- Each of Florida's counties appraises every property once a year, with the goal of estimating the property's market value, or "just" value, as of January 1. They will look at your new home's selling price and comparable sales prices and home values in the area to determine this.
- You do not pay taxes on your just value. The appraiser will subtract any limits or exemptions to calculate the property's actual taxable value. One example is the homestead exemption for personal residences which reduces your taxable value by $25,000, or $50,000 when used in the calculation of the non-school tax portion of your property taxes. Although Florida's "Save Our Homes" (SOH) protections, which cap increases in property taxes, do not apply to a new home, you can carry forward an SOH exemption from your old house.
- Florida has two different tax rates. The school tax rate is 7 dollars per 1,000 dollars of value, and the non-school tax rate is 11 dollars per 1,000 dollars of value. Multiply your taxable value by 0.007 to find your school tax. Subtract your homestead exemption, if you have one, from your taxable value, and multiply that number by 0.011 to find your non-school tax. Add the two taxes together to find your total property tax.
- Your county's appraiser will reassess your home every year on January 1. If it is a homestead property, which most residences are, the county can assess it at whatever just value the market bears, but your assessed value for taxes cannot go up more than the lesser of 3 percent or the Consumer Price Index. If your property's value goes down, your taxes can still go up, as your assessed value can be raised to meet your just value.
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