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Tax Payer Appeal Process

Taxpayer Appeal Process Flow

Once you receive a Valuation Notice you have one of two options.

You may appear in person to have one of Tax Administration's Screening Officers review your appeal for completeness or you can attach all required evidence to the appeal form and mail it to;

Salt Lake County Auditor's Office
2001 South State Street #N3300
Salt Lake City, Utah 84190-1100

Staffing hours for assistance with appeal filing issues are as follows: Aug. 2 - Aug. 31, 2010, 10 am - 2pm, M - F. Sept. 1 - Sept. 15, 2010, 8 am - 5 pm, M- F.

If you appear in person and the Screening Officer determines that you have sufficient evidence to support your opinion of value your appeal will be give to the Auditor, logged as an appeal, and assigned an appeal number.

  • If it is determined that you have insufficient evidence to support your opinion of the value your appeal will be rejected, but the Screening Officer will provide you with instruction on how to obtain the necessary evidence you will need.
  • If you appear within the "last ten days" of the Board of Equalization and your appeal is rejected your Screening Officer will issue an "intent to dismiss" allowing you ten additional days from the date the intent is issued to gather and submit the necessary evidence needed to support your opinion of value.

If you choose to mail your appeal or place it in the lobby drop box, it will be recorded and assigned an appeal number by the Auditor. It is then given to Tax Administration to be reviewed by a Screening Officer.

  • If it is determined that you have provided sufficient evidence to support your opinion of value, your appeal will be accepted by the Board.
  • If it is determined unacceptable you will be issued an "intent to dismiss" by the Auditor and will be given ten days from the date specified on the intent to provide the specific evidence needed for your appeal.

Please be advised that if you do not comply with the evidence request specified on your intent to dismiss and you do not submit this evidence by the date specified YOUR APPEAL WILL BE DISMISSED.

Once accepted by the Board of Equalization, your appeal will be reviewed by either a Hearing Officer from Tax Administration or by the Assessor's Office.

  • Appeals that are accompanied by either an appraisal or a settlement statement indicating a recent purchase (or both) are usually reviewed by a Hearing Officer from Tax Administration.
  • Appeals that are accompanied by comparable sold properties or appealed on the assumption of an alleged "factual" error are usually reviewed by the Assessor's Office.
   

Once an appeal has been reviewed a recommendation is made. At this point you will be notified by the Auditor that the Board of Equalization has reached an informal decision or your appeal will be scheduled for a hearing.

  • If you receive an informal decision from the Auditor the decision will display your property's original assessed market value and the amount of the informal assessment recommendation. When this occurs you will also be sent an accompanying "request for reconsideration" form. In the event you are not satisfied with the Board's informal decision, this form is to be filled out and sent back to the Auditor . If you elect to have your informal decision reconsidered, your appeal will be scheduled for hearing with a Hearing Officer.
  • If it is determined that a hearing should be scheduled, you will receive notification from the Auditor's Office at least ten days prior to the time of your hearing, of the date setting, the time and the place where your hearing will be conducted. If you are given notice of a hearing,  you are not required to attend. However, it would be in your best interest to do so. An appearance will allow you the opportunity to meet with a Hearing Officer who will review your evidence, the evidence submitted by the Assessor's Office which supports their assessed value, and the validity of the information contained in your assessment record. The hearing officer will not tell you what the recommendation to the Board of Equalization is at the hearing nor will he or she estimate a property tax on a specific value.
  • If you fail to appear for your hearing, the Hearing Officer will review all evidence submitted by both you and the Assessor's Office. This evidence will be carefully considered by the hearing officer assigned to your appeal and a recommendation of your property's market value will be made.

Once a recommendation is made by the Hearing Officer it is reviewed by one of Tax Administration's senior staff and then returned to the Auditor. The Auditor will place the recommendation on a Board of Equalization agenda for approval. Once your appeal has gone through the approval process, the Auditor will notify you, by mail, of the Board's decision. This is a final decision and cannot be reconsidered by the Salt Lake County Board of Equalization.

However, should you be dissatisfied with the Board's final decision, along with the notice provided to you by the Auditor's Office, a request to appeal before the Utah State Tax Commission will accompany this notice. You will have thirty (30) days to complete this appeal application and return it to the Salt Lake County Auditor's Office. Once received by the Auditor, they will file the appeal before the Tax Commission on your behalf.