As a part of our "New Year" listing maintenance, our team always researches and updates the tax information for all of our home listings in January.

This year, we discovered that several of our clients appear to have been "over-charged" for their property taxes, due to the steep decline in home values and the apparent in-ability of the county tax collector and appraiser to keep up with the changes in the real estate market!

We notified our listing clients of our observations and advised them to call the county property tax appraiser to have their property "re-evaluated" to "protest" their property taxes.

How are property taxes calculated?
The Property Appraiser first accumulates the millage rates from all the Taxing Authorities that have jurisdiction over your parcel. The taxes are then calculated as follows:

Property Tax Formula

(Taxable Value/1000) X millage rate = property taxes

Example: $55,000/1000 = $55 X 5.1639 = $284.01

TRIM NOTICES!

Below you will find a link to an informational video regarding the Manatee County homeowner's TRIM (Truth in Millage) NOTICE, sent in August of each year, ... explaining what a "TRIM NOTICE" is...  a review of the tax assessment process and the differences between "ad valorem" and "non ad valorem" taxes, explanation and description of CDD fees, and a discussion of the charges on the TRIM notice: 

MANATEE COUNTY TRIM NOTICES VIDEO

If after reviewing your TRIM notice, you think that your property taxes are too high, you should contact the Manatee County property appraiser to have an appraiser come out and review your tax assessment.  This needs to be done within 25 days after the date that the TRIM Notice is mailed. The actual date is always specified on the TRIM Notice.  Contact your Real Estate professional to request a "CMA" or analysis of your property market value for you to give to the appraiser to support your protest.

PRINTABLE PDF: PROPERTY TAX VALUE ADJUSTMENT PETITION

MORE QUESTIONS?  CLICK HERE FOR:  

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT PROPERTY VALUE ASSESSMENT

If you suspect that you're paying too much property tax... don't let another year go by without investigating and addressing the situation... DO IT IN 2010!! ... it could save you a lot of money!!

Contact your Real Estate professional... they can assist you with the process!