Does anyone have experience in appealing a new property assessment? We just got ours--a 40.7% increase over the previous assessment. These increases are apparently happening throughout Kentlands, and reflect the strong real estate market here. However, when I went into the State's website and reviewed new assessments for my neighbors, (www.dat.state.md.us), it appears that there are inconsistencies in the way comparable houses are valued.To say the least, I don't understand their methodology.

If anyone has ideas on what evidence to use in an appeal, please respond. The deadline to file an appeal is Feb. 10th. (You can even do this on the website mentioned above.)

-- Bob Mauri (newurban@erols.com), January 16, 2003