For CPAs, attorneys and brokers

If a client of yours owns commercial property in Marion County or Lake County, this page explains how an appeal with us works for them, what they sign, and how the fee is worked out.

How it works for your client

Your client looks up the property, or you send them the estimate page. It shows last year's value, this year's value, where each number comes from, and an estimated range. It is an estimate, not a promise.
Your client signs a fee agreement and one power of attorney (State Form 23261) for each owning company. Each company's signer signs only for their own company.
A certified tax representative reviews every parcel. Before the filing deadline your client gets a one-page brief per parcel and year, and approves or skips each one. No response means no filing.
Before the meeting with the assessor, your client approves the evidence section by section.
An invoice is sent only after the official decision, and only if the value went down.

The fee agreement

This page as a one-page PDF to keep or forward. For your client: What we do and what it costs, on one page (PDF). Read a sample fee agreement (PDF). It is filled with made-up sample data and stamped DRAFT: the wording is still under legal review. Your client's own agreement names their parcels, years, and rate. Our published rates are on the pricing page.

How savings are calculated

Savings for an appealed year = (the assessed value on the Form 11 notice minus the final assessed value) times the effective tax rate for that year's pay year, from the actual tax bill.

The effective tax rate can be higher than 3% of assessed value. Indiana caps most property tax on this kind of property at 3% of gross assessed value, but taxes approved by voters in a referendum are outside that cap.

The fee is a percentage of the first pay-year savings for each appealed year. No reduction, no fee.

What an invoice looks like

Invoice for one appealed assessment year of one parcel, issued only after the official determination.
Attached: the official determination (the county board's final determination or an approved Form 134 agreement) and the savings calculation.
Lines: parcel number and address; assessment year and the pay year it affects; assessed value on the Form 11 notice; final assessed value; the reduction; the effective tax rate from the tax bill; first pay-year savings; the fee percentage from the signed fee agreement; the fee in dollars.
For leased property, the invoice can be laid out for the tenant CAM reconciliation.

Contingent-fee disclosure

Our fee is contingent on the result. Under 50 IAC 15-5-7, the representative must disclose a contingent fee to the county board (PTABOA), the Indiana Board of Tax Review, or the Department of Local Government Finance on request. The fee agreement states this.

Referral fees

We pay no referral fees, to advisors or anyone else. Whether certified tax representatives in Indiana may pay or receive referral fees is an open question we have not resolved, so we do not.

Withdrawing and cancelling

You can withdraw an appeal before the preliminary informal meeting with the assessor. You can cancel at any time from the link in any of our emails; cancellation takes effect immediately for every parcel not yet filed. Withdrawing or cancelling does not create a fee.

How to reach the representative

With your client's permission, email ran@myassessmentappeal.com; a person replies within one business day. Before filing we can send you a short coordination letter about the appeal (real property only).

Privacy, in short

We share your client's information with the assessor and the county board only through the forms they sign and the evidence sections they approve.
Business financial documents (P&L, rent rolls) are deleted 12 months after the case closes.
We do not sell information, and we share a client's file with an advisor or attorney only when the client asks. Read the privacy notice.