I used to challenge raises in appraisals every year they went up and I'd spend nights and weekends searching comparables and checking around the immediate vicinity. They are expecting you to bend over and take it and if you do your homework you can gain from it. There are laws in many states that require reassessments when more than a certain percentage of assessments are challenged. I think homeowners as a matter of course should challenge every year just on principle.
Here in NC, cities and counties are pushing to reassess every 4 years which is completely BS.
Reason being, if anyone studies the US and local economies, bears and bulls, so to speak, run a 7-8 year cycle on average.
A seriously great percentage of folks in charge of running our government ironically hound the hell out of drug addicts' and alcoholics in society with a blind 'holier than thou' attitude toward the addicts behaviors, while in the meantime, the elected officials are even more addicted to money and power.
Nuttin' but 'crack whores' in a sense; a always sniffin' around the backside cracks of us citizens to see if anything is left in our wallets. Willful blatant corruption, deceit, lies and practically do anything to get their next fix / high from yours and my hard earned dollars.
Outstanding point. I challenged my assessment and the assessor knocked $5K off the AV. I asked him how many people challenge and he told me less than 55.
I'd suggest to folks that to not only do the work on comparables, but also to find one or two "trump cards" - properties that are clearly underassesed and have been for years. There's one about 2 miles down the road who has a house that is newer, 60% larger and has 3 times the acreage I do (with producing apple trees), yet his assessment is $4K less. That's my trump card and I'll use it to leverage my assessment going down.
Of course, the assessor could raise the other guy's AV, but that rarely happens.