Terms of engagement

We review commercial property assessments and, where the evidence supports it, represent the owner through the appeal process: informal review with the assessor, the local board, the state body, and arbitration or court where that is the right route.

We are property tax consultants. We are not a law firm and we do not provide legal advice. Some rungs of some appeal ladders require an attorney — the Missouri State Tax Commission, for example, requires that an entity be represented by counsel. Where that applies we will tell you before it matters.

Before anything is filed, an analyst reviews the assessment against comparable sales, the income approach where it applies, and the locality's own ratio study. You receive a written opinion of value and a direct answer on whether an appeal is worth bringing.

If we do not think an appeal will succeed, we say so and we do not file one. Filing a weak appeal wastes a year and can invite a closer look at the parcel.

We act only once an authorized signer for the owning entity has signed an agent authorization for that parcel and tax year. Several localities we practise in require a notarized original, and some require it on the owner's letterhead or accompanied by a corporate resolution. We will tell you which applies to your parcel and arrange remote online notarization where it is needed.

You may withdraw an authorization in writing at any time. If you withdraw it after we have filed, the appeal may proceed on the record already lodged, and fees earned to that point remain payable.

Our fee is contingent: it is a percentage of the tax saving achieved, and it is calculated from the reduction in assessed value multiplied by the applicable tax rate for the locality and year.

The percentage, the basis on which it is applied, and whether it extends to retroactive refunds are set out in your signed engagement agreement. This matters, because localities differ: Virginia localities on a biennial cycle and Missouri's two-year cycle mean a single successful appeal can hold for more than one tax year. Read that clause before you sign it, and ask us if it is not clear.

Any figure produced by the calculator on this site, or quoted in a desk review, is an estimate. It is based on published tax rates, which change. It is not a quotation and it does not guarantee an outcome.

Where no reduction is achieved, no contingency fee is due. Third-party costs that have to be paid regardless — filing fees, arbitration deposits, appraisals you ask us to commission — are your responsibility and we will tell you about them in advance.

Appeal deadlines are set by statute or local ordinance. They cannot be extended, and a missed deadline usually ends the matter for that tax year.

We track the deadlines for your parcel and remind you of the ones that need something from you. For that to work we need your assessment notice promptly — several deadlines run from the date on the notice rather than a fixed calendar day, and we cannot compute them without it.

Where a locality does not publish its window, we confirm the date with the office directly before relying on it. Dates shown on this site as derived from statute are marked as such.

• The assessment notice, as soon as you receive it.
• Accurate information about the property and the owning entity, including the legal owner name as it appears on the land book.
• Rent rolls and income and expense statements where the income approach applies. Some localities require an income and expense survey as a condition of appeal.
• Prompt signature where an authorization or a notarization is needed.

We rely on what you give us. If information turns out to be materially wrong and an appeal fails or is dismissed as a result, that is not a failure we can carry.

Income and expense records you give us are confidential under Va. Code § 58.1-3, and we treat them as confidential in every state we practise in. We disclose them to the assessing authority only to the extent the appeal requires. See our privacy policy for how they are stored and who can read them.

Compensated protest representation in Texas is performed by a property tax consultant registered under Tex. Occ. Code ch. 1152. The registration number appears on every Form 50-162 we file, is given to you on engagement, and is published in the footer of this site once the consultant of record is assigned.

We bring experience and evidence. We do not control the assessor, the board, or the court. Nothing here is a promise of a particular reduction, a particular saving, or a particular timetable.

Call (757) 287-6000 or email appeals@sterlingtaxmgmt.com.