EXAMPLE
THE PROPERTY APPRAISER CANNOT REDUCE PROPERTY TAXES

By Florida Law, the Property Appraiser cannot lower property taxes.  The taxes levied by the taxing authority are determined by the revenue and spending needs of the taxing authority (County Commission, School Board, Cities, etc. ).  The above chart illustrates how any taxing authority is allowed by law to increase its tax rate to provide the same revenue as they had the prior year, even if the valuations, as assessed by the Property Appraiser, were reduced.

"Year 1" reflects a $14 billion dollar tax base (established by the Property Appraiser) times a 6 mill tax rate, (tax rate set by taxing authority) providing the taxing authority $84 million dollars in revenue.  The subsequent year, "Year 2" reflects a $12 billion dollar tax base allowing the taxing authority to raise the tax rate to 7 mills in order to recover lost revenue, thereby providing the same $84 million in revenue.

The State legislature has given the Florida Department of Revenue tremendous authority over the Property Appraiser in giving the Department the final authority to approve the County's assessment roll. The Department of Revenue reviews and approves or rejects the Property Appraiser's assessment roll annually.

The Property Appraiser's primary job is to prepare an annual tax roll (assessment roll) which complies with Constitutional and specific State mandated standards in order that it will be approved each year by the Florida Department of Revenue (View Letter of Approval) and (Certification) . This is a very serious matter because the rejection of a county's tax roll leads to many problems for the School Board, local governments, the taxpayers and the Property Appraiser.

To maintain an approvable tax roll, the Property Appraiser must estimate the current market value of all real and tangible property based upon data from real estate sales transactions and other current market data. This is done pursuant to the requirements of specific State laws. The tax roll is audited annually by the Florida Department of Revenue to ensure compliance.

The State is empowered to reject the Property Appraiser's roll if the values assessed by the Property Appraiser are not at the levels required by the Florida Department of Revenue for any class of properties on the assessment roll. The Florida Department of Revenue will not approve the tax roll unless the level of assessment, overall and for each property class, is at least 90% of the just value required by the Constitution. This ratio is determined by comparing the assessed value to the actual selling price of all properties sold during the prior year. Since the valuation of all properties must reflect current market trends, values of all similar property types, even those which did not sell, must be adjusted to reflect current market trends.

There are approximately 339,000 parcels of real property and 47,000 tangible personal property accounts that must be valued annually and reported to the State, constituting the "assessment roll". Once the State approves the valuations in the assessment roll, the taxing authorities (County Commission, School Board, Cities, etc.) decide their budgets and set their tax rates to be applied to the properties valuation which will generate the revenue necessary to fund their proposed budget.

For the last five (5) years, the overall level of assessment in Brevard County has been relatively low. It has fluctuated between 92.5% and 94.9%. The Department of Revenue allows some tolerance and this figure can fluctuate each year between 90% and 100%. Maintaining a level of assessment between 90% and 95% helps to ensure that few, if any, properties are over-assessed and still complies with minimum State requirements.

 Click here to view the 2004 Level of Assessment by County.

The disapproval of the tax roll by the Florida Department of Revenue is a major problem for all local governments, taxing authorities and homeowners, as well as the Property Appraiser. It would cause every homestead exemption to revert from $25,000 to $5,000 along with the loss of the protective "Save Our Homes" assessment cap. Furthermore, property owners would lose their right to appeal their valuations to the Value Adjustment Board.

The challenge for the Property Appraiser is to arrive at an accurate estimate of value on all properties, each year, which will comply with State standards for approval and with as little cost to the taxpayers as possible.

The Property Appraiser also administers and approves homestead exemptions and other exemptions authorized by Florida law. Additionally, classified use properties are administered and approved by the Property Appraiser involving such uses as "greenbelt" agricultural properties. Following is a breakdown of the number administered in each exemption category in 2003: