Property Tax Abatement

March 2026 | Eric Jennings, Lawrence County Commissioner Opinion Editorial, Black Hills Pioneer

Mistakes happen, laws change, deadlines are missed, people are unaware of the options. Because of these circumstances, the county commission occasionally issues abatements on property taxes.  Property tax abatement is a legal term to indicate a reduction or nullification of tax responsibility.  There are a host of reasons listed in state law why property taxpayers can request their property tax be abated.  For example, if land is purchased by a tax-exempt entity such as a church, school, or municipality, an abatement would eliminate the tax burden to the tax-exempt entity for that property. 

The equalization department strives to accurately and fairly value all private property in the county by visiting the property, comparing it with similar properties in similar neighborhoods that have sold recently, and then able to establish a value.  To establish the most accurate value, they need to be able to enter and inventory the property.  They are not always able to enter properties.  Sometimes access is denied, or they are unable to reach the landowner to gain permission for access.  In those cases, the equalization department makes a best “guess” as to the details and condition of the property.  As you may suspect, having to guess whether a basement is finished or not realizing damage has occurred in the home that has not been mitigated, can lead to an inaccurate valuation, often recorded at a higher value than it should be.  The property owner typically points out these inaccuracies and work with the equalization department to get an accurate valuation of their property.  

Most of the abatement situations are structures being removed, house destroyed because of a fire, going to exempt, and appraiser not gaining entry to the house and not realizing the house or basement was not finished.

Property owners should always look at their assessment notice as soon as it arrives in the mail.  If there was a change in the property condition and the valuation didn’t change accordingly, they should call the equalization office and inquire why.  The notice also lists the deadline to file an appeal.  Appeal may sound confrontational, but it is really just the term and form used to bring attention to an inaccurate valuation.  The equalization department works hard to deliver a fair and accurate valuation and are willing to make a recommendation for a correction if warranted.  However, if the property owner doesn’t notify the equalization department of a possible inaccuracy until the appeal or protest deadline has passed, the inaccurate information will have been already recorded and filed.  In order to change that information an abatement application must be filled out by the property owner and submitted to the Equalization Director.  While the Equalization Director makes a recommendation on the abatement, the County Commission takes action to approve or deny the change.  

The county can also refund prior years’ taxes that were overpaid based on incorrect information.  Often this happens when property owners were unaware that they qualified for a different property classification or property tax reduction program. 

At the end of the day the county wants to be fair and accurate with the property tax valuations.  We acknowledge mistakes are sometimes made by property owners and also by our staff.  Abating property tax is a method we can use to correct those mistakes and oversights.