Tax Assessment & Appeal Tribunal

Principal workflows

• File: Property owners or their agents find their parcel, see the assessed value under appeal, and file online within the filing window your rules set, with the grounds and the value they believe is correct.
• Prepare: The clerk checks each filing for completeness, both sides upload evidence into the same file, and the assessor's office records its response and any recommended value.
• Hear: Appeals are scheduled onto hearing dockets by board panel, property type or area. Hearings can be held in person or remotely, and the record of each hearing is kept in the case file.
• Decide: Board members record their findings and vote, the presiding officer signs the decision, and the appellant and assessor are notified with the value set and the reasons, along with information on further appeal rights.

Who uses it

• Clerks and staff of boards of review, boards of equalization and assessment appeal boards
• Board members and hearing officers who hear and decide appeals
• County and municipal assessors' offices that defend assessed values
• Property owners, taxpayers' agents and attorneys who file appeals
• County administrators and auditors who answer for the appeals process

Reporting

• Appeals by status for the current cycle
• Incomplete filings and outstanding requests
• Docket readiness for upcoming hearings
• Decisions and value changes by outcome and property class
• Value changes for tax billing and refunds
• Notice log and audit trail for challenged decisions

Features

• Online filing: A guided public form that checks the parcel, filing window and required fields, and issues a receipt with the appeal number.
• Parcel lookup: Parcel details and current and prior assessed values drawn from your assessment roll, so appellants file against the right property.
• Evidence uploads: Appellants and the assessor's office upload documents, photos and spreadsheets into one case file, with exhibits numbered as they are accepted.
• Filing rules: Filing windows, grounds for appeal, required documents and agent authorization rules configured to your state and local rules.
• Docket management: Hearing dockets built by panel, date, property type or area, with conflict checks for board members who declare an interest.
• Notices: Filing receipts, deficiency letters, hearing notices and decisions sent by email or produced for mail, each recorded in the file.
• Stipulations: Where your rules allow, the assessor and appellant can agree a value, which goes to the board for approval rather than a full hearing.
• Hearing record: Attendance, testimony notes, exhibits presented and links to recordings kept with the case, for remote and in-person hearings.
• Decision drafting: Decisions drafted from the hearing record with findings, the value set and further appeal information, then signed by the presiding officer.
• Appellant status page: Appellants and agents see where each appeal stands, upcoming hearings, documents requested and the decision once issued.
• Agent portfolios: Tax agents and attorneys who file many appeals see and manage all of their authorized appeals in one place.
• Public docket and decisions: Hearing agendas and issued decisions published to a public page, with redaction of personal details your rules require.

Integrations

• Assessment system (CAMA): Parcel details and assessed values from your computer-assisted mass appraisal system, imported for each appeal cycle.
• GIS parcel layer: Parcel maps and locations from your GIS, so staff and board members can see where appealed parcels sit.
• Tax billing and treasurer systems: Revised values passed to the systems that produce tax bills and refunds, by file or API.
• Payment processor: Where your jurisdiction charges a filing fee, payment is taken through your existing processor. Moraph does not hold funds.
• Video conferencing: Remote hearings use the conferencing tool you already have; meeting links are included in notices and recordings linked to the case.
• Records management: Closed case files and decisions transferred to your records management or archive system under your retention schedule.
• Single sign-on: Board, clerk and assessor staff sign in through your identity provider (SAML or OpenID Connect).
• Work API: Appeal, docket and decision data available to your data warehouse and reporting tools through the Moraph Work API.

Deployment

• Moraph cloud: Hosted and operated by Moraph in the United States region, the only region used for government data.
• Dedicated environment: A single-tenant environment for jurisdictions whose policies require isolation, scoped in the proposal.
• With a managed service: Optionally run alongside a Moraph managed service for configuration changes between appeal cycles and support during filing season.

Security and privacy

• Single sign-on: Staff sign in through your identity provider, so your password and multi-factor policies apply.
• Role-based access: What each person can see and do follows their role and conflicts; appellants see only their own appeals.
• Encryption and keys: Client data is encrypted, with keys Moraph staff cannot use without explicit, time-bound authorization.
• Complete audit trail: Every filing, upload, view of a case file, vote, signature and publication is logged with the person and time, and cannot be edited.
• US hosting: Government data is hosted in the United States region only.
• Tested releases: Security testing gates every release, and a software bill of materials is maintained for the product.

Limitations

• The Tribunal does not set assessed values. Decisions are made by your board or hearing officers; the product records and issues them.
• It does not replace your computer-assisted mass appraisal system; it reads parcel and value data from it and returns values set by decisions.
• Filing rules, deadlines and notice wording are configured to your statutes and board rules; your jurisdiction and its counsel are responsible for confirming them.
• Appeals beyond the local board, such as to a state tax tribunal or court, are not managed in the product, though case files can be exported for them.
• It does not produce tax bills or issue refunds. Revised values are passed to the systems that do.
• Filing fees, where charged, are taken by your payment processor. Moraph does not hold funds.
• Remote hearings run on your own video conferencing tool; the product links to hearings and recordings rather than hosting them.
• Appellants who cannot file online still need a paper or in-person route, which clerks enter into the product.

Next steps

Book a demonstration or a technical briefing at www.moraph.com/solutions/tax-assessment-and-appeal-tribunal. Purchasing routes and company information: www.moraph.com/how-to-buy.