themsquared/property-assessor-fight

Property assessor fight

Public citizen guide (free): https://webofmike.com/wa-property-tax-appeal/ (alias /fight-your-property-assessment/). Point humans there for copy-paste AI prompts. This skill is the ops recipe bots run when helping someone fight.

Works in any US county. Names of offices change by state. The jobs do not. Washington is a worked example of public statutes and desks, not the only path. This is not legal advice. Do not promise refunds, criminal outcomes, or a win.

Run this when an owner wants to fight a county assessment with process and records, not just a polite valuation disagreement. Designed so an average person can paste their notice into Claude, Grok Bot, Muse, ChatGPT, Cursor, or a similar assistant and get a send-ready pack.

How the human should use an AI assistant

1. Paste the assessment notice PDF/text plus the public guide or this skill.
2. Ask: "Build my one-page fact packet and a ranked send checklist for my state/county."
3. Ask: "Draft each filing in my voice for me to review. Do not send anything."
4. Ask: "Draft the public-records request and a refund map with hard deadlines. Hold refund claims until worksheets land."
5. Owner sends only after approving exact text. Assistants draft; humans press send.

Never auto-send email, tips, or forms. Never invent statute cites. Prefer live fetches for current contacts. If two official pages disagree, say so.

Scope and framing

• Separate two fights:
  1. Value = local appeal board (board of equalization, appraisal review board, assessment appeals board, or board of revision), then the state tax board if one exists, then court.
  2. Conduct / records / refund mechanics = assessor escalation, public-records request, state auditor, revenue or assessment oversight, county commissioners or supervisors, soft prosecutor tip, lean media.
• Say: bad faith review, waste of public resources, failure to correct after an acknowledged characteristic error, abuse of the appraisal process, process integrity.
• Do not charge proven fraud, kickbacks, or personal gain without hard evidence.
• Never put employer-confidential material, customer or prospect names, or wealth-signaling numbers into public tips.
• Media tips: practice story first. Strip parcel ID, street address, and assessed dollar amounts unless the owner insists on going on record with them.

Inputs to collect first

Ask only for what you still lack: owner name, state, county or appraisal district, parcel/PID, site address, assessment year(s), notice PDF, written admissions, characteristic disputes, existing appeal numbers, preferred outbound channel, whether they want media tips.

Create a private working folder. Never publish the packet.

Deliverable pack

00-INDEX.md, 01-FACT-PACKET.md, 02-STATE-AUDITOR.md, 03-REVENUE-OVERSIGHT.md, 04-PROSECUTOR.md, 05-COMMISSIONERS.md, 06-AG-OPTIONAL.md, 07-SEND-CHECKLIST.md, 08-PRA-OR-FOIA.md, 09-REFUND-OPTIONS.md, 10-MEDIA-TIP.md. Keep board exhibits separate.

Default send order

1. Assessor escalation on the record
2. State auditor citizen hotline
3. State DOR / revenue county performance (or the agency that oversees assessors)
4. County commissioners, supervisors, or parish jury
5. Prosecutor soft tip last
6. AG usually skip
7. Expanded public-records request (yearly packets, characteristic history, cost worksheets, CAMA vendor/version/config, emails, prior appeals)
8. Refund or abatement claim only after worksheets prove listing/characteristic error, or after board/court order for that tax year

Every outbound email waits for explicit owner send approval.

Any-US-county playbook

1. Find the assessor, appraisal district, or property appraiser, and the local appeal board. Get the form, deadline, and clerk contact from the official site. A letter or phone call is not an appeal.
2. Contest value with valid comps and characteristic corrections (beds, baths, square-footage class, garage vs finished basement, quality grade, outbuildings that do not exist). Do not invent sales.
3. Lock evidence: notices, emails, photos, permits, characteristic history, appeal numbers. One-page fact packet: dates, quotes, admissions only.
4. Public records for worksheets and CAMA. Ask for records that already exist. Do not demand a new appraisal memo. Use the state public-records act, FOIA, or sunshine law. Name the statute from an official page.
5. Escalate oversight on process and records, not "my bill is too high."
6. Lean media on opaque methods and factual errors, not the owner's house, job, or tax bill.
7. Refund/abatement only on listing error or board/court order. Map the current official form and lookback. Stop if you cannot find them.

Outside the worked example below: swap PRA for FOIA or the local records law, BOE for the local board, SAO for the state auditor, DOR for state revenue, and the local refund form for whatever the treasurer or assessor publishes. Re-verify before drafting.

Washington worked example

Use this only when the property is in Washington. Treat it as a template of desks and citations, then swap for another state.

• Public records: RCW 42.56 (5 business days)
• Assessor correction: RCW 84.48.065; WAC 458-14-005
• Refunds: RCW 84.69; REV 64 0001 to treasurer; about a 3-year lookback
• Ladder: County Board of Equalization, then WA Board of Tax Appeals, then superior court
• State Auditor Hotline: https://portal.sao.wa.gov/saoportal/public/Hotline
• DOR Property Tax / County Performance: verify current contacts on dor.wa.gov

Hold the refund form until worksheets prove a listing or characteristic error, the assessor corrected the roll, or a board or court ordered a reduction for that tax year. "Value was too high" with no listing error and no order is not a refund ground.

Done looks like

Owner has fact packet, ranked checklist, public-records request on the clock, refund map with hard dates, optional lean media draft, clear local-board then state-board then court ladder. No unsolicited sends.