Iowa Assessment Advisors

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How successful have you been protesting assessments?

   In 2009, the last year every property in Iowa was reassessed, we successfully obtained reductions on 85 percent of the properties we represented to the Boards of Review. Of nearly 6,200 residential protests filed in all of Polk County in 2009, 61 percent were reduced so your odds are significantly higher with us. In 2010, 100 percent of the protests we filed and argued before the Board of Review were reduced. It’s real estate, not rocket science but it is a process we have become familiar with and understand the best ways to file and present an appeal.

2. Why should I have my residential property tax protest prepared and filed professionally?

   All preparers for Iowa Assessment Advisors are all real estate agents and experts at evaluating a property’s value if it were to be sold, which is the metric your county’s assessor is obligated by Iowa law to use to determine every property’s assessment. It is not an arbitrary process and our advisors are trained to objectively review your property as a “disinterested third party” to determine a property’s fair market value. That makes us specially qualified to evaluate your property. We understand property tax assessments and know precisely how to complete your protest. Our service is designed to help you save time and money.

3. If I need a “disinterested third party,” why wouldn’t I just get an appraisal?

   Good question. For one thing, an appraisal costs anywhere from $300-$400, which is more than we charge. And if you want the appraiser to attend your hearing with the Board of Review, they’ll charge you extra for that time so you could be out as much as $500 whether you win or lose. Second, this is something we understand in terms of the protest preparation and filing process that both you and an appraiser won’t understand. For example, any comparable property that sold before January 1^st of this year is not admissible as a comp and if the appraiser uses three comps that sold since January 1^st, the county is allowed to reject all them. Lastly, an appraiser can’t complete all your forms or promise you’ll be successful getting a reduction. We can’t promise a reduction either but if we don’t, we’ll return $124 of the $249—we’ll keep $50 for the work we put into preparing and filing your protest and $75 for appearing in front of the Board of Review. Compare that with the cost of an appraisal. More than that, if our first impression of your property is that we don’t feel confident we can help you get a reduction because it appears to be fairly assessed, we’ll refund all your money.

4. Why Is protesting my Property Assessment important to me?

   No one likes paying taxes but it’s a necessity in a democratic society like ours. In order to get something (schools, better roads, public facilities), we generally have to give up something (money in the form of taxes) to pay for it. In Iowa, each property’s assessment is a factor in determining what the taxes will be for the next two years. That means if you don’t protest now, you won’t have a chance to affect what your taxes will be for one to three or more years.

   Iowa Code, Section 441.37 (Protest of assessment—grounds) allows that any property owner taxpayer who is dissatisfied with their property’s assessment may file a protest with their county’s board of review on or after April 16, up to and including May 5, of the year of the assessment. However, Section 441.21, mandates that the burden of proof shall be upon any property owner attacking their valuation as “excessive, inadequate, inequitable or capricious” by offering competent evidence.

5. Does IAA prepare protests in my county/appraisal district?

   We currently service the following Iowa counties:

   • Dallas
   • Polk
   • Warren

6. When is the deadline to file my property tax protest?

   As mandated by Iowa law, the deadline for filing property tax protests with every county is May 5^th. Our deadline for taking orders is 8 a.m., Monday, May 2, 2011. We complete protests based on first come/first served. We encourage you to submit your application as soon as possible so that we can guarantee that your protest filing will be completed on time. Waiting until the last minute could prevent us from having enough time to properly prepare your protest.

7. How much do you charge for your services?

   Our fee is $249. That includes preparing your protest, including a market analysis using sales of comparable properties, filing and representing your protest to your county’s Board of Review. We do not do protests for commercial properties.

   We guarantee that your assessment will be lowered or we will refund half the fees except for a $50 administrative fee and $75 to have appeared in front of the Board of Review. We will provide you with everything you need to properly file your protest and put you in the best position to successfully reduce your assessment but we cannot guarantee your county’s Board of Review will accept our argument and lower your assessment. If your assessment is not reduced, just contact our office prior to August 1, 2011 with written proof from your county assessor showing your protest was rejected and we will credit the $124. Also, if after initial review, we feel filing a protest isn’t advisable because it appears to us that your property’s assessment is fair and reasonable, we will notify you and refund the entire amount you paid. When you think about it, you really have nothing to lose, and potentially hundreds of dollars in tax savings per year to gain.

8. I am convinced, how do I get started?

   1. Register on our web site. Registration is easy and it gets your general information into our system so that we can complete the paperwork as quickly as possible. Click here to register
   2. When registering, multiple properties can be added, so if you have vacation or rental properties don’t forget to register them as well. We offer a discount for five (5) or more properties as long as you are the owner of record. Please call our office for details at (515) 224-0199.
   3. You can also register by phone by calling (515) 224-0199. However, you will be asked to comply with the Appointment of Agent form that will need to be faxed to you and returned for us to begin with your order.