441.37 Protest of assessment — grounds.

1. a. Any property owner or aggrieved taxpayer who is dissatisfied with the owner’s or taxpayer’s assessment may file a protest against such assessment with the board of review on or after April 2, to and including April 30, of the year of the assessment. In any county which has been declared to be a disaster area by proper federal authorities after March 1 and prior to May 20 of said year of assessment, the board of review shall be authorized to remain in session until June 15 and the time for filing a protest shall be extended to and include the period from May 25 to June 5 of such year. The protest shall be in writing on forms prescribed by the director of revenue and, except as provided in subsection 3, signed by the one protesting or by the protester’s duly authorized agent. The taxpayer may have an oral hearing on the protest if the request for the oral hearing is made in writing at the time of filing the protest. The protest must be confined to one or more of the following grounds:

(1) That said assessment is not equitable as compared with assessments of other like property in the taxing district.

(2) That the property is assessed for more than the value authorized by law.

(3) That the property is not assessable, is exempt from taxes, or is misclassified.

(4) That there is an error in the assessment.

(5) That there is fraud or misconduct in the assessment which shall be specifically stated. For purposes of this section, “misconduct” means the same as defined in section 441.9. If the local board of review, property assessment appeal board, or district court decides in favor of the property owner or aggrieved taxpayer and finds that there was fraud or misconduct in the assessment, the property owner’s or aggrieved taxpayer’s reasonable costs incurred in bringing the protest or appeal shall be paid from the assessment expense fund under section 441.16. For purposes of this section, costs include but are not limited to legal fees, appraisal fees, and witness fees.

b. The burden of proof for all protests filed under this section shall be as stated in section 441.21, subsection 3.

c. The property owner or aggrieved taxpayer may combine on one form protests of assessment on parcels separately assessed if the same grounds are relied upon as the basis for protesting each separate assessment. If an oral hearing is requested on more than one of such protests, the person making the combined protests may request that the oral hearings be held consecutively.

2. a. A property owner or aggrieved taxpayer who finds that a clerical or mathematical error has been made in the assessment of the owner’s or taxpayer’s property may file a protest against that assessment in the same manner as provided in this section, except that the protest may be filed for previous years. The board may correct clerical or mathematical errors for any assessment year in which the taxes have not been fully paid or otherwise legally discharged.

b. Upon the determination of the board that a clerical or mathematical error has been made the board shall take appropriate action to correct the error and notify the county auditor of the change in the assessment as a result of the error and the county auditor shall make the correction in the assessment and the tax list in the same manner as provided in section 443.6.

c. The board shall not correct an error resulting from a property owner’s or taxpayer’s inaccuracy in reporting or failure to comply with section 441.19.

3. For assessment years beginning on or after January 1, 2014, the board of review may allow property owners or aggrieved taxpayers who are dissatisfied with the owner’s or taxpayer’s assessment to file a protest against such assessment by electronic means. Electronic filing of assessment protests may be authorized for the protest period that begins April 2, the protest period that begins October 9, or both. Except for the requirement that a protest be signed, all other requirements of this section for an assessment protest to the board of review shall apply to a protest filed electronically. If electronic filing is authorized by the local board of review, the availability of electronic filing shall be clearly indicated on the assessment roll notice provided to the property owner or taxpayer and included in both the published equalization order notice and the equalization order notice mailed to the property owner or taxpayer if applicable.

4. After the board of review has considered any protest filed by a property owner or aggrieved taxpayer and made final disposition of the protest, the board shall give written notice to the property owner or aggrieved taxpayer who filed the protest of the action taken by the board of review on the protest. The written notice to the property owner or aggrieved taxpayer shall also specify the reasons for the action taken by the board of review on the protest. If protests of assessment on multiple parcels separately assessed were combined, the written notice shall state the action taken, and the reasons for the action, for each assessment protested.

[R60, §740; C73, §831; C97, §1373; S13, §1373; C24, 27, 31, 35, 39, §7132; C46, 50, 54, 58, §405.22, 442.5; C62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, S81, §441.37; 81 Acts, ch 145, §2]

86 Acts, ch 1028, §1; 88 Acts, ch 1251, §2; 2005 Acts, ch 140, §57, 58, 73; 2011 Acts, ch 25, §143; 2013 Acts, ch 123, §56, 57, 64, 65; 2015 Acts, ch 116, §9, 10, 13; 2017 Acts, ch 151, §11 – 13, 29

Referred to in §404.5, 404B.6, 428.4, 441.26, 441.30, 441.33, 441.37A, 441.38, 441.45

2015 amendments apply to assessment years beginning on or after January 1, 2016; 2015 Acts, ch 116, §13

2017 amendments to subsection 1, paragraph a, apply to assessment years beginning on or after January 1, 2018; 2017 Acts, ch 151, §29