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Iowa Property Assessment Appeal Board

Appeal Information for Boards of Review

This page has general information for boards of review, assessors, and their attorneys related to appeals filed with PAAB. Additional relevant information may appear on the Discovery, Exhibits & Witnesses and Preparing for Your PAAB Hearing pages. This page will be updated periodically. If you have more questions, contact us.

Please update the adjournment date for your local board of review using this webform.

PAAB's Notice of Appeal will be sent to the board of review through PAAB's electronic filing system (eFile). To receive notifications from eFile, you must have an eFile account. Follow the instructions for Creating an Account

Note: PAAB has designed the eFile system so all assessors and most county attorneys are designated to receive the Notices. If you are unsure of who will be receiving Notices for your jurisdiction, contact us.  

Docket List:
Check the docket list to see appeals that have been filed. 

PAAB's administrative rules require the Board of Review to file an answer within 30 days of receiving the Notice of appeal unless an extension is granted. The Board of Review Answer should be completed by the board of review's representative, attorney, or their designee. 

Answers can be automatically generated through the eFile system following the instructions for filing an Answer through eFile. You need to mail a copy of the Answer to all parties not served by eFile. 

The following are the most common jurisdictional issues that come before PAAB. 

  1. Appellant did not file a protest with the Board of Review, but filed an appeal with PAAB. 
  2. Appellant did not timely file a protest with the Board of Review, but then appealed to PAAB. 
  3. Appellant's appeal to PAAB was filed after the statutory deadline.

If the Board of Review wants PAAB to review the appeal for jurisdiction, it should file a motion to dismiss. Along with the motion, the Board of Review should file its Answer, the subject property's record card, the board of review petition, and the board of review decision, if applicable.

The appellant has an opportunity to respond to a motion to dismiss. Then PAAB will review the appeal to determine whether it should be dismissed for lack of jurisdiction. 

In general, if the PAAB docket number is greater than 10000 (i.e. 2021-100-10005R), then the appellant-taxpayer filed their appeal by paper and is most likely not participating in eFile.

A party not participating in eFile must be served with any filings by mail or in-person delivery. If you are unsure whether a person is served by the eFiling system, you should check the Service List. To access the Service List, from the Home screen click Existing Appeals. On the My Cases page, either 1) enter the Docket Number and click Service List, or 2) find the appeal in your My Cases list and click Service List.

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An appellant may raise new grounds under section 441.37 to PAAB. Iowa Code section 441.37A(1)(b). When deciding what grounds have been raised on appeal, PAAB will consider the selections made on the appeal form as well as the substance of the appellant’s statement. If necessary, reference may be made to appellant’s board of review petition, including its attachments, to clarify the appellant’s claims. 

If the Board of Review wants clarification on an appellant's claims, it should file a motion under Iowa Admin. Code R. 701-115.2(4)(a)(2) requesting PAAB order the appellant to clarify the grounds upon which relief is sought. These motions should be filed as soon as possible, preferably before a hearing is scheduled. If a Notice of Hearing has been issued, Board of Review needs to file this motion as soon as possible so the parties have sufficient opportunity to prepare for a hearing on the claims and to avoid the need for a continuance.