A dramatic rise in Montgomery County property values has led to a sharp increase in property owners appealing their property appraisals.
According to Montgomery County Auditor Karl Keith, close to 3,600 property owners have filed property value appeals in the last three months.
Keith says the high amount of appeals has caused his office to form a second appeals board to handle the increased number of hearings that will be required.
“This will be the third time that we have had such a number of appeals that we've had the two boards," he says.
Keith says this won’t be the highest number of appeals they’ve ever had. That came soon after the housing market crash in 2008.
"We encourage people to take advantage of an appeal process," Keith says. "If they disagree with the value of their property that the county set, they can appeal that value to the Board of Revision. And so, that is the where we are now in the process."
County residents had from January 1 through March 31 to file an appeal, which can be filed in any given year — not just after new valuations are set.
The auditor says roughly 23 percent of this year’s appeals want property value adjustments — down — by more than $50,000.
These cases will be addressed by a review board because those big-value changes are often counter-appealed by local school districts.