C15 · Read your notice
Ads for “How to read your property tax assessment notice”
3 concepts that lead to this page. Each one comes in 4:5, 1:1, 9:16, with its own primary texts, headlines and description. Click an image to see it full size.
Concept A
The article
The lander's first screen: kicker, headline, standfirst and byline over the photo the lander's link preview uses. Reads as a link to an article.
multiple-static-appraisal-homeowner-estimate-in_house-article_c15_10_2026
Primary texts
- Primary text 1
Your county sends a property tax assessment notice that sets your home's value. It has a handful of numbers worth checking, and a deadline.
Here's what the common lines mean, wherever you live, and what to look at before you decide anything.
A 4-minute read: How to read your property tax assessment notice.
- Primary text 2
The tax board will never send you a check. They assess the value of your home and move on.
What they do send is a property tax assessment notice, and it goes by different names: a notice of assessment, of assessed value or of appraised value. Most carry the same handful of lines.
Our 4-minute read takes them one at a time.
- Primary text 3
Is your home's tax value right? Your property tax assessment notice is where to start.
The notice tells you what the assessor decided. Whether it's right depends on facts the notice doesn't show.
Start with our 4-minute read: How to read your property tax assessment notice.
- Primary text 4
Didn't get a property tax assessment notice this year?
Not every place mails a notice every year. Your county assessor's website usually lets you look up your property's current value, and the appeal deadline for your area.
Then read what the lines mean, in 4 minutes: How to read your property tax assessment notice.
- Primary text 5
Lower your property tax bill, starting with your property tax assessment.
Read your notice first. Then see your number. We analyze public property records, recent sales, and local assessment data to estimate whether your county's value is higher than it should be relative to market.
First, the 4-minute read: How to read your property tax assessment notice.
Headlines
- 📬 How to read your assessment notice36
- 🔎 Is your home's tax value right?33
- 🧾 A handful of numbers worth checking37
- 🏠 The assessment that sets your value37
- 💡 Lower your property tax bill30
Description
- Get your free savings estimate.31
Concept B
The annotated notice
The lander's sample notice, drawn and clearly generic, with two lines marked up: the change from last year and the deadline.
multiple-static-appraisal-homeowner-estimate-in_house-annotated_notice_c15_10_2026
Primary texts
- Primary text 1
Your county sends a property tax assessment notice. Here's what each line on it means.
Most carry the same handful of lines: market value, assessed value, exemptions, taxable value, and how and when to appeal.
See them on a sample notice in our 4-minute read: How to read your property tax assessment notice.
- Primary text 2
Find the assessed value on your property tax assessment notice, then look at the change from last year.
A big jump is worth a closer look. Assessed value is the value your property taxes are based on.
Our 4-minute read goes through the notice line by line.
- Primary text 3
Is every exemption you qualify for listed on your property tax assessment?
Exemptions usually have to be claimed by the owner, so a new owner may need to apply. If an exemption is missing, your taxable value is higher than it should be.
What each line means, in a 4-minute read: How to read your property tax assessment notice.
- Primary text 4
Your property tax assessment notice has a deadline on it.
Depending on the state, the deadline is a fixed date or a set number of days after the notice was mailed. Write the deadline down. Miss it and you usually wait for the next cycle.
How to read the rest of it, in 4 minutes: How to read your property tax assessment notice.
- Primary text 5
Your county valued your home, often with a formula, not a visit.
Your property tax assessment shows the result. If a record is wrong or out of date, the value can carry the mistake.
See what each line on the notice means in our 4-minute read: How to read your property tax assessment notice.
Headlines
- 📝 Your property tax notice, line by line40
- 📈 A big jump is worth a closer look35
- 📅 Write the deadline down25
- ✅ Every exemption you qualify for?34
- 🔎 Is your home's tax value right?33
Description
- Get your free savings estimate.31
Concept C
The values, drawn
Market value, assessed value, exemptions and taxable value as stepped bars, under the line that your property tax assessment is about value, not tax rates.
multiple-static-appraisal-homeowner-estimate-in_house-value_steps_c15_10_2026
Primary texts
- Primary text 1
Your property tax assessment is about value. The tax rates that turn it into a bill are set separately.
Some notices list the local governments that tax your property, such as the county, city and school district. Those governments set the tax rates. The notice is about the value, and the value is the part you can question.
Our 4-minute read: How to read your property tax assessment notice.
- Primary text 2
Three values on one property tax assessment, and they're not the same.
Market value is the assessor's estimate of what your home would sell for. Taxable value is what's left after exemptions. Tax rates are applied to this number.
See how the lines fit together in our 4-minute read.
- Primary text 3
Is your home's tax value right?
Assessed value is the value your property taxes are based on. In some places it equals market value. In others it's a set percentage of market value, or limited by a yearly cap, so it can sit below it.
More in our 4-minute read: How to read your property tax assessment notice.
- Primary text 4
A missing exemption raises your taxable value even when the market value is right.
Exemptions are reductions you've been approved for, such as a homestead exemption on a home you live in. Check that every one you qualify for is listed.
The 4-minute read: How to read your property tax assessment notice.
- Primary text 5
Lower your property tax bill, and start with the value.
Whether it's right depends on facts the notice doesn't show: your home's own facts, sales of similar homes, your neighbors' assessments and your exemptions.
Four places to look, in our 4-minute read: How to read your property tax assessment notice.
Headlines
- 🧮 Market, assessed, taxable: what's what40
- 🏷️ Your assessment is about value33
- 🏡 What your home would sell for31
- ✅ Is every exemption listed?28
- 📐 The part you can question27
Description
- Get your free savings estimate.31