Our property tax assessment jumped. Can we appeal it?
Answered by Chris Deutsch, Founder & Editor
Licensed Minnesota Realtor #20382264 ·
The short answer
You can appeal — Minnesota builds the path right into the calendar, starting with the valuation notice that arrives each spring. Step one is informal: call your city or county assessor and ask how they got the number. Assessors correct real errors — wrong square footage, a finished basement you don't have — more often than people expect. The next rungs, in order: your local Board of Appeal and Equalization or open book meeting — listed right on the notice. Then the county board. Then, if the dollars justify the fight, Minnesota Tax Court.
On stage The 60-second answer
Captions on · Transcript below
The stage is set.
Chris's video answer is on its way. Until then, the short answer above says the same thing.
The transcript posts with the video.
The longer answer
What wins appeals is evidence, not frustration: recent sales of genuinely comparable homes, photos of condition issues, a current appraisal. What doesn't: "my taxes went up." (Everyone's did.)
One honest calibration — the assessment is only half your bill. Levies set the other half, and a successful appeal lowers your value, not the rate. I'm not your attorney, and this isn't legal advice — but I'll pull the comparable sales that show whether the number's actually wrong. That part's free.
The next department over
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From the editor's desk
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