Think your property assessment is too high? File a petition to appeal.
First, get your petition filed on time. The deadline is September 18th in Dade and Broward County and September 14th in Palm Beach. Whether you try to do the appeal yourself or you engage a professional to do it for you, this is the first important step. Secondly, 80% of success is showing up! Make sure you complete the form in full and all information is correct.
To get a tax assessment for your property, the county appraiser will go through the process of the determination of the value. First, he or she will choose a land sale (hopefully in your neighborhood, but not always) on which to base your land value. Land evaluations can be tricky especially since some areas have very few land sales. Values can change from neighborhood to neighborhood or even from block to block. If the land parcel they choose has more value than your land, it can adversely affect your assessment. An assessment can be challenged by using either the tax assessor's method of adjusted SF or the traditional appraiser's method of "under air" living area. Whatever method is selected, it should be applied uniformly across the subject property and all the comparables. Do not use adjusted SF on the comps and living area on the subject property only. You must always compare apples to apples. Make sure your adjustments are plausible and you have data to back them up.
