Q: Can you go over the ad valorem tax roll calendar?
A: Yes. It is important for people to become more involved in this process. First of all, my office is constitutionally mandated to create the tax roll for all the taxing authorities in the county. By statute, we begin with the valuation process, which lasts from Jan. 1 through July 1. It’s during this time that we approve and apply exemptions and come up with a market value for the property.
Q: Can you explain more about market value?
A: Florida is a “market value” state, so we are required to appraise properties at market value, based on current sales of like properties. We appraise in arrears, so for 2021 values (beginning on Jan. 1, 2021) we use 2020 recorded sales.
Q: What happens on July 1?
A: On July 1, we submit the preliminary tax roll to the Florida Department of Revenue and to each of the taxing authorities in the county. This triggers two things: first, the Florida Department of Revenue reviews it for accuracy and fairness and if they find any errors, they send it back to us for corrections. Secondly, the county taxing authorities put together their budgets for the following year and determine their millage rate by July 31. They then provide to us their proposed millage rates.
Q: What is the next step?
A: Our office takes these proposed millage rates, along with last year’s millage rates, and calculates the rollback rate. We put all these in the TRIM (Truth in Millage) Notices and mail them out to homeowners in August (this year it will be on Aug. 13). The TRIM Notice also contains the dates and times of each taxing authority’s budget hearings, all of which need to be concluded in the 25-day period (this year, it will be by Sept. 7).
Q: What is important about this time period?
A: This is really the critical time for citizen involvement. At these budget hearing meetings, citizens can ask questions, get details and determine if the government is truly meeting their needs … and if they are doing so efficiently. After these meetings, the boards of the taxing authorities vote to accept the budget and that’s why citizen input is critical. After approval, the taxing authorities notify us that they’ve set their millage rate. At this point, it is too late for any changes. On Oct. 1, we submit the information back to the Florida Department of Revenue and to the county’s tax collector, who then sends the tax bills to the people at the beginning of November.
Q: Do you have anything else to share?
A: It’s important to note that this year’s tax roll will be up about 50 percent over 2016. Citizens need to be asking their local government what are they doing with this money and how are they serving my needs?
Q: What is the best way for our readers to contact you?
A: Our office is located at 4030 Lewis Speedway Ste. 203, (904) 827-5500. It is open Monday – Friday, 8:30 a.m. – 5 p.m. Also, readers can email me at Eddie@sjcpa.us or call me at (904) 827-5500.
