Appeal Process for Real Property

If you wish to appeal the appraised value or classification of your real property, contact the appraiser's office within 30 days of the mailing date of the valuation notice to schedule an informal meeting. You will then be mailed an appeal form to return documenting your concerns about the property.  This form should be returned within 2 weeks.  After the appeal form is returned the county will send confirmation of the date and time of the informal meeting.  These hearings may be done over the phone if necessary.  We typically wish to have all informal hearings completed within 60 days from the mailing date of the valuation notice. If the property owner is going to be represented by someone else at the informal meeting, the property owner must complete and file a 'Declaration of Representative' form with the appraiser's office prior to the date of the meeting.  This may be requested at the same time as the appeal form.

Prior to setting an appeal you should consider reviewing information used in setting your value. This can be accomplished in several ways, but a visit to our office is the first step. You can find out how your property was valued and what comparable sales were considered in setting your values. Once property owners see information and a picture of the comparable sales, generally no appeal is made. By doing this first you may be able to save yourself a great deal of time and expense.

Within a few days after the informal meeting, you will receive a decision in the mail from the County Appraiser's Office.

If you do not appeal the valuation notice, you can still protest the appraised value or classification of your property when you pay all or half of your taxes, or by January 31st if your taxes are paid out of an escrow account or by a tax service. By law, you cannot appeal both your valuation notice and then protest when you pay your taxes for the same property in the same year.

Payment under protest forms are available at the Treasurer's Office. The protest should state the grounds for the protest, including the portion of the assessment protested and any portion admitted to be valid. Once the taxes are paid under protest, the County Treasurer will make a copy of the form and send it to the County Appraiser. Any supporting documentation can be filed with the protest form at the Treasurer's Office and it will be forwarded to the appraiser with the protest form. Within 15 days of receiving the notice the appraiser will contact the property owner to make an appointment for an informal hearing or conduct the hearing over the phone. It is important to remember that at the informal hearing the appraiser is only concerned with the value of the property and not at the amount of taxes.

At any informal hearing the taxpayer will have the opportunity to present documentation to the appraiser supporting the value the property owner considers correct. Types of documentation that can help support a property owner's estimate of value are documents showing a recent sale of the property, recent sales of comparable properties, a recent fee appraisal of the property or pictures of the property showing any damage of problems that might not have been noticed by the appraiser. There may be situations that the appraiser will want to inspect the property to make sure they are understanding what the property owner has presented.

Anyone wishing to appeal an informal decision from the County Appraiser can file an appeal with the Small Claims Division of the Board of Tax Appeals (BOTA). Appeals must first be made to the Small Claims Division. The only properties that can be appealed directly to BOTA are:

1. Agricultural.
2. Property with an appraised value over $2,000,000.

If the property owner or the county Appraiser is dissatisfied with the Small Claims decision, an appeal can be made to BOTA.

The Small Claims and BOTA may be in Republic County or in an adjacent county as set by BOTA

NOTICE

REMINDER: from the Wilson County Appraiser’s Office. Personal Property Renditions need to be turned in by March 15th to avoid a LATE FILING PENALTY. If you have property that needs reported and you did not receive a rendition or have misplaced it, please contact us. The information is based on what you owned January 1st with exceptions to vehicles and watercraft which are prorated on and off the tax roll. You now have until December 20th to report the sale of a boat in order to get it prorated for the current tax year. Oil and Gas renditions are due April 1st. Please refer to the following State Statutes for reference:

K.S.A. 79-303, K.S.A. 79-306, K.S.A.79-1422.

If you have any questions please contact our office at 620-378-2187


 

Personal Property is defined as, "That property which is not a part of or a fixture to land or improvements in that it can be moved without damage to itself or the real property."

Every person or business who owns or holds tangible personal property shall list said property for assessment. Kansas Statutes state that the filing deadline is March 15 of each year. Assessment sheets are mailed, as a courtesy, each January to owners who currently list items of personal property. Be sure and contact our office immediately if you do not receive an assessment sheet and feel you should have. Our phone number for Personal Property questions is (620) 378-2187.


Renditions must be returned by March 15 to avoid penalties. Penalties for late filing are required per Kansas Statutes Annotated (K.S.A. 79-1422) as follows:

March 16 to April 15 5% penalty

April 16 to May 15 10% penalty

May 16 to June 15 15% penalty

June 16 to July 15 20% penalty

July 16 and thereafter 25% penalties

Failure to file 50% penalty

 

Items that should be reported are:

 
 

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·         Trucks and pickups tagged 16,000 pounds or more.

·         Cars, trucks, pickups and motorcycles with expired tags.

·         Mopeds, 3 & 4 - wheelers, snowmobiles, golf carts & dune buggies.

·         Travel trailers, camping trailers & fifth-wheelers that are NOT SELF-CONTAINED.

·         Flatbed and utility trailers.

·         Manufactured homes that are not considered Real Property.

·         Boats, boat motors, boat trailers and boat cradles.

·         Construction equipment.

·         Aircraft.

·         Pulling tractors & race cars.

·         Business machinery & equipme

 

Click here for a printable PERSONAL PROPERTY RENDITION