1. The assessment is done every 3 years (or 4 years?) and is largely driven by the area you're in not the house itself. As you know, property values have jumped in the past few years and the state is catching up.

2. I believe the assessment is done by the state or at the very least follows pretty stringent state guidelines. I can't imagine gaining anything out of an appeal beyond a 15 minute meeting.

My property evaluation went up $20k and I bought this place in the second half of this year. It seems stupid but I don't think I'll gain anything that I'll lose by trying to track down who comes up with this crap.