I received a call today regarding filing an appeal of the real estate tax assessment on a property in Palm Beach County, Florida. This homeowner is not alone in expressing concern about rising real estate taxes in South Florida. The Associated Press quoted Donald Trump last week expressing concern that the tax bill on his Palm Beach mansion had jumped from $796,000 per year in 2005 to $1.03 million!

Unfortunately, many property owners are not aware of the strict timeframes for filing appeals of real estate tax assessments in Florida. There are essentially two paths for an appeal. The first is an appeal to the Value Adjustment Board of the county in which the property is located. That appeal typically must be filed within 25 days after the property owner receives his proposed tax bill (the TRIM notice) which is usually received in August. Thus, the appeal would be due by a date in September.

The second avenue is the filing of the appeal in the Circuit Court where the property is located. This is actually the commencement of a lawsuit. The deadline for filing is 60 days after the county tax collector has certified the tax roll. In Palm Beach County, the 2007 tax roll was certified on October 11, 2007 so the lawsuit would have to be filed by December 10, 2007. As you can see, the window for filing an appeal is very short and can easily be missed.