As a result, many homeowners see their property tax bills rise gradually each July, still catching up with substantial price increases before 2007, while current values fall. And yet even with a successful appeal, a homeowner likely won't see tax bill savings because of the effect of the assessment cap.
"One of the most difficult concepts to explain to people is that," Sullivan said.
The petition for review process can take months, and a homeowner could pursue up to three stages of appeal. The petitions are handled by state assessors assigned to each jurisdiction. State officials are still working through the appeals that were submitted in 2008 and said they do not have data on what percentage have been successful so far.
Any effect on the tax bill won't kick in until 2010 for a winning appeal filed in 2008.
Though challenges to assessments from previous years shot up, appeals of assessments mailed at the end of 2008 were down markedly, dropping to 38,296 from 49,353 the year before. State officials attribute the fall to the fact that half the 731,000 notices reflected reductions or no change in values. In the last assessment round, the average increase for the same homes over the three-year period was 56.1 percent. This time the average value dropped 3.4 percent.
Some tax advocates believe the assessment system is too complicated, inequitable at times, and ripe for overhaul.
"The system is broken. It needs fixing," said H. Leroy Whiteley, who heads a new group, Marylanders for Fair Property Taxation. "We're not getting fair and equal assessments."
Many of the people who attended the group's first meeting last month have no idea how the system works, Whiteley said.
"[Tax officials] always talk about how there are so few appeals," said Whiteley, of Harford County. "My belief is people don't understand the system and it's overwhelming for them, and that's why they don't appeal."
Dee Hodges, who chairs the Parkville-based Maryland Taxpayers Association, said the system can lag behind the reality of the market.
"My property taxes shouldn't be any higher than they were last year, because [my house's] market value hasn't gone up," she said.
Whiteley and others are backing efforts by some General Assembly members to create a task force to study the assessment system and reform the appeals process. But Harford state Sen. Barry Glassman, a sponsor of that bill, isn't holding out much hope for the measure.
