Most appeal content — ours included — focuses on getting the Form 130 filed correctly before the deadline. The filing checklist covers that, and the evidence guide covers what to bring. But the question we hear most after June 15 is simpler: I filed. Now what happens, and when?
Here is the full procedural timeline for a Marion County Form 130, from the day the assessor's office stamps your petition to the day you either accept a determination or escalate past the county entirely. Statutory citations are to Indiana Code chapter 6-1.1-15, which governs the whole sequence — the DLGF's appeals overview is the official plain-language reference.
The timeline at a glance
| Stage | When | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Filing acknowledged | Days to weeks after filing | Appeal docketed with the county assessor |
| Preliminary informal meeting | Typically 30–90 days after filing | You and the township assessor try to settle |
| Form 134 joint report | At/after the informal meeting | Documents agreement or disagreement |
| PTABOA hearing | Within 180 days of filing (IC 6-1.1-15-1.2) | Formal hearing before the county board |
| Written determination (Form 115) | After the hearing | The PTABOA's official decision |
| IBTR petition window | 45 days from the determination | Form 131 to the Indiana Board of Tax Review |
Stage 1: Your appeal gets docketed
After filing, your petition enters the Marion County Assessor's appeal docket and is routed to the township assessor who set the value — Marion County is one of the few Indiana counties where township assessors still exist, so a Center Township appeal and a Pike Township appeal go to different offices even though both were filed with the county. Don't expect instant contact; in a heavy filing year, acknowledgment and scheduling can take weeks. Your certified-mail receipt or portal confirmation is your proof of timely filing — keep it.
Stage 2: The preliminary informal meeting
Indiana law builds a settlement step into every appeal: filing a Form 130 triggers a preliminary informal meeting between you and the assessing official under IC 6-1.1-15-1.2, scheduled during business hours at a time that works for you. For June 2026 filers, these typically land in late summer or fall.
This meeting is where the majority of resolvable appeals resolve. It is a negotiation, not a hearing — no panel, no formal rules of evidence, usually just you (or your representative) and the township assessor's staff walking through the property record card and your evidence. Bring your full package: comparable sales, the income analysis if it's a rental or multifamily property, photos, and a specific number you'd settle at.
Three outcomes are possible:
- Full agreement — you and the assessor agree on a revised value.
- Partial agreement — agreement on some issues (say, square footage) but not others (land value).
- No agreement — the appeal proceeds to the PTABOA.
Stage 3: The Form 134 joint report
Whatever happens at the informal meeting gets documented on a Form 134 — Joint Report by Taxpayer/Assessor, signed by both parties and forwarded to the PTABOA. If you reached full agreement, the Form 134 states the stipulated value, the PTABOA processes it, and your appeal is effectively done — no hearing required. The corrected value flows through to the auditor and your future bills, with any overpayment for the year under appeal refunded or credited.
Tip
Read the Form 134 before signing. The stipulated value binds the appeal — if the number on the form isn't the number you agreed to, or it resolves "all issues" when you only agreed on some, don't sign it. A signed full stipulation ends your path to the PTABOA for that assessment year.
If there's no agreement (or only partial agreement), the Form 134 records that too, and the unresolved issues move to the county board.
Stage 4: The PTABOA hearing and the 180-day clock
If the informal stage doesn't fully resolve the appeal, the Property Tax Assessment Board of Appeals must hold a hearing within 180 days of the date you filed the Form 130, with written notice of the hearing date at least 30 days in advance. For a June 15, 2026 filing, the statutory outside date falls in mid-December 2026.
Now the realistic expectations part. Marion County processes one of the largest appeal dockets in Indiana, and a reassessment cycle that added billions in AV generates filing surges. High-volume counties do sometimes blow past the 180-day mark. If that happens, you are not stuck: Indiana law lets a taxpayer whose appeal hasn't been heard within the statutory window bypass the PTABOA and petition the Indiana Board of Tax Review directly. Most owners are better served waiting a reasonable margin past 180 days — the county record is worth having — but the bypass exists precisely so a backlog can't run out the clock on you.
The hearing itself is short — typically well under an hour. Three board members, the township assessor's representative, you, and your evidence. The evidence guide covers exactly what persuades a Marion panel and what gets disregarded.
Stage 5: The written determination
After the hearing, the PTABOA issues its decision on a Form 115 — Notification of Final Assessment Determination, mailed to you and the assessor. It states the board's value for each contested element (land and improvements separately). Three things to do the day it arrives:
- Note the mailing date. Your escalation clock runs from the determination notice, not from when you got around to opening it.
- Compare against your evidence, not just the original AV. A token reduction that ignores your comparables may still be worth escalating.
- Decide within the window — which brings us to the deadline that catches more people than any other.
Stage 6: Escalation — 45 days to the IBTR
If you disagree with the PTABOA's determination, you have 45 days from the date of the determination notice to file a Form 131 petition with the Indiana Board of Tax Review. The IBTR is a state-level body that hears the appeal de novo — fresh, with no deference to the PTABOA's conclusion. Our PTABOA vs. IBTR escalation guide covers the strategy, costs, and success patterns at that level, and the further routes beyond it (Indiana Tax Court).
The 45-day window is jurisdictional. Miss it and the PTABOA's value stands for the year, full stop.
Meanwhile: your tax bill doesn't pause
Filing an appeal does not suspend your obligation to pay. While the appeal is pending, you keep paying installments — but Indiana's appeal-payment rules limit what you owe to an amount based on the prior year's assessment until the appeal resolves, and if you ultimately win, the overpayment comes back with interest. We covered the mechanics in the appeal-payment protection guide; the short version is: never skip an installment because an appeal is pending. Unpaid taxes accrue penalties regardless of the appeal's merits.
Warning
An appeal protects you from an excessive assessment. It does not protect you from delinquency penalties on unpaid bills. These are independent systems — pay on the protected basis, then collect your refund with interest if you win.
What a realistic Marion County calendar looks like
For a Form 130 filed by June 15, 2026:
- Summer–fall 2026: informal meeting with the township assessor; many appeals settle here via Form 134.
- Fall–winter 2026: PTABOA hearing for unsettled appeals (statutorily by mid-December; backlogs can stretch this).
- Winter 2026–spring 2027: written determinations issue; 45-day IBTR windows open and close.
- 2027 and beyond: IBTR proceedings for escalated appeals — measured in months to a year-plus at the state level.
Throughout all of it, keep a single dated file: your stamped Form 130, every notice, the Form 134, your evidence package, and eventually the Form 115. Appeals are won on evidence but lost on missed dates, and every deadline in this process runs from a mailing date in that file.
You can monitor your parcel's assessment status, record card, and value history throughout the process via Property Lookup — useful for confirming that a stipulated or determined value actually posted to the parcel record.