Tax Assessor asking for rental income to assess taxes on commercial property - is that allowed?
I am fighting my current tax assessment because I think the new value being assessed is unfair. 

I have a corner grocery store in a small town. Tax folks sent me a new assessment in which they want to charge me on my pothole ridden parking lot and signage that doesn't work. They claim that they did not interpret the laws appropriately for the past years and now are incorporating that into the assessment.

Apparently the reasons of too many potholes and signage both of which are more than 20 years old is not enough to assess the value at zero. Plus, sending pictures of damaged roof is also not enough to lower it. Now they are asking me for an income statement of the business or a rental statement.

Any suggestions?
[{"id": "cjqe0is", "text": "That's pretty customary. It's both a sword and a shield. On one hand, they use it to take a look in terms of money off of similar other properties. On the other, you can use it to show how little money you're making/making off of it to justify keeping the assessment lower so they don't shut you out.\n\nYou really need to get in touch with an attorney who specializes in this sort of work. Tax appeals are a super-technical area of the law that's almost entirely subjective-experience-based. There's lots of arguments you can make (and generally a lot of fight that you can give), but it can be very tricky to make without the specific know-how in fighting that particular battle. ", "replies": [{"id": "cjqejez", "text": "Extremely well said. OP - do what this guy says. I am a broker in Florida and deal with this occasionally. Both a sword and a shield.\n\nIn our town, there is one particular attorney who is the go to guy for this stuff - he has good relations with the tax assessor and really knows what goes on locally. Try to find the same in your town.", "replies": [{"id": "cjqh6lt", "text": "Thanks!", "replies": [{"id": "cjr5ugf", "text": "100% go with someone experienced in this sort of thing.  My mother went with the guy in the yellow pages and he convinced her to go with an unrealistic valuation.  (The guy wanted to just accept what was equivalent to a ~3.75% cap rate on retail in a small town... hundred year old building.... I mean ffs... she ended up talking him up to a 4.25%, but that is still way too high a value imho, but the tax difference wasn't worth the trouble to her as she was dealing with the death of my father and a lot of other legal stuff at the time.).", "replies": [], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}, {"id": "cjqh5rz", "text": "Thanks for that! Talking to them directly appeared to have much more appeal (ymmv). I would recommend pursuing that option as well. Well said to you OP :).", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "cjqg048", "text": "I'm a deputy assessor. In my jurisdiction, real estate is assessed at full market value. Commercial property, such as a corner grocery store like you mention, is typically valued on an Income approach as this reflects how typical buyers/sellers of similar property base value. \n\nThey're asking for your income and expense statements so that they can compare the NOI that their valuation model is estimating for your property with your actual NOI based on the I&amp;E statements.\n\nThe only reason you wouldn't want to provide this information is if it undermines your case by showing that your actual income is higher than what the assessor's model is estimating. \n\nIn my jurisdiction, the assessor is given the presumption of correctness and it is up to the appellant to overcome that burden with convincing evidence. If you are arguing that the assessor's income model is overstating the value of your property but you fail to provide your actual income &amp; expense statements to support your argument, it doesn't look very good. The question being: what are you hiding?", "replies": [{"id": "cjqh395", "text": "Thanks for your input! The income estimate contains too many factors for them to assume their income model being appropriate. Every business runs differently. It's not hiding, it is about my competitors having too much inway at too many places (including my attorney) with it being a small town. I am being extremely cautious and recommend the same for others too. Thanks again though! An important tax assessment point to be mindful of in the future.", "replies": [{"id": "cjqhpnx", "text": "So do you own the real estate or do you own the business that operates out of the real estate? Or both?\n\nTo be clear, they're not interested in the income &amp; expenses of the business that occupies the real estate. They're interested in the income &amp; expenses of the real estate itself. In other words, how much in rental payments does the property generate and how much does it cost to own the property (ie property taxes, maintenance, insurance, etc). I'm not sure how any of that information would be useful to a competitor. ", "replies": [{"id": "cjup0qb", "text": "Exactly - OP, nobody is asking about how your business runs.  Just the hypothetical rental income to the landlord (which happens to be you).", "replies": [], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}]