Final Notices are required to be sent whenever an appeal is made as a result of a Notice, or a request for a change in an existing assessment is denied. This Final Notice shall be forwarded to the property owner on the form furnished by the Department, but may be done in the form of a letter so long as the letter includes the instructions to appeal to the next higher authority as well as the correct mailing address of same.

If an untimely appeal (after the allowable forty-five (45) days) is received, a Final Notice in the form of the sample letter (see below) must be sent advising the property owner of their appeal right, period of appeal, and that discussion will be limited to the issue of untimeliness. The property records should be reviewed for any errors in calculation, rate selection, etc.

SAMPLE LETTER

This is to advise you that your recent appeal was not made within 45 days of the date of the notice of assessment, as is required by Tax-Property Article, Section 14-502. Accordingly, your appeal has been denied as untimely.

Even though your appeal was untimely, your property record has been reviewed and no error(s) in calculation have been discovered in the valuation.

Please note that you have the right to appeal the finding that your appeal was untimely. The Property Tax Assessment Appeals Board address for your jurisdiction is as follows:

Insert Address: ______________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

You must make this appeal within 30 days from the date of this letter. If you make an appeal, the Appeals Board's review of this finding will be limited to the issue of timeliness, rather than the merits of your valuation.*

*64 Op. Atty. Gen. 9