How to Lower Property Taxes in Florida: The DIY Appeal Guide
Florida gives every property owner the right to challenge an over-assessment — and you can do it yourself, for free. The process runs through your county's Value Adjustment Board/VAB, the local body that hears appeals of assessments set by your county property appraiser. This guide walks you through each step, from spotting an inflated value to walking into your VAB hearing prepared.
Is Your Florida Assessment Too High?
Your county property appraiser sets a 'just value' — essentially market value — for your home each January 1, driving your taxable value and tax bill. If comparable homes sold recently for less than your just value suggests, or if your property record card lists incorrect details (wrong square footage, a finished basement that isn't finished, a nonexistent bathroom), you likely have grounds to appeal.
Pull your property record card from your county property appraiser's website — most Florida counties post them online. Check every field: bed and bath count, living area, year built, and condition grade. Data errors are common in mass-appraisal models and a quick review is always worth ten minutes.
1. Check Your TRIM Notice
Every August, your county mails a Truth in Millage/TRIM notice showing your proposed assessment and the petition deadline — typically mid-September, though the exact date varies by county and year. The deadline is printed on the notice itself; missing it means waiting until the next assessment cycle.
2. File a VAB Petition
Download your county's VAB petition form from the county clerk's or VAB's website. Complete it, attach your evidence, pay the modest filing fee (amount varies by county), and submit before the TRIM deadline. Keep a copy and use certified mail or electronic filing with a confirmation receipt so you have proof of timely submission.
3. Attend Your VAB Hearing
VAB hearings are conducted by a special magistrate — an independent appraiser or attorney. Present your comparable sales, any property record errors, and supporting documents. A one-page grid showing each comp's address, sale date, price, square footage, and price per square foot is exactly what magistrates are trained to read. The VAB issues a written decision; a ruling in your favor adjusts your assessment.
DIY vs. Hiring a Property Tax Consultant
Florida has property tax consultants and attorneys who file VAB petitions on contingency — a percentage of first-year savings if they win, nothing if they lose. For a straightforward overvaluation with solid comparable sales, the DIY route is very achievable: the petition is a standard form, hearings are informal, and evidence rules are not complicated. Professional help makes more sense for commercial properties, complex valuations, or a circuit court appeal after an unfavorable VAB decision.
Florida's Cap Protects Long-Term Owners — and Hides What Happens When You Move
Florida's effective rate is 0.79%, rank 28 of 51 states and the District of Columbia, with a median bill of $2,555 on a median home value of $325,000. The number that matters more than the rate, though, is the assessment cap.
Once a property has the homestead exemption, the Save Our Homes limitation caps the annual increase in assessed value at the lower of 3% or the change in the Consumer Price Index. "The lower of" is doing real work — in most years the CPI is the binding constraint, not the 3%:
| Assessment year | CPI change | Cap applied |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 2.7% | 2.7% |
| 2025 | 2.9% | 2.9% |
| 2024 | 3.4% | 3.0% |
| 2023 | 6.5% | 3.0% |
| 2022 | 7.0% | 3.0% |
| 2021 | 1.4% | 1.4% |
| 2020 | 2.3% | 2.3% |
| 2019 | 1.9% | 1.9% |
Read the 2022–2024 rows. In those three years inflation ran well above the ceiling — 7.0%, 6.5% and 3.4% — and the cap held the increase at 3.0%. That is where the protection is worth the most, and it is also where a gap opens between assessed value and market value. In 2021 the CPI came in at 1.4% and the cap was 1.4%, not 3%: in low-inflation years the ceiling never binds at all.
Where the Cap Creates an Appeal Rather Than Preventing One
The cap limits increases in assessed value, not the market value the appraiser records. Two consequences follow. A long-held homestead can be substantially under-assessed relative to the market, and appealing it is pointless — the capped figure is what you are taxed on. But when a property changes hands or loses its homestead status, the assessment resets to full market value, and the increase in a single year can be severe. That reset is where Florida appeals concentrate, and it is the year to check the appraiser's market value carefully.
Filing: The 25-Day Window and What It Now Costs
A petition to the Value Adjustment Board must be filed within 25 days after the property appraiser mails the Notice of Proposed Property Taxes — the TRIM notice. The deadline is set by Florida law and does not move because you are still in discussion with the appraiser's office. For a denied exemption or classification, the clock runs 30 days from the denial notice.
The filing fee changed recently and many sources still quote the old figure. Effective July 1, 2025, the maximum fee a Value Adjustment Board may impose rose from $15 to $50 per parcel (Chapter 2025-208, Laws of Florida). Boards set their own fee by resolution up to that ceiling, so what you pay depends on your county.
The evidence exchange has its own deadlines, and missing them costs you the evidence. You give your evidence to the property appraiser at least 15 days before the hearing; the appraiser provides theirs in response. Evidence you held but refused to provide cannot be used at the hearing — a procedural trap that decides cases on their merits never being heard.
Median Tax by Florida County
The eight counties with the highest median bills, of 67.
| County | Median tax paid | Median home value | Effective rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monroe | $3,943 | $723,800 | 0.54% |
| Broward | $3,610 | $380,400 | 0.95% |
| Palm Beach | $3,600 | $407,300 | 0.88% |
| St. Johns | $3,547 | $457,600 | 0.78% |
| Miami-Dade | $3,516 | $425,400 | 0.83% |
| Collier | $3,219 | $486,800 | 0.66% |
| Martin | $3,120 | $386,500 | 0.81% |
| Sumter | $2,940 | $356,000 | 0.83% |
Source for the tax and value figures. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2019–2023 five-year estimates, tables B25103 (median real estate taxes paid) and B25077 (median value), owner-occupied housing units. The effective rate is median tax divided by median value.
Florida Appeals: What Owners Ask
What is the actual Save Our Homes cap this year?
The lower of 3% or the change in the Consumer Price Index. For 2026 the CPI change was 2.7% and the cap applied was 2.7%; for 2025 both were 2.9%. The 3% ceiling only binds in high-inflation years — it held increases to 3.0% in 2022, 2023 and 2024.
How much does a VAB petition cost?
Up to $50 per parcel. That ceiling rose from $15 effective July 1, 2025 under Chapter 2025-208, Laws of Florida, and each board sets its own fee by resolution within it. Many guides still quote $15, so check what your county charges rather than relying on an older figure.
When exactly is the petition due?
Within 25 days after the property appraiser mails your Notice of Proposed Property Taxes, the TRIM notice. For the denial of an exemption or classification it is 30 days from the date the denial notice was mailed. These are set in statute and do not shift.
My assessed value is far below market value. Should I appeal anyway?
No — that gap is the Save Our Homes cap working in your favour, and you are taxed on the capped assessed value. The year to look closely is the one after a sale or a loss of homestead status, when the assessment resets to full market value.
What happens if I do not exchange evidence on time?
You can lose the right to use it. Evidence you had but refused to provide to the appraiser cannot be used at the hearing. Give your material to the appraiser at least 15 days beforehand; theirs comes back in response.
Does portability move my cap benefit to a new home?
Florida allows homestead portability, which lets you transfer accumulated Save Our Homes benefit to a new homestead within statutory limits. It is applied for separately from the appeal process and has its own form and deadline.
Sources for the procedure. Florida Department of Revenue: Petitions to the Value Adjustment Board (PT-101) for the 25-day and 30-day filing windows, the $50 fee ceiling and the evidence-exchange deadlines; the department's Save Our Homes publication (revised January 2026) for the annual CPI change and the cap applied in each year under section 193.155(1), Florida Statutes. The fee increase is section 8 of Chapter 2025-208, Laws of Florida, amending section 194.013.