Beyond Quick Wins, Persistence Pays

By David Swartz, Business Development at Swartz and Associates

Most of you know I joined Swartz+Associates in 2023, after a long career in the financial industry. Our appeals have achieved great reductions for our clients over the last two years, but I am now fully appreciating how long it may take to achieve the best outcomes for our clients.

Skin in the Game

One of our unique value propositions is that we share in all legal and professional fees should a further appeal be warranted. We want our clients to know that our financial commitment means we will fight for the best outcome rather than settle and quickly bill our clients– even if this means final resolution may take months or years.

Boards of Review were swamped with appeals in 2023 and 2025 so they couldn’t always devote the time needed to assess our more deliberative analysis. This often meant the Boards offered a small reduction or none at all.

PAAB Hearings

There is a secondary level of appeal we can pursue so our nuanced presentations can be more fully explored. In Iowa we can protest to a panel of property experts called the Property Assessment Appeal Board (PAAB), or we can file for a hearing before a district court judge. Both secondary appeals require the added expense of a third-party appraiser as well as legal fees. These fees are also borne by the county so a settlement prior to the hearing is often likely.

PAAB hearings may be scheduled and resolved in a more timely manner, lowering the legal expenses. We like this when we think the panel may acknowledge certain fact sets such as cap rates, or when we believe the county is motivated to settle quickly.

District Court is preferable when a large discrepancy in value remains and an argument about the valuation strategy, such as income approach versus replacement costs, requires a judge to provide an even-handed decision.

The quick win is not what we seek, but rather a fair valuation aligned with similar properties.

Here are a few examples of the long game playing out for our clients.

This has been a successful model for our clients, and we would love to visit with you if have any questions about your property’s assessment.

Swartz + Associates, Inc. (SAI) is a full service property tax firm specializing in the review, analysis and appeals of real and business personal property tax valuations. If you need help with your property taxes, give us a call!