1. File "Request for Reconsideration" with MPAC by 31 December 2006. (Note the irony of this date in view of the next deadline.) Do not wait for MPAC to reply, but –

2. File "Complaint" with the ARB by 31 March 2006. Pay the $75 filing fee – will be returned if settlement with MPAC reached before an ARB hearing.

3. Get the MPAC "Property Report" of your property from the MPAC website or by asking for it by telephone or mail. Demand the list of six comparable properties used by MPAC to determine your assessment. (There was no such list, but you will force MPAC to start working to create one to substantiate their opinion.)

4. Watch the real estate market – MPAC does. Track what houses near you are listing and selling for. Get close to your neighbours; divide the preparation workload, exchange information and experience. Find your own "comparables" and get property reports from MPAC. (Six property reports are free, as are six assessment value lookups.)

5. You must state your reasons for objecting to MPAC’s assessment in the Request for Reconsideration. Be objective, state all valid reasons, but details are not required at this stage.

6. Only three workable reasons for objecting: 1.) MPAC factual error (e.g., no. of bedrooms;) 2.) condition of your property (get repair estimates or inspection report as evidence;) and 3.) comparable properties with lower assessments or listing/selling prices near yours.

7. Assume that MPAC will not agree with you. File a complaint with the ARB. Then formally ask the ARB to assign your complaint to the "Prehearing" stream. This is a right and has a number of advantages: forces both MPAC and you to clarify the issues, forces both sides to disclose the evidence they have and intend to use, explores the possibility of settlement, takes place in a less formal legal setting, and still affords the chance of recovery in a subsequent full hearing. Starting in the normal hearing stream is a tactical error: MPAC has the lawyers, experience and expertise to do well at formal ARB hearings.

8. MPAC and you now can consider the possibilities of success having seen each other’s "cards." The better "hand" will win. If MPAC sees that you have a good case, they will offer to reduce your assessment by an amount to be negotiated. They won’t waste effort, time and money on a losing proposition.

9 If you must continue to a formal ARB hearing, study the ARB Rules and Procedures (website) and line up your evidence. Prepare a written submission rather than rely on the ARB chair’s attention span, note taking, or memory.

An encouraging afterthought - The only way to reduce your property taxes is to reduce MPAC’s assessment of your property.