Homestead Exemption

All legal Florida residents are eligible for Homestead Exemption on their homes, condominiums, co-op apartments, and certain mobile home lots if they qualify. The Florida Constitution provides this tax-saving exemption on the first $25,000 of the assessed value of an owner/occupied residence.

You are entitled to a Homestead Exemption if, as of January 1st you have made the property your permanent home or the permanent home of a person who is legally or naturally dependent on you.

The concept of homestead is as old as the State of Florida. There are only a few states with homestead exemptions. Florida is considered one of the most generous.

There are 2 types of homestead exemptions available to property owners in Florida: (a) homestead exemption for real property tax purposes and (b) homestead exemption for asset protection purposes. The fact that you have one type of exemption does not necessarily mean that you have the other type of exemption as each exemption has distinct requirements.

(a) Specifically, the homestead exemption for real property tax purposes provides an owner of property with a $25,000.00 reduction from the assessed value of the property thereby currently reducing the amount of real property taxes by approximately $600 to $800 each year. Since real property taxes are paid in arrears in Florida (just like interest on your mortgage), this type of homestead exemption is only available if the owner is the permanent resident of residential property as of December 31 of the prior year and owner makes application for the exemption at the property appraiser's office on or before March 1 of the following year. If you are widowed or permanently disabled, you may be entitled to an additional reduction from the assessed value of the property.

(b) The homestead exemption for asset protection purposes provides the owner of property with a shield from virtually all non-lien creditors. This type of homestead exemption is only available if the property is your primary residence and a court makes a determination that the property is within a municipality or outside of a municipality. If your property is within a municipality, protection is provided for only one half acre of contiguous land. If your property is outside of a municipality, protection is provided for 160 acres of contiguous land.
January 1st is the date on which permanent residence is determined.

Other Exemptions

Widows, widowers and permanently disabled persons are entitled to additional tax-saving exemptions. For these exemptions, you will need to bring with you at time of filing:
Widows/Widower's Exemption: Spouse's death certificate, newspaper clipping or memorial card.
Disability Exemption: Letter from Veterans Administration (VA card). Medical Disability or Legally Blind need letters from two (2) professionally unrelated Florida doctors.

You must make a timely first application

You can now file for Homestead Exemption all year around.

There are two filing periods.

Pre-Filing for the following year (for New Owners this year)
. . .
March 2, to December 31.

Traditional Filing Period - January 1st thru March 1st. . . The amount of the homestead exemption granted to an owner residing on a particular property is to be applied against the amount of that person's interest in the property. This provision is limited in that the proportional amount of the homestead exemption allowed any person shall not exceed the proportionate assessed valuation based on the interest owned by the person. For example, assuming a property valued at $40,000, with the residing owner's interest in the property being $20,000, then $20,000 of the homestead exemption is all that can be applied to that property. If there are multiple owners, all as joint tenants with rights of survivorship, the owner living at property filing receives the full $25,000 exemption.

Homestead Exemption does not transfer from property to property. If you had this exemption last year on another property and moved, you must file a new application for your new residence. Notify the Property Appraiser to cancel the exemptions on your former home. Property purchased during last year may show qualified exemptions of the seller. The sellers' exemptions will not carry over to this year; you must apply for your own exemptions!

All owners occupying the property must file in person on jointly held property. Husband and wife may file for each other, with the required documents for both. Bring the following items dated prior to January 1, when filing an application.

Recorded Quit Claim or Warranty Deed
Co-op Proprietary Lease (Condos)
Notice of Proposed Taxes or Tax Receipts, if in your name(s)
Proof of Permanent Residence, Dated Prior to January 1st
All of these items should be issued before January 1, 2000:
If you possess an out-of-state driver's license, you must change it to a Florida Driver's License
If you own a vehicle, you must have a Florida Vehicle Registration
Citizens of the United States must possess a Florida Voters Registration or a Declaration of Domicile
Resident aliens possessing a Green or Pink Card must obtain a Declaration of Domicile
Non-residents are not eligible to apply for the Homestead Exemption
Note: it is generally against the law for a Florida resident to drive in Florida with an out-of-state license or tag if he/she claims Homestead Exemption (Sections 320.37 and 322.08 Fla. Statutes).
. . . and be prepared to know

The State mandated application form requires certain information For All Owners Living On The Premises and Filing:

Current employers of all owners
Addresses listed on last I.R.S. income tax returns
Copy of last tax bill, recorded warranty or quit claim deed for the parcel
Date of each owner's permanent Florida residence. Date of occupancy for each property owner
Social security numbers of all owners filing are required

Renewal for this year, after your initial application for last year has been made and exemption has been granted, a receipt will be mailed to you each January 1st for verification that the status and condition of the ownership has not changed in any manner whatsoever.

If you do not receive this renewal receipt from us by March 1, failure to contact this office could result in the loss of your Homestead Exemption for the year.

A new application will be required if your property has been sold or otherwise disposed of, or the ownership changes in any manner or when the holder(s) of the homestead exemption ceases to reside on the property as a permanent resident.

This annual Homestead Receipt renewal does not pertain to any of the other exemptions and/or classifications such as properties used for exempt purposes or agricultural classification.

If you no longer qualify - The law requires you to notify the Property Appraiser's office to remove that exemption by March 1, 2000. Strong penalties are imposed on those who do not tell the Property Appraiser to remove exemptions for which they are no longer qualified. For example, if you have rented your property, you are no longer entitled to Homestead Exemption. Or, if you were receiving a widow's or widower's exemption and remarry, you would no longer be entitled to that exemption.

Locations

• Government Center - Main
  115 South Andrews Avenue Room 111-F
  Fort Lauderdale 954.357.6830
  
• West Broward - Branch
  100 North Pine Island Room 120
  Plantation 954.831.2363
  
• South Broward - Branch
  3550 Hollywood Boulevard Room 110
  Hollywood 954.831.0470
  
• North Broward - Branch
  1600 West Hillsboro Boulevard Room 156
  Deerfield Beach 954.831.1270
  
• Southwest Broward - Branch
  10221 Taft Street Building 1
  Pembroke Pines 954.437.2670

The Truth in Millage (TRIM) Notice is an important notice. It tells you last year's market value, this years market value as of January 1, and this years assessed value. The market value column is our office's opinion of what a willing buyer would have paid a willing seller for your property as of last January 1.

IMPORTANT: By the 1992 Amendment to the Florida Constitution, the assessed value of your Homestead property can be no greater than 3% more than last year's assessed value or the consumer price index, whichever is less. The Department of Revenue certifies a consumer price index, so that is the most the assessment of Homestead property can increase.

To give you an example: if your Homestead property was assessed at $50,000 last year, and its market value has increased to $75,000, your maximum assessment is $51,500.

The only way your assessment can increase more than this is if there was a change in ownership, or improvements to your property were not reflected in last year's assessment.

If the market value of your property declined since last year, this year's assessed value will reflect that decline in the market. Next year, however, your assessed value will continue to increase by 3% or the consumer price index, whichever is less, as long as assessed value is less than market value.

If the property shown on the trim notice is not your Homestead, then the columns for "market value" and "Assessed value" will be the same. If the property has a classified use value, such as for agriculture, the assessed value column is its classified use value. Even if the market value shown is higher than your estimate of your property's market value as of January 1, your tax bill for Homestead property will still be based on the consumer price index increase over last year's assessed value. If you do not do anything, your November tax bill will be based on the figure shown in the assessed value box.

All the exemptions to which your property is entitled are shown in the box marked "Exemptions." If you bought property during the last calendar year, and your seller qualified for exemptions, the exemptions shown are those for which your seller qualified. These exemptions will be removed for next year unless you personally apply for your own exemptions. If you applied for exemptions and none are shown in the "Exemptions" box, you should contact the Property Appraiser's office at once and find out whether there is a problem with your exemptions.

All properties pay taxes county wide to the Broward County Commission and School Board. Other taxing jurisdictions that are less than county wide are the Cities and Towns, Hospital, Water and Special Tax Districts. All of these taxing bodies must hold public hearings before setting their rates. The dates, times and places of these hearings are shown in the fourth column of your TRIM notice, along with telephone numbers you can call for further information about the taxing bodies' proposed rates. In addition, some non-ad valorem levies are shown on your tax bill but not on your TRIM notice. These are called non ad valorem levies since the amount of the levy does not depend on the value of your property.

The PROPERTY APPRAISER'S OFFICE IS RESPONSIBLE ONLY FOR THE MARKET VALUE OF YOUR PROPERTY. By the Florida Constitution and Statutes, this is the amount of a willing buyer who did not have to buy your property would pay to a willing seller who did not have to sell as of last January 1.

The Broward County Value Adjustment Board is composed of three members of the Broward County Commission and two members of the School Board. This Board sits to hear petitions relating to the market value of your property and denials of exemptions and classifications. The Board is completely independent of the Property Appraiser's office.

If you feel your taxes are too high, the Value Adjustment Board cannot help you. You need to attend the meetings of those officials who set the budgets for the taxing bodies.

If you believe the market value as shown in the box "Your Property Value This Year" is higher than the market value of your property as of January 1, we encourage you to contact our main office. Please bring your TRIM notice with you when you come. One of our Deputy Property Appraisers will meet with you and discuss your market value and how it was calculated. After this conference, if you still feel your market value is too high, you can file a petition with the Clerk of the Value Adjustment Board. Forms for that purpose, as prescribed by the State Department of Revenue, are available in the Property Appraiser's main office in the Government Center, Room 111-F, along with free professional assistance in filling out the forms. The Board has established a $15. filing fee, which is refunded if you obtain relief from the Value Adjustment Board or the Property Appraiser's Office after you file your petition. The Value Adjustment Board appoints Special Masters who are qualified, professionally designated real estate appraisers or attorneys to conduct the hearings. These Special Masters are not connected with the Property Appraiser's office in any way. The only question the Special Masters can determine is whether the market value of your property as shown on your TRIM notice is higher than the property's market value as of last January 1.

You must fill in the petition completely, with all questions answered, or it might be rejected by the Clerk of the Board. Be sure you read the information on the reverse of the form. The Petition is filed with the Clerk of the Value Adjustment Board, Room 120A in the Goverment Center in Fort Lauderdale, 115 South Andrews Avenue.

The Clerk's telephone number is 954.357.7292

Pay close attention to the deadline for filing a petition printed on the TRIM notice.
THE BOARD CANNOT ACCEPT PETITIONS FILED AFTER THAT DEADLINE

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