From the informal denial to the formal board hearing.
The assessor's office denied the informal review. The packet that survived the first meeting is still your case — and the same comps list, adjustment grid, and record-card audit go back in front of the board, this time with a written decision at the end. Here's the path the board runs the case through next, and the lines to keep on file for it.
Same packet. Same comps list. Same four objections. Different hearing room.
This page picks up where /hearing-script leaves off — where the informal review denial lands and the formal board hearing begins. The same record-card audit, the same comps worksheet, and the same adjustment grid that survived the first meeting go back in front of the board, this time with a written decision at the end. For the deadline calendar and the four rehearsed lines, see /filing-instructions and /guides/property-tax-appeal.
The four moving parts the formal filing closes.
The formal filing runs through the same four checkpoints in every state — the notice of appeal goes in, the packet is re-filed under the formal docket, the deadline window is met, and the hearing date is assigned. The dossier below grounds each checkpoint so the case the board reads is built the way the procedure expects.
- STEP 0101
File the notice of appeal before the appeal-of-record window your county publishes.
The notice of appeal is the second administrative step — the formal protest of record, filed in writing, on the county's form, before the deadline the county publishes each year. It's the document that converts a denied informal review into a written decision from the board, and it's the on-ramp to a court appeal if the board rules against you. The deadline is set by state statute and applied at the county clerk's office; a missed deadline forfeits the year, not just the case.
- STEP 0202
Submit the same packet — and file it as a second submission under the formal docket.
The packet the informal review saw is the packet that goes back in front of the board. The record-card audit, the comps worksheet, the adjustment grid, and the photo set don't need to be rebuilt — they need to be re-filed under the formal docket ID. Filing the same evidence twice is the standard play; the board compares the new filing to the one already on file and reads both as the case under protest.
- STEP 0303
Bring the deadline calendar — and confirm the form name before the day-of.
The appeal form varies by state (Texas ARB petition, Florida DR-486, Georgia PT-50, county-published equivalents everywhere else). Pull the right form on the county's website before the deadline; don't rely on a printed copy from last year. The deadline calendar is the second file in the packet — it grounds the date the county's window opened and the date the appeal of record window closes.
- STEP 0404
Schedule the hearing — and treat the date as the deadline your prep works backward from.
After the notice of appeal is filed, the county assigns a hearing date — usually 30 to 90 days out, depending on the docket. Mark the date, mark the prep window, and bring the packet. The board reads the file before you arrive; the prep meeting with yourself, three to seven days ahead, is what keeps the morning-of lines rehearsed.
The presentation discipline the formal hearing introduces.
The informal review was a conversation with the assessor. The formal hearing is a presentation in front of a board that already has the file. The four shifts below are what turn the packet that survived the first meeting into the packet that lands at the second.
- PREP 01
The hearing is recorded — and the board reads the file before you arrive.
Unlike an informal review, the formal hearing is on the record. Board members read the case file in advance; the hearing itself is a structured walk through that file, not a debate about whether one is needed. The shift is from "argue the assessor into a lower number" to "walk the file the board already has". The first line of your hearing is the one the board heard described before you sat down.
- PREP 02
New presentation discipline — uniform evidence, uniform chronology, uniform citations.
The informal review was a conversation; the formal hearing is a presentation. The dossier the board reads expects each evidence page to cite its source, each comp to carry its adjustment, and the chronology of the case — notice, protest, informal review, denial — to be on a single timeline. The packet the board can read in 60 seconds is the packet that lands; the one that buries the math in narrative is the one that loses on a technicality.
- PREP 03
Bring three things only — the packet, the deadline calendar, and the four rehearsed lines.
On the morning of the hearing, the prep is the same three-file walk: the packet (record-card audit, comps worksheet, adjustment grid, photos), the deadline timeline (the page that grounds the appeal-of-record window), and the four-objection script. The four objections from the informal review don't go away — they get thicker. New objections show up at the formal level; the rehearsal is the same.
- PREP 04
Don't rebuild the case — keep the same evidence packet intact.
The packet that survived the informal review is the packet the board reads. The record-card audit, the comps worksheet, the adjustment grid, and the photo set — file them as a second submission under the formal docket. The case the board rules on is the case the assessor has already seen; the prep meeting with yourself is a review, not a rewrite.
What the board expects to hear.
The formal hearing runs on a five-step presentation structure the panel reads before the hearing starts. Each step has a rehearsed line and a dossier page behind it; the rebuttal closes the hearing, the opening opens it, and the closing is the line that converts the presentation into a ruling.
- OPENING
Open with the value — the dollar figure the evidence supports, stated in one sentence.
The opening statement is a single line: "The record supports a value of $X for the subject parcel as of the assessment date, and the comps on page two support the adjustment to get there." The board weighs what the record supports, not the narrative you can spin around it. State the number, state the source, give the board the floor.
- EVIDENCE
Walk the evidence — record card, comps worksheet, adjustment grid, photos — in that order.
The evidence walk follows the dossier order: record-card audit (page one), comps worksheet (page two), adjustment grid (page three), photo set (appendix A). Each page has a source citation and a defended dollar value per adjustment. The walk is two to three minutes long; the presentation discipline is what keeps the math in front of the board and the math out of the narrative.
- ADJUSTMENT
Walk the adjustment grid — line by line, source per adjustment, time/site/GLA/condition.
The adjustment grid is the second file the board reads. Walk each line (time, site, GLA, condition), each adjustment the comp set shows, each line-item source — parcel record, MLS field, photo. The grid is where the case either holds or caves in: defended adjustments and cited sources carry the day, opinionated adjustments without sources lose on a technicality.
- REBUTTAL
Rebut the four objections — using the same rehearsed lines from /hearing-script.
The four objections from the informal review reappear at the formal hearing, with the same rehearsed replies: comps not comparable, market stagnant, GLA miscount, "sales understate value". The lines that close the hearing are the lines on the /hearing-script page. Read them once the morning of the hearing; the rebuttal is a one-page read, not a new argument.
- CLOSING
Close with the question — "which of the three approaches do you want to argue against?"
The closing line is the line that converts the hearing from a presentation into a ruling: "Which of the three approaches to value do you want to argue against, and what's the source?" The board rules on what's in the file; the question forces the record into the answer. Save the question for the close, not the opening — the board has to hear the evidence first.
What the board raises — and what you say back.
Four formal-level objections cover almost every board hearing. Each pairs an objection the board raises at the formal level with a rehearsed rebuttal a prepared homeowner walks in with — the same dossier shape used on /hearing-script, but pitched at the formal level.
- OBJECTION 01
“Jurisdiction — the board does not have authority to hear this case at the formal level.”
The notice of appeal is the formal-level jurisdiction grant; it's the document the county recognizes as the appeal of record. The board's authority to hear the case attaches to the date the notice was filed and the date the county stamped the docket — not to the date of the informal review. If the board raises jurisdiction, the rebuttal is the date on the stamped notice, the form name, and the deadline window the appeal landed inside.
- OBJECTION 02
“Standing — the petitioner is not the record owner, the contract buyer, or the authorized agent.”
Standing at the formal level is met by the same parties who filed the informal review: the record owner, the contract buyer under a valid purchase agreement, or an authorized agent with a written letter of authorization. The petitioner of record on the notice of appeal is the same party on the original protest; the board reads the file and the rebuttal is the line that ties the petitioner to the property — deed, contract, or authorization letter on file.
- OBJECTION 03
“Evidentiary — the comps, photos, or adjustment grid haven't been properly authenticated or disclosed.”
Authentication is the second administrative step in the formal hearing: the comps carry source citations (county appraisal rolls, MLS field), the photo set carries a date and geotag where the county allows, and the record-card audit carries the parcel ID with the assessor's own card attached as Exhibit A. The packet is built so each piece of evidence cites its source on the page it appears — the rebuttal to the evidentiary challenge is the citation on the page, not a separate argument.
- OBJECTION 04
“Methodology — the value conclusion uses an approach the county doesn't recognize or the comps haven't supported.”
The three approaches to value are sales, cost, and income — and the case builds from whichever the county recognizes as primary (sales for most residential, cost for new construction, income for rentals). The rebuttal is the evidence on the worksheet: the comps cited, the adjustments defended line-by-line, and the source per page. If the methodology is challenged, the rebuttal is the worksheet, the source citations, and the closing line — 'which of the three approaches do you want to argue against?'
Keep the same evidence packet intact through the second filing.
The packet the board reads at the formal hearing is the same packet the assessor read at the informal review. Filing it as a second submission under the formal docket — with the same record-card audit, the same comps worksheet, the same adjustment grid, and the same photo set — is the standard play. Don't rewrite the dossier; file the one that already holds. The /hearing-script page carries the rehearsed lines the board hears the morning of; the formal-level objections above are the rebuttals the rehearsal pre-handles.
Same packet. Same packet. Written decision at the end.
The formal hearing isn't a new appeal — it's the same appeal filed under the appeal-of-record window and heard by the board that already has the file. Bring the packet, the deadline calendar, and the four lines from /hearing-script; the four formal-level objections above are pre-handled. For owners whose informal review was denied and who want the written decision the board writes, the $37 packet ships the dossier.
Not legal advice. The packet ships the dossier.
- · Notice-of-appeal filing checklist (state-specific).
- · Re-filing cover letter for the second submission.
- · Five-step presentation-script the panel reads.
- · Four formal-level rebuttals pre-handled.
- · Deadline calendar with the appeal-of-record window.
Questions first? overruled-2@polsia.app
Not legal advice. Not legal advice. Overruled ships information and templates — checklist, worksheet, evidence-packet template, comps and free-comp-sources list, and a filing-window guide — so you can prepare and represent yourself at a formal appraisal review board, value adjustment board, or board of equalization hearing. It is not a substitute for a property tax attorney, especially for rentals, multi-property, commercial, or matters in active litigation (in which case circuit-court review may follow). Paid firms typically take a percentage of your first-year savings; the packet exists so that money stays yours.