Let's try this again.

I wrote a July 19 column as a primer that homeowners might use after receiving their property assessment notices from the state Revenue Department.

It was timed to run shortly before people were to receive their notices. However, the department had some printing problems and then decided to redo the forms to provide more information. So the mailings were delayed by weeks.

By now, most property owners should have received them. If not, call your local Revenue Department office.

Here's a revised guide for homeowners:

- Open the notice promptly. You have 30 days after receiving the notice to challenge the reappraisal, but more about that later.

While not a tax bill, the notice some key numbers used to calculate your future property taxes, starting in November.

It tells the new "market value" of your property, or what the state believes it was worth on the market as of July 1, 2008, and the old market value on Jan. 1, 2002, from the last reappraisal.

The form also lists your "taxable value" for last year and for 2009. These are derived from the market values after a series of calculations.

- With your property assessment notice handy, find a computer to get some more user-friendly information. Go to this Web site: http://mt.gov/revenue/ for a handy calculator the department has provided.

Click on the drawing of the calculator. You'll reach a Web page with drawings of four calculators. Then click on the one labeled "residential calculator."

The Web page will show you which three numbers to type in from your notice.

The computer then calculates your market and taxable values and some other figures for all six years covered by this reappraisal as well as for 2008.

The key set of numbers is at the bottom and shaded in yellow. That's your estimated property taxes for each the next six years - provided the levies remain the same.

I'd suggest printing this report for your records. Ignore the references on top about Duluth County, Montana, a fictitious place used as an example.

Your levies probably won't remain frozen over the years, but this still provides a decent estimate. The estimated property taxes aren't totally accurate either, because they don't include various fees tacked onto your tax bill, but they're close enough for an estimate.

The private Montana Taxpayers Association also has a useful calculator on its Web site at: http://www.montax.org/

- You need to decide whether you think the new property values are about right or too high so you can challenge them.

Is the value about what your think your house was worth in July 2008? Talk to friends and neighbors whose houses are similar to yours and compare assessment notices.

If you had a private fee appraisal done on your house in recent years, that could be valuable information to use in a review or appeal, Revenue Director Dan Bucks said.

This isn't required, but you can go on the Internet again to this Web site: http://www.zillow.com. Type in your address in the blank box and a map of your neighborhood will appear. It lists property values of various homes the previous 2002 reappraisal. Still, you can get an idea of whose houses were valued the same as yours then.

- If you decide to contest the new value, you need to decide whether to seek an informal review or file a formal appeal.

Before doing that, Bucks suggests calling your local Revenue Department office first and making an appointment with an appraiser to answer your questions, although it's not necessary.

I'd ask the local appraisers how they arrived at the new value for my house. Ask to see the values of any comparable houses they used in my neighborhood to value my house, even though by state law, the addresses and sales prices must be blacked out.

To file for an informal review, you may get the form at the local Revenue Department office or download it here: www.mt.gov/revenue/formsandresources/forms/AB26.pdf.

If you have any doubt, I would seek an informal review, which costs nothing.

A state appraiser will visit your home for a second look. I would ask that person to show how the department came up with the new value. If you find errors in their reappraisal, point them out. It might be save you money.

You can also appeal directly to your county tax appeal board instead of going through the informal review first. Here's the form to download: http://stab.mt.gov/pdf/TaxAppealForm09.pdf .

However, I'd start with the informal review request first. That way you will get an appraiser to visit your house and re-evaluate and defend the valuation. You can always appeal later if you don't like the results.

Residential property values in Montana rose by 55 percent under the latest reappraisal, with the increases varying widely by county and within counties.

Some homeowners definitely fared better than others, often depending where they live. Property values generally increased by a much higher rate in western Montana tourism counties, especially for property on lakes and rivers, and in the energy counties in eastern Montana.

Whether you're satisfied or upset about how this reappraisal affects you, let your local legislators know. They spent many hours last winter debating the new law that seeks to ease the financial sting of the new reappraisal.

It's also entirely possible the 2011 Legislature will revisit the issue. The department and an interim legislative committee will evaluate the reappraisal through a study that compares the actual prices that houses sold for with their new market values.

Chuck Johnson is chief of the Lee Newspapers State Bureau in Helena. He can be reached at (800) 525-4920 or (406) 447-4066. His e-mail address is chuck.johnson@lee.net

Related

• Computers hit snag with property tax calculator