2024 Cheverly Property Tax Assessment Example, Part 2 of 4

This is a series about filing an appeal for your property tax assessment. The information is generally good for all of Prince George's County, but the data available is specific for Cheverly (part 4 of this series).

This is from a neighbor who filed and got her worksheet back in 2018, but the information is still valid:

"I got our house worksheet for the appeal, but didn't understand a bunch of the coding and numbers on it. So I called and spoke with ... the Assessment Office - she is the one who actually handles all of the appeals paperwork. She spent a lot of time on the phone with me - though I'm still not sure of how some things are computed. But the most important piece of advice was to come to our appeal meeting with the sales comps on all the Cape Cod 3bd/2bth/unfinished basements built about the time our house was. She said to subtract out the flips and distressed sales. And Voila!!! I pulled up your spreadsheet and sorted it on those items, and I'm all set to go to our hearing. You saved me a bunch of time (and it seems like we should get our assessment reduced!) - Thank you , Thank you, Thank you!

• Even if you don't want to do an appeal, you might want to get the worksheet anyway - My assessment has a 12' x 16' deck on the house, which doesn't (and never did) exist. I've been paying for that ever since we moved in 19 years ago.
• Pay attention to the two areas where the house (Section 1) and garage (Section 11) are rated for quality. A 3 is Average, and your garage will be rated the same as the house unless you appeal. If your house is more 'original' than 'updated' or 'remodeled', then your Quality might be more of a 2 - Poor, than a 3-Average. You might consider going for a 2 rating on the house if you have water issues in the basement.
• Measurements for both the garage and (in our case) brick trim, are supposed to be the square footage and will be listed under Size/Units.
• The Curtilage code (Section 1) supposedly has to do with agricultural properties, and the code there should not have any impact on your assessment.
• A Cape Cod is listed as 1.5 Story with Basement in Section 2. The basement is considered unfinished, UNLESS there is an additional entry in Section 5 called Basement Room with additional square footage."

More in this series:

• Part 1 - General information from tax assessment clinics.
• Part 2 - This page - Helpful advice from a neighbor in 2018 who had just gotten her worksheet and had a long conversation with the Assessment office.
• Part 3 - About the Homestead and other Tax Credits and if you might sell in during this 3 year assessment cycle.
• Part 4 - Links to Cheverly-specific spreadsheet data and helpful webpages.