In the 9 years that I grieved taxes professionally, I was asked many of the same questions over and over again. I would like to take a few minutes to go over some of this information in order to dispel some myths about lowering property taxes.

The most common questions were as follows:

Does filing a property tax grievance invite a higher assessment from the assessor?

What are my chances of winning?

Do I need a lawyer to file for me?

Is it expensive?

These questions keep many homeowners with legitimate cases from ever filing. The answer to the first question is that the law and many court cases support the right of a homeowner to challenge his property taxes. Actually, when you file a case, you are not grieving the taxes, but rather the assessed valuation that the tax assessor has assigned to your property. The assessor cannot raise your assessment to "teach you a lesson". It is your legal right to pay only your fair share of taxes. The law provides this method for homeowners to challenge unfair assessments without any fear from the assessor