What Wins (and What Gets Thrown Out) at a Marion County PTABOA Hearing

The Marion County Property Tax Assessment Board of Appeals (PTABOA) hears thousands of appeals each cycle. Hearings are short — 20 to 45 minutes — and the board has heard every argument before. Appeals that win share specific structural features; appeals that lose tend to share the same handful of mistakes.

This is a practitioner-style guide to what the Marion PTABOA actually accepts as evidence, what it rejects, and how to present a case in a way the board can decide in your favor on the record in front of them.

The board's standard of review

Indiana law sets the assessment standard as market value-in-use as of the January 1 assessment date — the price a parcel would sell for in arm's-length conditions between informed parties. The PTABOA's job at hearing is to decide whether the township assessor's stated AV reflects market value-in-use, given the evidence in front of them.

Critically: the board does not start from a presumption that the assessor is right. Under IC 6-1.1-15-1, the assessor bears the initial burden of producing evidence supporting the assessed value when the AV increased more than 5% year over year. For many Marion County parcels in 2026, that means the township assessor must produce evidence first, and you're rebutting.

Knowing whether you're in burden-shifting territory (AV up more than 5%) changes how to prepare. If you are, expect the assessor's representative to present a brief case; you respond. If you aren't (AV grew less than 5%), you go first.

Note

Burden shifting matters. For 2026, Marion County had widespread AV growth above 5% — meaning many appellants this cycle are in a favorable burden-shifting posture. The township assessor must put on a case first; you rebut. Use that to your advantage.

What the board accepts

Three categories of evidence consistently move the board:

1. Comparable sales (sales comparison approach)

By far the most powerful evidence at a Marion PTABOA hearing. Requirements:

Recent — within 18 months of the January 1, 2026 assessment date (i.e., July 2024 onward)
Arm's-length — not a foreclosure, family transfer, or distressed sale
Comparable — same neighborhood code if possible, same township at minimum
Documented — pull the recorded transfer from the Marion County Recorder; print the property record card for each comp
Adjusted — show your math for adjustments (e.g., −$15K for missing finished basement, +$8K for added garage)
Presented as a summary grid — one page, your property in one column, comps in adjacent columns, adjustments below

Three comps is the minimum; five to six is the practical sweet spot. More than eight makes the board's eyes glaze over.

2. Property record card error

If the township assessor's PRC contains a factual error that drives the AV upward, that's a winning case:

Wrong square footage (e.g., PRC says 2,400 sq ft, your house is 2,000 — bring an appraisal sketch or measured floor plan)
Wrong year built
Wrong grade (C-1 vs. C-2 represents a ~10% AV difference)
Wrong basement finish percentage
Missing or extra outbuilding
Wrong land classification or front footage

For these, bring the corrected PRC info plus the evidence (photos, measurements, sketches). Document everything.

3. Income approach (commercial / rental only)

For rental, commercial, or mixed-use:

12 months of actual rent roll
Operating statement with expense detail
Vacancy assumption supported by neighborhood data
Cap rate supported by comparable Marion sales (8–10% commercial, 6–7% multifamily for 2026)
Direct capitalization summary: NOI ÷ cap rate = value

A clean income-approach binder for an apartment building or mid-tier office almost always moves the board, because the township assessor's mass-appraisal approach (cost or trend method) can't easily counter a specific-property income analysis.

What the board rejects

The following are heard at virtually every hearing and almost always rejected:

"Zillow says my house is worth less"

Zillow, Redfin, Realtor.com, and similar AVMs are not comparable sales evidence. The board has a stock response: an AVM is an algorithm, not an appraisal. If you reference an AVM, do it only as background; do not put it forward as your primary evidence.

"My neighbor's house is assessed for less"

The board has no authority to grant uniformity-based relief in this format. Indiana switched from a uniformity standard to a market-value-in-use standard in 2003. Lower neighbor AVs are circumstantial — they may suggest your AV is too high, but the board needs sales evidence of those neighbor properties, not just their AVs.

"I just paid X and I want it assessed at X"

A recent purchase price can be evidence, but only if the sale was arm's-length and the assessment date hasn't drifted from the sale date. If you bought in March 2025 for $300K and the AV is $340K, the sale is strong evidence. If you bought in 2018 for $200K, the sale is irrelevant — five years is too long.

"My income / property tax bill / hardship"

The PTABOA is not a hardship board. It cannot consider your income, your ability to pay, or your subjective sense that the tax is too high. Its mandate is solely whether the AV reflects market value-in-use.

Appraisal report from a non-Indiana-certified appraiser

An appraisal report can be very strong evidence, but only if the appraiser is Indiana-certified and the report is dated within 12–18 months of the assessment date. A bank-ordered refinance appraisal from three years ago is essentially useless.

"The property has problems but I don't have evidence"

Verbal descriptions of foundation issues, water damage, deferred maintenance, etc. without photos, inspection reports, or contractor estimates rarely move the board. If your case rests on physical condition, bring documentary evidence: dated photos, inspection report, repair bid, code violation notice.

The mechanics of a Marion PTABOA hearing

Format:

Roll call and case identification. Hearing officer announces the parcel.
Burden producer presents first. If AV grew more than 5%, the township assessor or their representative presents. Otherwise, you (the appellant) present.
Other side responds. Rebuttal evidence and argument.
Board questions. Members ask clarifying questions of either party.
Brief closing if requested. Often skipped.
Decision either at hearing or by written notice within 30 days.

The hearing officer is one of three PTABOA members, plus a chairperson. They take notes; they decide on the record.

Time allocation: roughly half assessor, half appellant on a burden-shifted case; more weight to the appellant otherwise. Sticking to the time helps your credibility.

How to present in 15 minutes

Successful presentations follow a tight structure:

30 seconds: Introduction. Your name, the parcel address, your opinion of value.
2 minutes: The property. A few sentences describing the property and any condition issues.
5 minutes: Comparable sales. Walk through your summary grid. Highlight 2–3 specific adjustments.
3 minutes: PRC errors (if any). What's wrong on the record card, and what the correction is.
2 minutes: Income approach (if applicable). NOI ÷ cap rate, sourced.
2 minutes: Summary. Your conclusion of value, why the evidence supports it, and a specific dollar request.

The single most important sentence in your presentation is the last one: "Based on the evidence presented, I respectfully request the board reduce the assessed value from $X to $Y." State the specific dollar amount you want. Appellants who don't state a specific dollar request often get a partial reduction that wasn't what they wanted.

What to bring to the hearing

5 printed copies of your evidence binder: one for each of three board members, one for the township assessor's representative, one for yourself
Tabbed sections: cover sheet, PRC, comp grid, comp record cards, adjustments worksheet, photos, written summary
A one-page summary at the front — many board members read only the summary in advance
Photo ID
Pen and notepad

What not to bring: emotional appeals, references to neighbors who got bigger reductions, allegations of assessor misconduct, references to your tax bill amount.

Common reasons Marion PTABOA appeals get dismissed or rejected

Tracking 2025-cycle Marion outcomes:

No evidence beyond the appellant's opinion. A taxpayer who shows up and asserts "the value is wrong" without comp sales, PRC errors, or income data essentially asks the board to reverse the assessor on credibility alone. Almost never works.
Comps from the wrong township. Cross-township comps without strong adjustments are dismissed quickly.
Stale comps. Sales from before mid-2024 generally fail the recency test.
AVM screenshots without context. Zillow Zestimate prints are not evidence.
Confusion about the assessment year. Don't argue your 2024 valuation — the appeal is the 2026 valuation (Jan 1, 2026 assessment date).

What to do this week

Confirm your hearing date if your appeal has progressed. Marion PTABOA sends hearing notices 30–60 days in advance.
Build your evidence binder following the structure above.
Practice the 15-minute presentation out loud at least twice.
Pre-file digital copies with the assessor's office if their portal accepts them — speeds up the hearing.
Arrive early. Hearings often run ahead of schedule.