Tips for Appellants The Assessor's office has information on how your property was valued and information on properties which have sold. That office should be your first step in seeking information to support lowering the value. The office is located between 4th and 5th Avenues at James St. in downtown Seattle, 500 Fourth Ave, Room 700A, or by phone, (206) 296-7300. The Property Tax Advisor is available to assist you in the appeal process and help you locate public records useful for a successful appeal. They are also located at 500 Fourth Avenue, Room 540, phone (206) 296-5202. (Hearing impaired TTY phone, 296-1024). Board decisions on taxpayer appeals are based on equalizing the assessed value to the market value standard, as required by law. If your objection to your value is that you are being assessed high relative to assessments of other properties, please contact the Assessor's office directly. This inequity may be due to errors in assessment records. Corrections to the assessment roll can be made by the Assessor on the finding of a significant manifest error. After review of the information contained in your petition, the Assessor will send you the Assessor's Response and Comparable Analysis indicating the Assessor's opinion of market value. If the Assessor agrees a reduction is warranted, a recommended value will be stated. Responses with recommendations may include a special stipulation of value and motion for appeal withdrawal form. You will be given the choice to either sign that you agree with the recommended value and withdraw the appeal or that you disagree and would like to proceed with a review by the Board. Your petition may not be reviewed by the Assessor for up to six months depending on the number of appeals filed and available staff time. Questions on the status of petitions pending the Assessor's response should be directed to the Assessor, 296-5150. Board hearings will be scheduled on petitions when an acceptable reduction is not recommended. This material will be made available in alternate format for persons with disabilities, (206) 296-3496. (TTY, for hearing impaired, 206 296-1024)

Updated: 09/18/2002