a further appeal of the decision to the Iowa Supreme Court.  Such an appeal is accomplished by filing a notice of appeal with the Iowa District Court clerk within 30 days of the date of the decision of the Iowa District Court judge acting on the appeal from the Board of Review protest.[9]