Is it worth contesting my property taxes in Arlington VA?

[Geoffrey Israel]

Hi everyone, 

I am considering contesting my property taxes (as I have been told that is generally a good practice to follow). Oddly, I have talked to a few professionals here in Arlington and most of them tell me either contesting is a waste of my time or it is actually going to make me owe more in property taxes... I wanted to see if anyone on BP has experience and can offer me advice. Here are some useful pieces of information:

The townhouse is currently a 3 bed 4 bath with two fireplaces. I plan on converting the basement office into a legal bedroom by adding an egress window and converting the basement living room into another bedroom. Soon the property will be a legal 5/4. Here is my dilemma:

- Is it worth contesting my property taxes in the first place? If not, the rest is moot.

- If I do contest and then need a permit for creating the egress window, I assume the county will swing by and re-inspect the property and treat it as a legal 4/4. This is out of my hands, but I am trying to plan my order of operations.

- My current plan is to remove the hearth, cover the fireplace, contest the property taxes, deal with the egress window, (potentially deal with the county again tax wise if necessary), and then add the 5th bedroom last.

What do you think of my situation? I do rent by the room so this is for sure the best path forward for me. Also, what other things can I do to lower the value of my property on paper come contest time besides removing a fireplace? 

Thank you in advanced!