Florida Property Tax News: Gearing Up for 2007 Property Tax Appeals

What time of year is it? It’s time to get ready to appeal your property tax assessments.

Most owners of commercial property include as part of their business plan the annual appeal of property taxes on both real estate and tangible personal property. It’s an easy decision because most property tax agents offer their services on a contingency basis. If there’s no tax reduction, no professional fee is due. Many professionals will review property tax assessments at an initial consultation without charge. How much more painless could it be?

A word to the wise: the filing deadline for property tax appeals is 25 days after the date of mailing of the notice of proposed taxes (TRIM notice). In Miami-Dade County, all 825,000 notices for real estate assessments will be mailed August 24, 2007. This means that the filing deadline is September 20 this year.

Many professional appraisers after reviewing sales data have concluded that real estate values increased little if at all between January 1, 2006 and January 1, 2007. Yet the Miami-Dade preliminary assessment rolls reflect a 15% increase in value for 2006—exclusive of new construction. The rollback in public revenues enacted by the 2007 Florida Legislature does not affect these valuations.

So remember: check your mail on August 27. If you believe a property tax assessment exceeds market value or is otherwise inaccurate, improper or unlawful, get the ball rolling! As we say at Tannebaum Weiss, “A word from the Weiss is sufficient.”

For more information, consider consulting the following resources authored by this blogger: “Why Should I Hire a Property Tax Attorney for My Property Tax Appeal?”, May 11, 2007 blog entry below and “How to Select a Property Tax Attorney." __________________________________________________________________________________
Daniel A. Weiss has over 26 years experience as a Florida property tax attorney. Weiss was named by the 2007 South Florida Legal Guide as one of the top lawyers in the practice areas of both Real Estate - Land Use, Zoning & Environmental and Real Estate - Commercial. For a free consultation regarding your property, contact Weiss at 866-374-7850.