TAX ALERT: Iowa Property Tax Protests Due


April 23, 2019

Iowa property taxes, often the largest line-item expense for a property, are about to experience a potentially significant upward change.


Iowa law requires that the assessed value of a property equal its fair market value as of the assessment date (January 1), with reassessments to occur every other year in odd-numbered years.

 
2019 is a reassessment year, and local assessors throughout Iowa have announced significant increases to assessed values for commercial, industrial, and multi-residential properties over 2017 values. While market values have generally increased during this two-year period, wide-ranging differences in property characteristics and conditions frequently do not match the assessor’s broad-brush changes to assessed values. 


Property owners facing increases who wish to challenge their assessment have a short window of time to do so. In general, the due date for filing a protest with the local board of review is April 30. In counties that have been officially designated as a disaster areas due to flooding this spring, the due date for filing the protest is extended until June 5.


Please contact Bruce Baker or Dwayne Vande Krol with questions or if we can be of assistance to you in reviewing or appealing your 2019 property tax assessment.