Glossary

Assessed value

The value a county places on a property for tax purposes, which is not necessarily what it would sell for.

Property tax is charged on assessed value, and an appeal is an argument that the assessed value is wrong. Some states assess at full market value, so the two figures are meant to be the same. Others assess at a published fraction of market value, in which case an assessed figure has to be divided by that ratio before it can be compared with sale prices — otherwise you are comparing a fraction against a whole. Assessment is approximate by design. Authorities expect to be roughly rather than exactly right, and a gap of a few percent is generally treated as within tolerance.

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