Property tax appeals in the Old Line State — from the D.C. corridor through Baltimore metro and Annapolis to the Western Maryland and Eastern Shore communities, all running through the same state-administered SDAT framework.
Maryland is the SDAT state — uniquely among the states in this guide series, property assessments are performed by the State Department of Assessments and Taxation (SDAT), a state agency, rather than by county or municipal assessors. SDAT employs 24 county-level Supervisors of Assessments who report up the state chain. Reassessments run on a 3-year cyclic system dividing each county into three geographic Areas (Group 1, 2, 3) — only one Area per county is reassessed each year. The 2026 cycle reassessed Group 2 properties statewide (789,178 accounts; 13.2% average residential increase), with notices mailed December 30, 2025. The procedural escalation runs Supervisor's Level (informal hearing) within 45 days of the Notice of Assessment under Md. Code Tax-Property §14-502 → Property Tax Assessment Appeal Board (PTAAB) within 30 days of the supervisor's final notice under §14-509 → Maryland Tax Court within 30 days of the PTAAB order under §14-512 with optional further review at the Circuit Court. All three administrative tiers are free — no filing fee at supervisor's level, PTAAB, or Tax Court. The Maryland Tax Court hears appeals de novo under Tax-General §13-523 and issues residential valuation decisions within ~1 month. The hidden lever: the three-part architecture of Group/Area cyclic timing + locally-set Homestead Tax Credit caps (FY 2026 spread 0% Talbot to 10% Montgomery, a 12-fold range under §9-105) + Maryland Tax Court de novo with no filing fee — the combination determines whether a value appeal actually moves the bill, and most homeowners stop at PTAAB without using the third-tier de novo review.
For the full procedural framework, the Group/Area + Homestead Cap interplay analysis, evidence rules, comparable-sales discipline at SDAT and PTAAB, the Maryland Tax Court de novo procedural framework, and 10 county-specific quick-reference accordions covering Montgomery, Prince George's, Baltimore County, Anne Arundel, Howard, Baltimore City, Frederick, Harford, Carroll, and Charles, see:
→ Maryland Property Tax Appeals — The Complete Guide
The complete guide covers all 12 sections of our state-cornerstone schema: quick facts, how MD assessments work (SDAT 3-year cyclic Group/Area system + phased-in value mechanic + Homestead Cap), when appeals make sense, the multi-tier appeal process, evidence rules, what wins at supervisor's level / PTAAB / Tax Court, exemptions (Homestead Tax Credit + Homeowners' Property Tax Credit + Disabled Veterans full exemption + Surviving Spouse + Blind Person Exemption), county-by-county quick references, recent context on the 2026 Group 2 reassessment cycle showing cooling growth, FAQ, service-company landscape, and primary sources.
The Property Tax Desk publishes editorial guidance grounded in primary state and county sources. Our coverage of Maryland:
See /methodology/ for our editorial review process and /editorial-policy/ for our YMYL standards.
The Property Tax Desk Editorial Team