Question:
“I submitted an application for a property tax abatement. When will I hear back about its status?”
Answer:
Under Massachusetts laws, the Board of Assessors has 90 calendar days from the date the Assessors’ Office received your application to review it and make its decision on whether to grant or deny your request. For example, if your application was received on January 28th, the board has until April 27th to make its decision.
Typically, you will not have to wait that long. Usually, someone from the Assessors’ Office will call you in early February to make an appointment to inspect your property. This inspection typically takes about 15 minutes. The Assessors’ Office staff also will review and research what you listed on your application as the reasons you think your property is over-assessed.
If you requested a meeting with the Assessors’ Office staff or with the Board of Assessors to discuss your application that, too, will be scheduled.
After inspecting your property and researching your comments – and possibly holding a meeting – the Assessors’ Office staff will make its recommendation to the Board of Assessors. This elected, three-member board will then vote on whether to grant or deny your application.
Within one week after the board votes, you will receive a letter from the Principal Assessor explaining how and why the board voted. If an abatement is granted, you also will receive a “certificate” (an 8.5-inch by 4-inch computer print-out) that details what your abatement entails.
Also in that letter will be an explanation of how to appeal the Board of Assessors’ decision to the next level – the state’s Appellate Tax Board.
In past years, the most common reasons why abatement requests were denied include: not listing a reason why you think you deserve an abatement, not allowing us to inspect your property, comparing your property to others that are not at all comparable, and misunderstanding how the mass assessment valuation process works.
A major portion of our time is spent explaining the process we use to arrive at your value. Remember, you can always call the Assessors’ Office at 508-429-0604 or visit us in Town Hall to ask questions about how your assessment was calculated or to discuss why you think your assessment might be wrong.
