08/04/2026
When AI Helped a Friend Fight Back Against a Tax Hike
Practical AI #1 β Using AI to research and build a property tax abatement case
Welcome to the first in our series of practical AI tips, where I'll share some of our latest wins β showing how we saved time and/or money.
Did your property tax bill increase recently?
We used the free Google Gemini AI to analyze property values of comparable homes in the area, and we were shocked by what we foundβ¦
Recently, a friend of ours β I'll call him Gary β got hit with a property tax bill that had more than doubled overnight. His small 1845 New Englander went from a $90,410 assessment to $202,040 (crikey!) after the town did a full revaluation. For someone living on a fixed income, that's not just frustrating β it's genuinely scary.
We used Google's free Gemini AI to research and build his case for a property tax abatement, and the results were eye-opening.
Here's how it worked. Quick note: AI can't file anything for you or replace legal advice β but it's an incredible research assistant.
We fed it Gary's tax bill and property details, and it went to work comparing his assessment against recent sales of similar homes nearby. Within minutes, it flagged something the town had gotten wrong β Gary's assessment was based on roughly 1,096 sq ft of "finished living space," but the actual heated, livable area was only about 588 sq ft.
The rest? An unfinished 1845-era attic and a dirt-floor basement that never should have counted as finished square footage.
We pulled comparable home sales in his town, built a clear side-by-side comparison, and drafted a professional appeal letter laying out the case β data error, disproportionate assessment, and hardship, all in one document. AI even worked out the field-by-field numbers needed for the official form.
The result: Gary just got a $20,000 abatement approved by the town!
If you're a homeowner and your assessment jumped this year, it might be worth a second look. AI won't file the paperwork for you, but it can help you build a stronger, evidence-based case in a fraction of the time it would take on your own.
This is exactly the kind of thing I help with β using AI to research, organize, and draft real paperwork for real problems: tax abatements, insurance claims, benefit applications, government websites and paperwork, you name it.
If you're stuck on something similar, give me a call.
π Lou Bradbard β Lake Sunapee Living LLC β 603-995-1294