Property Tax Appeals in Kent County, Maryland
Maryland's Department of Assessments and Taxation (SDAT), not Kent County government, values Kent property and hears the first appeal. SDAT's Kent reassessment-area page says Area 3 was assessed effective January 1, 2024 and is reassessed again January 1, 2027. SDAT's homeowner guide says owners are notified of any change in their assessment in late December, and an owner has 45 days from the date on that notice to appeal to the Supervisor of Assessments in Chestertown. Before the scheduled review, SDAT supplies the property worksheet and an Area Sales Listing at no cost. FairPath can organize those official materials, sales the owner selects, and documented condition into an owner-guided packet that the owner reviews, approves, and files. The owner confirms the notice date, states the disputed market value, and submits the appeal.
Assessment context: Kent is split into three reassessment areas, so only the Area 3 accounts receive a reassessment notice for January 1, 2027. When Area 3 was last reassessed, SDAT reported that Kent's Group 3 residential full cash value rose 24.7% from the January 1, 2021 base, and that 2,579 of 2,605 residential improved properties, 99.00%, increased in value (Tables R-1 and R-2, December 2023). An increase is phased in over three years; a decrease takes effect in full. Chestertown's historic district, Rock Hall and Betterton on the Bay, Chester River and Sassafras River frontage, Galena and Millington, and inland farmland are different markets. Shoreline, septic capacity, flood exposure, age, and condition can each move value. An appeal addresses total market value, not the tax rate or the bill.
Filing process: File within 45 days of the notice date: online with the notice's control number, or by returning the paper form that came with the notice to the SDAT office at 114-A Lynchburg Street, Chestertown. SDAT says the Supervisor's-level review can be held by telephone, video, in person, or in writing, and that an owner may postpone the hearing once. SDAT aims to finish reassessment appeals by June 1. A final notice follows, and an appeal to the Kent County Property Tax Assessment Appeal Board is due within 30 days of that notice. The Maryland Tax Court is next, within 30 days of the board's decision, with no filing fee. In the two years an account is not reassessed, a petition for review is due by the first working day after January 1, and a buyer whose deed transferred between January 1 and June 30 may appeal within 60 days.
Evidence to review: The SDAT worksheet lists the land rates, building size, quality, condition, depreciation, and the Neighborhood Adjustment behind the value, so factual errors there are the first thing to check. The Area Sales Listing is SDAT's starting set of sales; owners may add sales from SDAT's Real Property Search or other sources, and worksheets for comparable properties are available for a nominal fee. Kent sales differ sharply between waterfront and inland lots, in-town and rural parcels, and restored and dated homes, so comparables are most useful when they match on location, water access, lot size, age, and condition. Deferred maintenance belongs in the record as dated photographs, inspection reports, or contractor estimates, with the owner's approval. Each exhibit is labeled with its source and tied to the owner's stated market value.
Current deadline guidance: 45 days from the assessment notice date. A Kent County owner files the first-level appeal with the Maryland SDAT Kent County assessment office in Chestertown within 45 days of the date printed on the assessment notice. Petition-for-review and new-owner routes have separate eligibility and deadlines.
Kent appeals go to the Maryland SDAT assessment office at 114-A Lynchburg Street in Chestertown, not to county offices.
Only Kent's Area 3 accounts are reassessed for January 1, 2027; the other two areas follow their own years.
SDAT lists Kent's homestead assessment cap for July 1, 2026 at 5%; counties may adjust it by March 15.
Bay and river frontage in Rock Hall, Betterton, and along the Chester and Sassafras makes location-matched sales important.
Official filing authority: Maryland SDAT Kent County Assessment Office. https://assessmentappeals.dat.maryland.gov/start.aspx
Source: Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation, Homeowner's Guide to Property Tax, https://dat.maryland.gov/realproperty/pages/homeowners-guide.aspx. Reviewed 2026-11-04.
Source: Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation, Assessment Appeal Process, https://dat.maryland.gov/realproperty/Pages/Assessment-Appeal-Process.aspx. Reviewed 2026-11-04.
Source: Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation, Kent County Reassessment Areas, https://dat.maryland.gov/realproperty/Pages/Kent-County-Reassessment-Areas.aspx. Reviewed 2026-11-04.
Source: Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation, Maryland Assessment Offices, https://dat.maryland.gov/realproperty/Pages/Maryland-Assessment-Offices.aspx. Reviewed 2026-11-04.
Source: Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation, January 1, 2024 Reassessment Press Release and Report (Tables R-1 and R-2), https://dat.maryland.gov/Documents/Accessible%20Documents/Real%20Property%20Reports/Reassessment%20Reports/January%201%2c%202024%20Press%20Release%20and%20Report_0326-A.pdf. Reviewed 2026-11-04.
Source: Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation, January 1, 2026 Reassessment Press Release and Report (July 1, 2026 county assessment caps), https://dat.maryland.gov/Documents/Accessible%20Documents/Real%20Property%20Reports/Reassessment%20Reports/January%201%2c%202026%20Press%20Release%20and%20Report_0326-A.pdf. Reviewed 2026-11-04.
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