If you own a condo or unit in a downtown Indianapolis high-rise, your 2026 assessment notice likely came in higher than last year, and the jump may have surprised you. The building didn't change. The unit didn't change. So what happened?
The short answer: a statewide cost reset rippled through downtown residential at the same time the broader 2025 reassessment pushed commercial and multifamily values up. The longer answer determines whether you have a winnable appeal.
How condos get assessed: per unit, not per building
Indiana assesses condominiums by the unit. Your assessment is built from your specific unit's characteristics, square footage, finish level, floor, and view, not from a simple division of the whole building's value. That distinction matters because it means your comparable units are other individual sales, and the wrong comps produce the wrong value.
Common-area and HOA-controlled space, lobbies, fitness rooms, parking structures, and shared amenities, is handled separately from your individual unit. You should not be carrying the full assessed weight of amenities the entire building shares. If your unit value looks like it absorbed common-area cost, that is worth a closer look.
What the assessor is actually valuing
For a condo, the taxable parcel is the airspace and improvements of your individual unit, plus your proportional interest in the common elements as defined in the building's declaration. The assessor should not be double-counting the common elements, once in your unit value and again as a separately assessed parcel. Pull your unit's property record card and confirm the square footage matches your deed, that the floor and view characteristics are recorded correctly, and that any parking space or storage unit is either bundled correctly or assessed as its own line.
HOA dues are not deductible from your assessed value, and a high monthly assessment does not by itself prove over-assessment. But the way a building allocates shared cost can hint at whether common-area value has crept into individual units. If two units of identical size and finish on the same floor carry materially different assessments, that inconsistency is itself appealable.
The DLGF cost reset effect
Indiana assessments lean on a cost approach calibrated by DLGF cost schedules. When those schedules are reset upward, replacement-cost-based values rise across the board, even for properties that haven't sold and haven't been renovated.
Downtown high-rises felt this acutely. High-rise construction carries higher per-square-foot cost factors, so a cost-schedule reset moves those units more in absolute dollars than it moves a modest suburban ranch.
Why the cost approach can overstate condo value
The cost approach answers "what would it cost to rebuild this?" That question fits new or special-purpose construction well. It fits a resale condo less well, because what a buyer actually pays for a high-rise unit depends heavily on floor, view, layout, and the condition of the interior, factors the cost schedule applies only coarsely. When the market value of comparable resales sits below the cost-derived value, the market evidence should govern. That gap between a reset cost figure and real sale prices is frequently where a downtown condo appeal is won.
Worked example
Consider a 1,200-square-foot unit on the 6th floor with an original kitchen and bath. The 2026 notice values it at approximately $360,000, up from approximately $315,000 the prior year, an increase of roughly 14% with no sale and no improvement.
| Line | Figure |
|---|---|
| 2025 assessed value | ~$315,000 |
| 2026 assessed value | ~$360,000 |
| Year-over-year change | ~+14% |
| Recent comps used | 18th and 24th floor, renovated |
| Comparable 6th-floor resale | ~$320,000 |
If the recent sales the assessor leaned on were renovated units on the 18th and 24th floors, while the only genuinely comparable 6th-floor resale closed near $320,000, the unadjusted comps overstate the value by roughly $40,000. Presenting the matched 6th-floor sale, plus downward adjustments for the floor and renovation differences in the richer comps, is the core of the appeal.
| Driver | Effect on downtown condo AV |
|---|---|
| DLGF cost-schedule reset | Higher replacement-cost base, no sale required |
| 2025 commercial/multifamily reassessment | Upward pressure on surrounding values |
| Mile Square recovery momentum | Stronger recent comparable sales |
| Renovated/high-floor comps | Risk of overstated value if mis-applied |
The Mile Square context
The 2025 reassessment cycle added roughly $5.5B in assessed value to Marion County commercial and industrial property and approximately $2B to multifamily. The same DLGF reset that drove those numbers put upward pressure on downtown and Mile Square residential and condos. For the commercial side of that story, see the Mile Square commercial recovery in 2026.
A recovering downtown is generally good for owners. But a recovery narrative can also be used to justify a value your specific unit doesn't support.
When over-assessment is appealable
This is where downtown condos get over-assessed: the comparable sales used to value your unit include higher-floor units, renovated units, or units with premium views that yours does not have.
A 6th-floor unit with an original kitchen is not comparable to a 24th-floor renovated unit with a skyline view, even in the same building. If the assessment leaned on those richer comps without adjusting down, your value is overstated, and that is a textbook appeal.
Warning
"Same building" does not mean "comparable." Floor, view, renovation status, and unit layout drive condo prices more than address does. Before you accept a downtown high-rise assessment, confirm the comps actually match your unit's floor and condition.
Building your evidence
Pull recent arm's-length sales of genuinely comparable units, similar floor band, similar finish, similar square footage. Adjust for differences the way a hearing officer would. The methodology PTABOA officers accept is laid out in comparable sales evidence for PTABOA appeals.
Note the appeal deadline for 2026 Marion bills was June 15, 2026. If you missed it this year, document everything now so you are ready for the next cycle, and verify your class code and homestead status in the meantime.
The procedural path in Indiana is consistent: you file a Form 130 with the county assessor, the matter is heard by the county Property Tax Assessment Board of Appeals (PTABOA), and if you disagree with the PTABOA's determination you may appeal to the Indiana Board of Tax Review. Each step expects evidence, not opinion, so the strength of your comparable-sales package largely determines the outcome.
Mistakes to avoid
- Treating "same building" as "same value." Floor, view, and renovation status routinely swing high-rise prices by tens of thousands of dollars.
- Arguing the percentage increase alone. A 14% jump is not, by itself, evidence of error. The question is whether the final value exceeds market value.
- Ignoring the class code. A unit you occupy should be coded and capped as a homestead at 1%; a rented unit sits at 2%. A wrong code costs more than a modest valuation error.
- Missing the window. No matter how strong the evidence, an appeal filed after the deadline is generally lost for that cycle.
- Bringing asking prices instead of closed sales. Hearing officers weight arm's-length closed transactions, not listings.
Common questions
Does a higher assessment automatically mean a higher bill? Not necessarily. The circuit-breaker cap limits the bill to a share of gross assessed value, so a unit already pinned at its cap may see little bill change even when the assessment rises. The deduction and credit mix still matters.
My whole building went up the same percentage. Is that proof it's fair? No. A uniform cost-schedule reset can move every unit up together while still overstating individual units whose market evidence is weaker than the comps used.
Can I appeal if I just bought the unit? Yes, and a recent arm's-length purchase price is among the strongest evidence available. If your assessment exceeds what you just paid, that gap is directly relevant.
What the cap means for you
Even with a higher assessment, the circuit breaker caps your bill. An owner-occupied condo is capped at 1% of gross assessed value; a condo you rent out sits at 2%. Knowing which tier you are in tells you how much an over-assessment actually costs. See Indianapolis property tax cap exposure explained and the broader caps and circuit breakers guide.
Note
If your unit is over its cap, the cap can mask a valuation error this year, but the error follows you forward. Correcting an inflated assessment now protects you in future years when rates or values shift and the cap may no longer be binding. The appeal process runs from PTABOA up to the Indiana Board of Tax Review if needed.
Find Your Property
Look up your unit and check the comps the assessment relied on. Start at /indiana/marion and narrow to /indiana/marion/residential for condo and high-rise units.
Our property lookup surfaces comparable-unit sales and your assessment history, and if the comps don't match your unit, our tax appeal team can build the case. You can also confirm records with the Marion County Assessor or review state guidance at the DLGF.