Region Appraisals Blog

The deadline is approaching! September 2010 for your Palm Beach County, Miami-Dade, or Broward County Property Tax Appeal. If your assessment is unfair or too high, and your property taxes are climbing needlessly, it's time to involve an appraiser. The biggest mistakes people make:

1. Not acting immediately. There is always something else to do, but letting the deadline pass just settles things. The easiest way to ensure you don't miss it is get the appraiser involved with a simple [registration form].
2. Not involving an appraiser. Showing up at the appeal hearing without an independent appraisal leaves it your word vs. a more experienced county assessor. Assessors don't intentionally overvalue properties, but they have an immense number of them to assess, very little time, money, or manpower to get it done, and the result can easily be an overvalued property.
3. Thinking there's nothing you can do. The majority of property tax appeals result in a lowered assessment, but the only thing that happens if you do nothing is a steady climb. Stop the bleeding - if you think it's too much, turn to an appraiser for a 3rd party appraisal with clout.

Clients who are refinancing sometimes think that the appraisal report will increase the assessed value on their property taxes if the new estimated value is higher.
 
However, per Florida Statutes, all property in the state is reassessed every year by the Property Appraiser’ Office. The amount used for the tax bill is based on the qualified sales in their neighborhood (excluding sales not considered arm’s length transactions) in the previous year. Therefore, the refinancing of their home does not have any impact on property tax assessment.

That said, if you feel your property tax assessment is too high, keep in mind that most appeals result in a reduction. The first step is to involve an appraiser.