Nebraska · Do-it-yourself · $29

Appeal your Nebraska property taxes yourself.

Nebraska is about to make documentation MANDATORY. From January 1, 2027 a protest filed without evidence sufficient to justify your number shall be dismissed, and the state will print that warning on every valuation notice. This kit builds the file that survives it, plus the February 1 deadline in the metros that nobody uses and almost nobody knows exists.

Straight talk: we don’t have per-home comparable-sales data for Nebraska — Nebraska parcel records are published by 93 separate county assessors rather than as one statewide roll, and the Tax Equalization and Review Commission will not accept web-page printouts as comparable evidence in any event. So this is a guide and templates, not a comp report, and you pull your own comps— the kit shows you exactly how. That’s the honest reason it’s $29 instead of the $49 done-for-you kit we sell in states we cover.
The Nebraska DIY Appeal Kit
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How a Nebraska appeal works

The short version, free. The kit is the long version with the forms, the filing steps, and the letter.

  1. Nebraska assesses homes at 100% of actual value, so the number on your notice IS the county's opinion of what your home would sell for on January 1. There is no ratio to divide by.
  2. You protest on Form 422, filed with the COUNTY CLERK, not the assessor, on or before June 30. One form per parcel, and leaving the requested valuation blank gets it dismissed by statute.
  3. There is no late protest in Nebraska. If you did not protest by June 30 you cannot appeal at all, because the county board's action is the only thing TERC has jurisdiction to review.
  4. If you did protest, the appeal to the Tax Equalization and Review Commission is due August 24, or September 10 in Douglas and Lancaster, and that date does not move even if the clerk mails your decision late.

What to check on your assessment notice

  • Ask yourself one question: would this house have sold for the current-year valuation on January 1? Nebraska assesses at 100% of actual value, so that comparison is direct.
  • Then ask the second, separate question: are comparable homes in your area carried at a LOWER percentage of their market value than yours? That is the equalization ground, it is constitutional, and it survives a rising market when the overvaluation argument does not.
  • Find the KNOW YOUR RIGHTS block, which 77-1315(2) requires to be printed in a font larger than anything else on the notice, along with the board convening date and the protest dates.
  • If you are in Douglas, Lancaster or Sarpy, calendar FEBRUARY 1. That is the deadline to tell the assessor you want the free in-person meeting, and missing it waives the right. Look your January 15 preliminary value up on the county website rather than waiting for a letter, because publishing online satisfies the notice statute.

Official lookup: Nebraska TERC: the appeal process, including this year's August 24 and September 10 deadlines→

What’s inside

✓The mandatory-documentation rule arriving January 1, 2027, what the statute actually requires, and how to build a file that satisfies it before the notices go out.
✓The February 1 intent-to-meet deadline that unlocks a free in-person meeting with the assessor in January, months before anyone else starts, and that is waived if you miss it.
✓Why the September 10 TERC date is NOT a Douglas and Lancaster rule, why Sarpy is on August 24 this year, and why it has to be re-checked annually.
✓The equalization ground most homeowners never plead, worked through with the state's own two-parcel example.
✓Why the 92 to 100 percent figure is a county-level statistical band and not a per-parcel safe harbour, and how to turn it into an argument rather than an obstacle.
✓The TERC evidence rule that rejects web-page printouts, and exactly which county document you must copy for every comparable.
✓The three blanks on Form 422 that trigger mandatory dismissal, and the tiered filing fee that is jurisdictional with no waiver.
✓A ready-to-edit protest citing the right Nebraska statutes.

How it works

  1. Buy the kit — the PDF lands in your inbox instantly.
  2. The June 30 protest window has closed for 2026. If you DID protest in June, your live deadline is the TERC appeal: August 24, 2026 in most counties, or September 10, 2026 in Douglas and Lancaster. If you did not protest, Nebraska has no late route and the work now is preparing for 2027.
  3. Gather the evidence on the checklist and edit the appeal-letter template.
  4. File Form 422 with your COUNTY CLERK, not the assessor. (The homestead exemption application is the reverse: it goes to the assessor, and both are due June 30) before your deadline.

Different process where you live?

Nebraska is not one system. These jurisdictions use a different agency, a different form, and an earlier deadline than the rest of the state. The kit covers each one in its own section.

Douglas County (Omaha) and Lancaster County (Lincoln)
The two counties that adopted an extension resolution for 2026. Both are over 100,000 population, so both also carry the January preliminary notice and the in-person meeting rights.
Deadline
Protest by June 30. Board hearings run to AUGUST 10 rather than July 25, the clerk's notice is due August 18, and the TERC appeal is due SEPTEMBER 10, 2026.
Filed with
The County Board of Equalization, with protests filed with the County Clerk. Douglas County runs its own Board of Equalization site and its own form.
Form
NEITHER county uses the state Form 422. Both publish their own substitute form, which 77-1502(2) expressly permits. Douglas issues a 2026 Real Property Valuation Protest Form plus two optional supplemental forms; Lancaster's is branded Form 422 but takes a single county valuation with no land and building split.
Sarpy County
Sarpy is the third Nebraska county over 100,000, which makes it ELIGIBLE for the extension and entitled to the same January meeting rights.
Deadline
Protest by June 30. For 2026 Sarpy did NOT adopt an extension resolution, so its board deadline was July 25 and its TERC appeal is due AUGUST 24, 2026, seventeen days earlier than Douglas and Lancaster.
Filed with
The Sarpy County Board of Equalization, with protests filed with the County Clerk.
Form
The state Form 422. Unlike Douglas and Lancaster, Sarpy does not use a custom form, and it publishes the form and the online filing link ONLY during the June window.
All other counties
The 90 Nebraska counties under 100,000 population. On the 2020 census only DOUGLAS, LANCASTER and SARPY clear the threshold, and the next largest, Hall County, is under 63,000. LB 834 lowered the cut-off from 150,000 to 100,000 effective July 18, 2026, but the same three counties qualify either way, so nothing changed on the ground. The statute keys on the most recent federal decennial census, which fixes this list until 2030.
Deadline
Protest by June 30, board decision by July 25, clerk's notice by August 2, TERC appeal by AUGUST 24. No extension resolution is available below 100,000 population.
Filed with
The County Board of Equalization, with protests filed with the County Clerk.
Form
Form 422, or Form 422A where the county wants the total value only.
Deadline: Under 77-1502(1) protests are filed after the county assessor completes the assessment roll required by 77-1315 and ON OR BEFORE JUNE 30. Note that the opening bound is roll completion (March 19, or March 25 in counties of 100,000 or more), not June 1: June 1 is when the board of equalization convenes, and a protest may be filed once the roll is complete. The board then hears and decides by July 25, or August 10 in a county that adopted an extension resolution, and the clerk must mail notice by August 2, or August 18 if extended, and within seven days of the decision. The TERC appeal is due AUGUST 24, or SEPTEMBER 10 where the county extended (77-1510). Two precise points that are widely reported wrong. First, the September 10 date is not a Douglas and Lancaster carve-out. Section 77-1502(1) lets the board in any county of more than one hundred thousand adopt a resolution before July 25 extending the hearing deadline, and it affects that year only, so eligibility covers Douglas, Lancaster AND Sarpy and it is re-decided annually. For 2026 only Douglas and Lancaster actually extended; Sarpy is on August 24. Never hardcode it. Second, the TERC deadline is a fixed calendar date, not thirty days from your decision letter. The thirty-day rule in 77-5013(2) is the residual default that applies only if no date is otherwise provided by law, and for an ordinary June protest a date is provided. Form 422 states the consequence in terms: the time allowed to the county clerk to issue notice does not extend the time to file an appeal. If the clerk mails late, August 24 does not move. Timeliness at TERC is by USPS postmark; a private carrier is judged on the date of RECEIPT, so a FedEx shipment on August 23 can be late. Where a deadline falls on a weekend or holiday, Neb. Rev. Stat. 49-1203 expressly covers a tax valuation protest, petition or appeal and rolls it to the next business day.

What Nebraska charges to file

These are your county or state’s fees, not ours. Listed so there are no surprises.

  • County Board of Equalization protest: FREE. No fee appears in 77-1502, on Form 422, or in Department of Revenue guidance.
  • Tax Equalization and Review Commission: tiered by the taxable value of the parcel under 77-5013(3). Under $250,000 is $40; $250,000 to under $500,000 is $50; $500,000 to under $1,000,000 is $60; $1,000,000 and above is $85. Any other appeal or petition is $40.
  • The TERC fee is PER PARCEL and it is JURISDICTIONAL: the Commission obtains jurisdiction only when the filing fee is timely received. A dishonoured cheque cannot be cured after the deadline, and fees are never refunded.
  • THERE IS NO HARDSHIP WAIVER at TERC. No in forma pauperis provision exists in the statute, in Title 442 of the Administrative Code, or in the Commission's own guidance. The only exemption is governmental.
  • The TERC single-commissioner hearing carries no additional fee.
  • Nebraska Court of Appeals: the appropriate docket fees, and the petitioner pays for preparing the record. No bond is required.
  • Your real cost is evidentiary. If you may go to TERC, budget for copies of the assessor's property record file for every comparable you intend to use, because web-page printouts will not be accepted there.

Questions

Why is this $29 and not $49?
The $49 kit includes a comparable-sales analysis pulled from county records. We don't have that data for Nebraska yet, so this kit is the guide, the deadline rules, the exact form, an evidence checklist, and an appeal-letter template — you gather the comps yourself, and we show you how. Honest work, honest price.
When is the Nebraska property tax appeal deadline?
Under 77-1502(1) protests are filed after the county assessor completes the assessment roll required by 77-1315 and ON OR BEFORE JUNE 30. Note that the opening bound is roll completion (March 19, or March 25 in counties of 100,000 or more), not June 1: June 1 is when the board of equalization convenes, and a protest may be filed once the roll is complete. The board then hears and decides by July 25, or August 10 in a county that adopted an extension resolution, and the clerk must mail notice by August 2, or August 18 if extended, and within seven days of the decision. The TERC appeal is due AUGUST 24, or SEPTEMBER 10 where the county extended (77-1510). Two precise points that are widely reported wrong. First, the September 10 date is not a Douglas and Lancaster carve-out. Section 77-1502(1) lets the board in any county of more than one hundred thousand adopt a resolution before July 25 extending the hearing deadline, and it affects that year only, so eligibility covers Douglas, Lancaster AND Sarpy and it is re-decided annually. For 2026 only Douglas and Lancaster actually extended; Sarpy is on August 24. Never hardcode it. Second, the TERC deadline is a fixed calendar date, not thirty days from your decision letter. The thirty-day rule in 77-5013(2) is the residual default that applies only if no date is otherwise provided by law, and for an ordinary June protest a date is provided. Form 422 states the consequence in terms: the time allowed to the county clerk to issue notice does not extend the time to file an appeal. If the clerk mails late, August 24 does not move. Timeliness at TERC is by USPS postmark; a private carrier is judged on the date of RECEIPT, so a FedEx shipment on August 23 can be late. Where a deadline falls on a weekend or holiday, Neb. Rev. Stat. 49-1203 expressly covers a tax valuation protest, petition or appeal and rolls it to the next business day.
What form do I file to appeal my Nebraska property assessment?
Form 422 (Property Valuation Protest and Report of County Board of Equalization Action), filed with your COUNTY CLERK, not the assessor. (The homestead exemption application is the reverse: it goes to the assessor, and both are due June 30). The kit walks you through completing it line by line and includes a ready-to-edit appeal letter to attach.
Do you file the appeal for me?
No — this is a do-it-yourself kit. You file Form 422 yourself with your COUNTY CLERK, not the assessor. (The homestead exemption application is the reverse: it goes to the assessor, and both are due June 30). The kit makes that straightforward with step-by-step instructions and a ready-to-edit letter.
What if it doesn't help?
30-day money-back guarantee, no questions asked. If the kit isn't useful, reply to your delivery email and we'll refund you.
Is this legal or tax advice?
No. It's general information to help you file your own appeal. Always rely on the date and instructions printed on your own assessment notice and confirm current requirements with your county.
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