Property Assessment Appeals

Important Dates

Thursday, June 15, 2023: Last day to file an appeal for 2023 real estate property assessment. The window to file an appeal will open May 1, 2023. File an appeal online here.

IAAO's Understanding Your Assessment Brochure

DLGF's Property Tax Assessment Appeals Fact Sheet

How to Decide If You Need to Appeal

Every year, Form 11's are mailed out to property owners. Form 11 is the notification of the current year's assessed valuation. If Form 11's are mailed on or before May 1 of the assessment year, property assessment appeals for that year may only be accepted between the date of mailing and June 15 of the assessment year. If no notice of assessment is given, the tax bill serves as the notice of assessment.

Keep Previous Year's Sale Value in Mind

The Form 11 Notice of Assessment will be based on the value of the property as of January 1, 2023. The assessed value for 2023 is based on sales of similar properties from January 1, 2022 through December 31, 2022.

So, you don't need to think about the current value of your property but rather what it would have sold for in 2022.

Review Sales of Similar Properties

To support your value, you can review sales of similar properties. There are a few different ways to do this. The first way is through Beacon. Search for your name, address, or parcel number. Once your property has been located, you can search for sales of similar properties. We recommend that you first search for sales within your neighborhood.

Every neighborhood in Tippecanoe County has a neighborhood code. To find yours, search for your property's information on Beacon. the neighborhood code is listed in the Summary.

Review the sales from 2022 to see what the sales prices of similar properties. For those that are the most similar, print out the information. Not every sale is an arms length transaction. Sales as a result of foreclosure, divorce or to a family member are generally not valid comparisons.

To see the level of recent sales in your neighborhood compared to the assessed value, click on the image below to access the Tippecanoe County Sales Research Tool:

You may find sales of homes that are larger or smaller than yours but otherwise are similar. In that case you might want to look at the sales price per square foot. To get the price per square foot, take the sales price and divide it by the livable square footage.

What if There Are Very Few Sales in Your Neighborhood?

Often, neighborhoods are small. So, for assessing purposes, we may combine several neighborhoods into a sub-market. If you can't find enough valid sales in your neighborhood, you might look at this list to see if your neighborhood is in a sub-market.

If your neighborhood is part of a sub-market, then you may also search for valid sales in those neighborhoods. It is best to try to stay with neighborhoods in the same township or at least within the same high school service area.

Lists of Neighborhood Sub-Markets

We recommend completing a spreadsheet like the following one. It is important that you include the key or parcel number of your comparables. You need at least 3 sales to support your position. More is fine.

Then multiply the price per square foot of the homes that sold by your square footage to get a comparable value.

How to Appeal With a Valid Case

Complete Appeal Form Online

If you decide that you have a valid case, then start the appeals process by filling out the online form, Taxpayer's Notice to Initiate an Appeal. This form will accept attachments (additional documents, photos, appraisals, or other evidence that supports your claim). Please note - new for 2021, PTABOA is requesting specific evidence regarding commercial property that is being appealed. A list of the required evidence for commercial appeals is available here. Attachments can be added by selecting the paperclip icon at the bottom of the form. The form also requests that you set up an informal meeting to talk with our appeals experts about your property. Appeals must be submitted by June 15, 2023.

Alternately, Send Form & Evidence to Assessment Office

The Assessor's Office will also accept appeals filed via mail. Send the form and your evidence to:

Tippecanoe County Assessor

20 N 3rd Street

Lafayette, IN 47901

We encourage petitioners to also set up a meeting with a member of our staff regarding their appeal. You can schedule a meeting online here.

Note: In light of the ongoing pandemic, we encourage you to contact the office via phone, email, or US mail. We are open from 8 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Monday - Friday. We do not close for lunch. We will be closed on county holidays.

If you have access to a scanner, you may also scan your form and research and e-mail it to our office.

Process After We Receive Form & Evidence

Once we receive your appeal, we will assign it a file number and let you know what that number is. Appeals are reviewed by neighborhood, so it may be several months before you hear anything.

State Appeal Forms

Use the following forms only if your county appeal is not successful.