Marion County's June 15 Deadline: Form 130 Filing Checklist for Indianapolis Owners

Form 11 assessment notices mailed in Marion County on April 28, which means the 45-day clock to file a Form 130 appeal closes June 15, 2026 for almost every Indianapolis parcel. Twenty-seven days from today. If you're going to appeal your 2026 assessment, this is the window — and the difference between an appeal that gets heard on the merits and one that gets dismissed on technicalities almost always comes down to what you put in the envelope before you hit "send."

This is a step-by-step checklist tailored to Marion County's nine-township structure, the County Assessor's filing portal, and the specific evidence the Marion PTABOA has been accepting in 2025 and 2026 hearings.

Warning

The deadline is statutory. A Form 130 received by the Marion County Assessor's office on June 16 is not late "by a day" — it is invalid for the 2026 cycle entirely, and your only remaining route is paying the bill and pursuing a refund claim under IC 6-1.1-26, which is materially harder to win.

Step 1: Confirm you actually need to file a Form 130

Not every dispute requires a formal appeal. Three categories of issue can usually be fixed without filing:

Factual errors on the property record card — wrong square footage, wrong bedroom count, missing or extra outbuilding, wrong year built. These are corrected through the township assessor's office (Center, Lawrence, Pike, Wayne, etc.) by phone or email request, often within 10 business days. The township assessor will revise the record and re-issue your Form 11.
Homestead/over-65/disability deduction missing. File the relevant deduction form with the Marion County Auditor — not an appeal.
Wrong owner name or address. Update with the Marion County Recorder; not a Form 130 matter.

If your dispute is that the assessed value itself is wrong — too high relative to market value, comparable sales, or the cost approach — that's what Form 130 exists for. The rest of this checklist assumes you're in that category.

Step 2: Pull the property record card

Every Marion County parcel has a public Property Record Card (PRC) maintained by the township assessor. Pull yours through the Marion County property lookup or directly via the township assessor's portal. The PRC shows:

Land value vs. improvement value (these are appealed separately on Form 130)
Improvement description: square footage, grade, condition, effective age
Land classification: front footage, depth, neighborhood code
Last assessment cycle's value and any trending factors applied
Permit and sale history attached to the parcel

What to check first: add the per-square-foot improvement value (improvement AV ÷ above-grade square footage) and compare against three to five comparable Marion County homes in your neighborhood code. A 15%+ outlier is a strong starting case.

Step 3: Gather evidence — the three-bucket framework

The Marion PTABOA accepts evidence in three buckets. A persuasive Form 130 has at least one piece of evidence from two of the three buckets, ideally all three.

Sales evidence (comparable sales approach)

Three to six recent arm's-length sales (within 18 months of the January 1, 2026 assessment date) of comparable Marion County properties:

Same neighborhood code if possible; same township at minimum
Similar square footage (±15%), bedroom/bath count, lot size
Similar age, grade, and condition (e.g., a 1925 Center Township bungalow doesn't comp to a 1990 Pike Township ranch)
Source: Property Lookup, Marion County recorded transfers, or MLS records you can obtain through a Realtor

Adjust comps for known differences (e.g., $20K subtracted if your home lacks a finished basement that the comp had). Document the adjustments on a single summary page.

Cost evidence (cost approach)

The PRC already contains a cost approach calculation. You're checking whether the township assessor's:

Replacement cost per square foot is realistic for your construction grade
Depreciation (physical, functional, economic) is correctly applied
Land value is consistent with the neighborhood

Common wins: incorrect grade (C vs. C-1 makes a 10–15% difference), missing functional depreciation (outdated kitchen/bath, deferred maintenance), or incorrect effective age.

Income evidence (income approach — investment properties only)

If your parcel is a rental, commercial, or mixed-use property:

Rent roll (12 months actual)
Operating expense summary
Vacancy and collection-loss assumptions
Comparable cap rates for Marion County (commercial 8–10%, multifamily 6–7%, retail 7–9% in 2026)

Step 4: Complete the Form 130

Form 130 itself is a single-page PDF available from the Marion County Assessor and the DLGF forms page. The fields that get appeals dismissed:

Field	Common mistake	Correct value
Parcel number	Truncated, missing dashes	18-digit Marion parcel number from the Form 11
Assessment year	Left blank	2026 (the assessment date is January 1, 2026)
Owner's opinion of value	Blank, or "lower"	A specific dollar amount with at least one decimal of evidence behind it
Reason for appeal	"Too high"	One of the statutory grounds: assessment in excess of market value-in-use, lack of uniformity, classification error, exemption error
Signature and date	Unsigned, or signed by spouse not on deed	Signed by an owner of record or a properly authorized representative

The "owner's opinion of value" field matters. Don't pick a number out of the air; pick a number you can defend with your bucket-two and bucket-three evidence.

Step 5: File with the right office

Marion County is unusual because of its township structure, but Form 130 is filed with the Marion County Assessor, not the township. Methods accepted:

Online portal — Marion County Assessor's appeal portal (preferred; date-stamped automatically)
Mail — postmarked by June 15; certified mail with return receipt is the only defensible proof of mailing
In person — Marion County City-County Building, Assessor's Office; receive a date-stamped copy

Do not file directly with the township assessor. Even though the township was responsible for setting the value, the statutory filing destination is the county assessor's office, which is where the PTABOA docket lives.

Tip

File at least a week before June 15 if you can. Late-filed appeals that arrive on the deadline get caught in volume processing and any data-entry issue can force a re-file you don't have time for. Anything filed by June 8 leaves room to correct a mistake.

Step 6: Expect the preliminary informal review

Before the PTABOA hearing, the township assessor (the one who set the original value) is required to offer a preliminary informal conference. This usually happens within 30–45 days of your filing — so July or August 2026 for most June filers.

Approach this meeting as a settlement discussion, not a hearing. You can:

Present your evidence in 10–15 minutes
Negotiate a stipulated AV reduction
If you reach agreement, sign a stipulation that closes the appeal without a PTABOA hearing
If you don't reach agreement, the appeal proceeds to the PTABOA

A meaningful share of Marion County appeals — particularly those with a clean comparable-sales binder — resolve at this informal stage.

Step 7: Prepare for the PTABOA hearing if needed

If you don't settle informally, the Marion PTABOA will schedule a hearing — typically 90 to 180 days after filing, so August 2026 through early 2027. The PTABOA panel is three members (citizens + a fiscal member). Hearings are short: 20–45 minutes per appeal.

Bring:

A printed evidence binder with tabbed sections (cover sheet, PRC, comp sales, adjustments, photos, written argument)
Five copies (one per board member, one for the township assessor, one for the assessor's representative, one for you)
A one-page summary written for someone with no real estate expertise

Read our companion piece on what wins and what gets thrown out at a Marion PTABOA hearing for the granular evidence rules.

Step 8: Protect your May 2027 installment payment

Filing a Form 130 by June 15, 2026 has a payment-protection benefit under Indiana law: if the appeal isn't resolved before your May 2027 first installment is due, you only owe based on the prior year's AV until the appeal concludes. Our May 10 appeal-payment protection guide covers the mechanics.

This is why filing matters even if you're not 100% sure you'll prevail — the payment shield alone often justifies the effort.

The most common Marion County appeal mistakes

After tracking 2025-cycle outcomes:

No comparable sales attached. Bare assertion that "the value is too high" without evidence is the #1 reason for dismissal.
Comparables from the wrong township or neighborhood code. A Washington Township comp does not support a Wayne Township appeal.
Filing the wrong form. Form 132 is for exemptions; Form 134 is for personal property; you want Form 130 for real property valuation.
Missing the deadline by relying on the wrong date. The 45-day window runs from the date stamped on your Form 11, not the date you received it. April 28 mailing → June 12 is exactly 45 days; Marion County extends to June 15 to give a small buffer. Treat June 12 as your real internal deadline.
No "opinion of value." Leaving this blank or writing "unknown" is treated as no opinion at all.

What to do this week

Pull your property record card and check the bucket-one numbers (square footage, grade, classification).
Pull three to six comparable sales from your neighborhood code within the past 18 months.
Calculate your opinion of value with at least one decimal of evidence behind it.
Download Form 130 from the DLGF or the Marion County Assessor portal.
File by June 8 — a week ahead of June 15 — through the county portal or certified mail.
Calendar the informal conference for 30–45 days after filing.