Clerk of the Board

Assessment Appeals

If you disagree with your property tax assessment, you have the right to file an Application for Changed Assessment.

This leads to a hearing before the Assessment Appeals Board, where both you and the Assessor's Office must present evidence to support opinions of value. The Appeals Board determines the value based on the evidence presented by both sides.

If you disagree with the assessed value of your property on the annual Sonoma County Tax Roll, you must file an application between July 2 and November 30. Unfortunately this deadline normally falls before the annual tax bills are mailed each year. Because of this, it's important to periodically check the assessed value of any property you may own to ensure that it has been properly assessed.

Note: The period for filing an appeal differs among counties. A list of filing periods for all California counties is available from the California Board of Equalization.

If you disagree with the value of a supplemental assessment, you must file within 60 days of the date of mailing of the supplemental notice or the date printed on the bill, whichever comes first.

To request an Application for Changed Assessment, contact the Assessment Appeals Board.

• Assessment Appeals Board
• 575 Administration Drive, Suite 100-A
• Santa Rosa, California 95403
• Phone: (707) 565-2241

It is very important to understand that filing an assessment appeal does not relieve an owner of the responsibility for paying any outstanding tax bill(s), no matter how unfair the owner may feel the bill(s) to be. If you do not pay the bill in a timely manner, you may incur penalties and interest charges that could otherwise be avoided. If you pay a bill and the Appeals Board subsequently lowers the contested value, you will be refunded any excess taxes you may have paid.

The State Board of Equalization provides a guide to the filing of assessment appeals. Although the guide's title indicates that its focus is residential appeals, much of the same information applies to the filing of appeals on virtually any type of property. Residential Property Assessment Appeals (SBE Pamphlet 30) .

Additionally, the State Board of Equalization has published a video designed to provide information to taxpayers regarding the appeals process. The video is entitled Your Assessment Appeal and was developed as a collaborative effort between the Board's Taxpayers' Rights Advocate Office and the County-Assessed Properties Division. Additional assistance and input was provided by many California counties. The video is available on their web site and is divided into segments: Your Assessment Appeal Video Segments.

You can download a sample Application for Changed Assessment. Note that this sheet is an example of a completed form for one type of appeal only.

CAUTION: Read all instructions prior to filing an Application for Changed Assessment. If you have questions about the Application for Changed Assessment form, please contact the State Board of Equalization, Assessment Services Unit at (916) 445-4982.