Rental Property Investor · Downey, CA · Member since 2017 · 13 posts · 6 votes
Hello Fellow Investors! I hope someone in this virtual box could help me how to best present evidence to fight a property tax appraisal on Florida. I have filed an official petition and now I must present my evidence. My property is in Hernando county, FL.
Has anyone filed an appeal with a Florida county and what were the steps taken to best present your evidence for best results?
You will need strong documentation by professionals to show you are paying more than you should. Keep in mind the taxing authorities take averages of similar properties in your area to arrive at a taxable value. Your best bet would be to hire a professional to appeal. I would make a few calls, see what they say, investigate price, and then determine if your appeal is worthwhile. I have a property on Marco Island. I feel it is assessed way too high. I called the taxing authorities and it turns out they assess vacant lots by waterfront footage. That being the case, I had nowhere to go with an appeal. To prove how ridiculous this is, most of the indirect access lots have 80 feet of frontage. If someone has one with 76 feet, they pay less tax than the owners with an 80 foot lot. I doubt there would be ANY way the county could prove, through a comparable sales method, that the lot with 76 foot of frontage is worth x less than those with 80 foot. The lot with 76 feet would more than likely sell at the same average price of the 80 foot lots. Keep in mind, they aren't using the comparable sales method, and that can work for or against a homeowner. They use a mass appraisal. So, my lot with 50% more frontage is taxed at 50% higher, but there is really no way I can get that on the sale of it. Also keep in mind, that although they CLAIM they are representing owners, their goal is to gather as much revenue to keep the government running. The motto government of the people, by the people, for the people. The reality is often government OF the government, BY the government, FOR the government. If you think that isn't true, look at some of the "public servants" getting hundreds of thousands a dollars a year in retirement. That didn't happen by accident:)--and the voters NEVER got a say so on that!
Agree with @John Thedford, most residential properties will be undervalued anyway with a steady market, since the assessments are based on a value of comparable sales a year old before they are applied. 2017 values which come out now are from the last quarter sales of 2016. It doesn't matter what any comp sales are This year, that will affect 2018 assessments.