This question was recently posed by a homeowner at over at talk.realtor.com:

I purchased a property at the peak of the market in 2005. With my home value down now, how can I get a reassessment on my property taxes? Is it worth doing?

I’m going to preface the answer by saying that this is a question that will vary depending on your location and your local government. In general, to request a re-assessment of your taxes, you would contact your local property appraiser’s office.  Try typing ‘your county property appraiser’ (if you’re not sure what county you’re in, use your city and you’ll probably have similar results) into google and you should have pretty good results with getting some contact information.  Here in Hernando County the website is http://www.hernandocounty.us/pa/. The benefits will be determined by two factors:

  • How much your local property values have declined since 2005
  • The millage rate in your area

With regards to Hernando County Real Estate, the tax rate varies generally between 15mil and 22mil depending on your specific location, school district, and fire department (again, contact your local property appraisers office to get millage rates).

A quick formula you can use to guesstimate your taxes is to take your taxable value and multiply it by your millage rate.  For example, say your millage rate is 15 and your taxable value is $200,000.

$200,000 X .015 = $3,000 in estimated taxes

Now - this is by no means the “most accurate” figure, because there are usually some other variables in there, but this will give you a good starting point.  Now take into consideration the decline in property values…say your home is now worth $150,000.  Use the same formula:

$150,000 X .015 = $2,250

The savings can be quite considerable, especially in markets like Hernando County, Florida where property values have declined by approximately 2-3% per month since June of 2006 (think about that…every month…2-3%…absolutely insane!).

Many property appraiser sites have tax calculators that can give you more accurate numbers taking into account all the special assessments involved in each particular neighborhood - but the formula above can be a pretty good barometer as to whether you feel it’s worth your time or not.

All that being said - keep in mind, there are always local variables.  For example, in Florida we have Save Our Homes - aka Amendment 10 which was passed by Florida voters in 1992.  Save Our Homes limits the annual assessment increase of a homesteaded property to 3% or the Consumer Price Index - whichever is less.

While this works out fantastic in a swiftly appreciating marketplace (your taxable values can only go up by a maximum of 3%) - in a declining marketplace you may not see a tax decline commensurate with property values.  The reason?  That’s a whole other post…

In the meantime - if you have any questions concerning property taxes, Save Our Homes, or local real estate here in Tampa Bay, feel free to contact me - we’re happy to help!