St. Louis County Offering Property Owner Advocates to Help Appeal Property Assessment

Although 2010 is a non-reassessment year, property owners in St. Louis County who disagree with the Assessor’s opinion of the value of their property, have the option to exercise their right to appeal that valuation to the St. Louis County Board of Equalization.

Missouri state law requires the Assessor to determine a property’s fair market value as of January 1 of the reassessment year, which is every odd numbered year, such as 2009 and 2011. Since values are established for a two-year time period, appellants need to be aware that the market conditions of January 1, 2009 will be applied to all appeals.

To help residential property owners navigate their appeal, St. Louis County is once again offering the assistance of Property Owner Advocates during the 2010 appeal season.

The Property Owner Advocates are a group of real estate professionals who provide advice and guidance to residential property owners throughout the appeal process. Services of Property Owner Advocates will be available starting Wednesday, May 5, 2010.

Owners of residential property may contact the Advocates by calling the Advocate Hotline at 314-615-4611 or by sending an email to Advocate@stlouisco.com . Advocate services are free of charge and are provided as a courtesy of the St. Louis County government.

Board of Equalization (BOE) appeal forms are available on May 1 at all Department of Revenue satellite offices, the BOE office at 41 S. Central in Clayton, and online by clicking here.

More information on reassessment, appeals, including appeal forms, and the advocate program can be found on the Department of Revenue’s webpage.

Property owners may also look up comparable sales and other sales in their area right on the Department of Revenue’s website by visiting “Real Estate Information” and performing a search by property address, locator number, owner’s name or subdivision.