Property Tax Appeal for Investment Property: Deadlines by State

Why a landlord’s appeal is not a homeowner’s appeal

A homeowner’s appeal asks whether the county got the house right, usually against recent sales of similar houses. An owner of rental, multifamily or commercial property is usually arguing about income: what the building earns, what it costs to run, and what a buyer would pay for that stream. The statutes below reflect that. Some require the owner to hand over rent and expense numbers on a deadline, some let the reviewing body raise the value as well as lower it, and one, Virginia’s, requires an independent appraisal before an assessor can ask the board to raise a commercial or multifamily assessment (Code of Virginia 58.1-3379(D)). This page reads those rules in the 15 most populous states (2020 Census resident population, Table 2) and the District of Columbia, adds the one official outcome table we could find, and prices what a 10% cut is worth at a published tax rate. Two jurisdictions are left out on purpose: Cook County, Illinois, which the Illinois statute treats separately in places (35 ILCS 200/16-160, counties of 3,000,000 or more) and which this page leaves aside, and New York City, which New York Real Property Tax Law 524(3) treats separately for cities of five million or more.

First forum and deadline in the 15 largest states and DC

Where to file first, and by when, as of October 13, 2026 (statute texts)

Source: the statute texts named in each row, read from the legislatures’ own sites or the agencies that reproduce them (URLs in the CSV). Sites that refused our connection (California, Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Massachusetts, North Carolina, New York, Pennsylvania) were read through Internet Archive captures of the official pages, except California’s, which we read in a browser on October 13, 2026. The New Jersey legislature’s site did not load for us, so that row is the Division of Taxation’s own statement, not statute text. Pennsylvania was read from an Internet Archive capture of the General Assembly’s chapter 88 page. Georgia’s statute was read in the Georgia Department of Revenue’s appeals manual, which reproduces it. Texas Tax Code chapter 41 shows a second version of some subsections effective January 1, 2027; none of the rows above depends on it. Local rules and the date printed on your notice control; “first-level deadline” is the statute’s outer limit.

The table is one layer of a longer path. Most jurisdictions then allow a second appeal to a state board or tribunal and a third to court, on short clocks: Texas district court within 60 days (Texas Tax Code 42.21(a)), Florida circuit court within 60 days (Florida Statutes 194.171(2)(a)), Pennsylvania common pleas within 30 days of the board’s mailing (Title 53, section 8844(e)(2.1)), Ohio Board of Tax Appeals within 30 days (Ohio Revised Code 5717.01), Illinois Property Tax Appeal Board within 30 days (35 ILCS 200/16-160), North Carolina Property Tax Commission within 30 days (North Carolina General Statutes 105-290(e)), New York Article 7 proceeding within 30 days of the final roll (Real Property Tax Law 702(2)), and the District of Columbia Commission within 45 days (District of Columbia Code 47-825.01a(e)(1)(A)). Florida adds a pay-first rule: the owner “shall pay to the collector not less than the amount of the tax which the taxpayer admits in good faith to be owing” before suing (Florida Statutes 194.171(3)).

What income-property owners have to hand over, and what happens if they do not

Homeowners rarely meet these rules. The income approach (what a buyer would pay for the net income) has its own paperwork in about half the jurisdictions we read, and in a few the paperwork is a condition of keeping the appeal alive.

Income, expense and information rules for income-producing property, as of October 13, 2026

Source: statute texts named in each row. New York, Illinois, Ohio and North Carolina are not in the table because the sections we read (New York Real Property Tax Law 512, 524, 702, 706; 35 ILCS 200/16-55; Ohio Revised Code 5715.19; North Carolina General Statutes 105-322) do not say anything about income and expense statements; that is a statement about the sections we read, not about every rule or local form in those states.

Two of these deserve a second look. Massachusetts treats the information return as a condition of the appeal itself: “automatic grounds for dismissal of a filing at the appellate tax board” if the return is not made within 60 days of the request (General Laws chapter 59, section 38D). Texas goes the other way: the income and expense statement is a tool, not a trap. If the district lowered the value last year, an owner who files income and expense statements at least 14 days before the hearing moves the district’s burden from a preponderance to clear and convincing evidence (Texas Tax Code 41.43(a-3)), and the same statute makes those filings confidential (22.27(a)). Our own page on triple-net lease clauses shows how leases push property tax to tenants, which matters for who gains from a cut; the cap rate calculator shows how net income, which a tax cut raises when the landlord pays the tax, becomes value.

Can an appeal raise your assessment? Nine places where the text says it can

The question owners ask most is not in the county’s brochure. In the sections we read, nine jurisdictions let the board, tribunal or another party move a value up as well as down. The list is our reading of statutory text, not a count of how often it happens.

Where review can end in a higher value, as of October 13, 2026

Source: statute texts named in each row. New Jersey’s Division guide says a value set on appeal is “frozen” for the assessment year and the following 2 years, and that an owner can end the freeze by appealing; whether a county board can raise a value on an owner’s appeal is not stated in the page or guide we read. We found no raise provision in the sections we read for Texas, Florida, New York, Washington, Arizona or Massachusetts; that does not mean none exists.

The Ohio mechanism is the one most owners of larger parcels would not guess. A school board can only counter-complain when the owner’s complaint is for $17,500 or more of taxable value, (Ohio Revised Code 5715.19(B)(2)), so a large claim on a large parcel can invite it (our reading). Virginia’s protection for commercial and multifamily property, an independent certified appraisal that “affirms that such increase in value represents the property’s fair market value,” has no equivalent in the other eight texts (Code of Virginia 58.1-3379(D)). Georgia’s rule cuts both ways: the sale price of the most recent arm’s length sale “shall be the maximum allowable fair market value for the next taxable year” (Official Code of Georgia Annotated 48-5-2(3)), which matters to an owner who bought recently.

What the official outcome data shows: the District of Columbia

Most states do not publish what happens to appeals by property type. Washington, DC does, because its code requires the Real Property Tax Appeals Commission to report each year, for each class, the number of assessments “sustained,” increased and decreased (District of Columbia Code 47-825.01a(j)(1)(B)). We read the Tax Year 2024 and Tax Year 2023 annual reports. Class 2 is commercial and industrial property, including hotels and mixed use; Class 1 is residential and, per the report’s table heading, includes multifamily.

Real Property Tax Appeals Commission decisions, Tax Years 2023 and 2024 (Commission annual reports)

Source: DC Real Property Tax Appeals Commission, Tax Year 2024 Annual Report and Tax Year 2023 Annual Report, saved in full in the page folder. The Commission’s own percentages for Class 1 (“six percent (6%)” in 2024) do not match its counts (359 of 2,557 is 14.0%); we use the counts. The Class 1 rows divide by appeals received because the reports state no decided total.

Three limits matter. These are appeals that reached the Commission after the Office of Tax and Revenue’s first-level review, so the many owners who settled earlier are not in the counts; in Tax Year 2024 the Commission also reports 30 Class 2 cases resolved by stipulation agreement, counted apart from the 485 decided. The Tax Year 2024 overview counts 1,343 Class 2 valuation cases processed, while the Class 2 section counts 516 appeals received and 485 decided; the text we read does not reconcile those numbers. And a count of cases says nothing about the size of each cut. What it does show is that in this one jurisdiction, for two years running, the overwhelming majority of decided commercial appeals were sustained, a small number were reduced and almost none were increased. DC’s own rule (the 5% test above) makes an increase possible; in two years of reports it happened 3 times in 1,820 decided commercial cases (our arithmetic: 1 of 485 plus 2 of 1,335).

How big property tax is: the Census Bureau’s state-by-state table

Which table we used: Table 1, “State and Local Government Finances by Level of Government and by State: 2022,” from the Census Bureau’s 2022 Census of Governments: Finance (file 22slsstab1.xlsx, line “Property” under “Taxes”). It covers all property tax, homes, farms and utilities as well as rentals and commercial buildings, so it sizes the stake in the jurisdiction, not the share paid by income property. Amounts are in thousands of dollars in the file; we show billions and the share of each jurisdiction’s total taxes (our arithmetic). 2022 is the latest year for which we found a state-by-state table at that address.

Property tax by jurisdiction, state and local governments combined, 2022 (Census Bureau)

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 Census of Governments: Finance, Table 1 (22slsstab1.xlsx); extract script and output saved in the page folder. Population ranking: 2020 Census resident population, Table 2.

The spread is wide: property tax is 41.1% of state and local taxes in Texas and 38.7% in New Jersey against 20.7% in California (our arithmetic). The table sizes how much each jurisdiction relies on the tax; it says nothing about the effective rate on any one building.

What a 10% cut is worth: a worked example at a published rate

The rate comes from the District of Columbia Code. For Class 2 property (commercial and industrial) the rate is “$1.65 for each $100 of assessed value if the real property’s assessed value is not greater than $5 million,” $1.77 up to $10 million, and $1.89 above $10 million (District of Columbia Code 47-812(b-9)(2)(C)). The Commission’s own Tax Year 2024 table prints the over-$10 million tier as assessed value divided by 100 times 1.89 and, for $57,799,135,971 of assessed value, $1,092,403,669 of tax, which our arithmetic reproduces ($57,799,135,971 / 100 x 1.89 = $1,092,403,670), so the bracket rate applies to the whole assessed value, not only the slice above the line (our reading). That makes a cut near a bracket line worth more than the percentage.

A 10% assessment cut at DC Class 2 rates (our arithmetic)

Source: District of Columbia Code 47-812(b-9)(2)(C) for the rates; arithmetic by script saved in the page folder. One tax year, one jurisdiction, no appeal fees, no later-year effects. Not a forecast: a cut is a result, and the table above shows how rarely commercial appeals were reduced in this jurisdiction.

Who keeps the saving depends on the lease. In a triple-net lease the tenant reimburses the tax, so the first dollar of savings goes to the tenant under a pass-through clause and reaches the landlord, if at all, through the lease terms or at renewal (our reading; see our page on triple-net lease clauses). For a multifamily owner who pays the tax out of rents, the saving goes to net income. The rental income tax page covers how property tax enters the landlord’s return. Our page on cap rates shows how a change in net income flows to value.

What the sources leave to the owner and the professional

The documents above do not tell any particular owner what to do. They show the decision points:

• Which clock is running. Florida’s 25 days from the mailing of the notice (Florida Statutes 194.011(3)(d)) and Georgia’s 45 days from mailing (Official Code of Georgia Annotated 48-5-311(e)(2)(A)) start with the notice, not the tax bill. Ohio’s date is the following March 31 (Ohio Revised Code 5715.19(A)(1)), and DC’s is April 1 of the year before the tax year (District of Columbia Code 47-825.01a(d)(1)). Missing a date can end the appeal: Florida’s and Texas’s court deadlines are described as bars (Florida Statutes 194.171(6); Texas Tax Code 42.21(a)).
• What the forum asks for. Arizona asks for three fiscal years of income and expense data under oath (Arizona Revised Statutes 42-16052); DC asks for two calendar years (District of Columbia Code 47-825.01a(e)(2)(A)(iii)); Massachusetts asks for a return under oath within 60 days (Chapter 59, section 38D); Texas lets an owner of property worth $1 million or less shift the burden with a certified appraisal delivered 14 days before the hearing (Texas Tax Code 41.43(a-1)).
• Whether a higher value is possible. The nine places above.
• What the win lasts. Georgia holds a value set on appeal for two years unless the owner appeals again (48-5-299(c)); New Jersey’s Division says the value is frozen for the assessment year and two more (guide); California’s board that does not decide within two years leaves the owner’s opinion of value in place (Revenue and Taxation Code 1604(c)); Ohio generally allows one complaint per interim period (Ohio Revised Code 5715.19(A)(2)).
• Who benefits. The lease decides.

The professional for this is a property-tax attorney or a certified appraiser who works in the county, not a financial adviser; we have therefore not put an adviser match on this page. Several statutes name who may file for the owner: an agent (California Revenue and Taxation Code 1603(a)), a person “authorized in writing” (New York Real Property Tax Law 524(3)), or an attorney, whose authority the board may check (35 ILCS 200/16-55(c)). If you want to hear when we add more states or update a deadline on this page, the alert below is the one email we send on this topic.

FAQ

Sources, read and saved on October 13, 2026: California Revenue and Taxation Code 441, 1603, 1604 and 1610.8 (leginfo.legislature.ca.gov); Texas Tax Code chapters 22, 23, 41 and 42 (statutes.capitol.texas.gov); Florida Statutes 193.011, 194.011, 194.171 and 194.301 (Online Sunshine); New York Real Property Tax Law 512, 524, 702 and 706 (nysenate.gov); Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes Title 53, chapter 88 (legis.state.pa.us); 35 ILCS 200/16-55 and 16-160 (ilga.gov); Ohio Revised Code 5715.19 and 5717.01 (codes.ohio.gov); the Official Code of Georgia Annotated as reproduced in the Georgia Department of Revenue Course VII Appeals Procedure Manual and its model assessment notice PT-306E; North Carolina General Statutes 105-283, 105-290 and 105-322 (ncleg.gov); Michigan Compiled Laws 205.735a, 211.27 and 211.30 (legislature.mi.gov); the New Jersey Division of Taxation Assessment and Appeals page and A Guide to Tax Appeal Hearings; Code of Virginia 58.1-3379, 58.1-3980 and 58.1-3984 (law.lis.virginia.gov); Revised Code of Washington 84.40.030 and 84.40.038 (app.leg.wa.gov); Arizona Revised Statutes 42-16051, 42-16052 and 42-16056 (azleg.gov); Massachusetts General Laws chapter 59, sections 38D, 59 and 64 (malegislature.gov); District of Columbia Code 47-812, 47-821 and 47-825.01a (code.dccouncil.gov); District of Columbia Real Property Tax Appeals Commission annual reports for Tax Years 2023 and 2024 (rptac.dc.gov); U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 Census of Governments: Finance, Table 1, and 2020 Census resident population, Table 2. Several state sites were read through Internet Archive captures of the official pages, as the page notes say. Shares, counts across jurisdictions and the worked example are our arithmetic with the assumptions stated; “our reading” marks interpretation, not statute text. This is analysis of public documents, not investment, legal or tax advice.