|
KEYS DIRECTORY
Calculate 2006 Real Estate Taxes
Monroe County, Florida
To calculate Monroe County Property Taxes enter your estimated purchase price, assessed value or taxable value and click Calculate Estimated Taxes button. Scroll down the table to your desired location.
FLORIDA PROPERTY ASSESSMENT
HOW THE STATE OF FLORIDA AND MONROE
COUNTY
DETERMINES PROPERTY VALUES
This article is a general synopsis of appraisal techniques used in Monroe
County, Florida and does not address each and every detail of appraisal
practices.
Dated March 22, 2006
Researched
and assembled by Bill Cormack, C.F.E.
All cities and towns in the State of Florida assess the value of real property using a Mass Appraisal system. This system is a broad approach to predicting the value of properties that did not sell using the information collected about the properties that did sell. It is the application of a small database of information (the sold properties) to a large database of properties (the unsold properties).
As defined by the State Department of Revenue (DOR), Mass Appraisal is the use of standardized procedures for collecting data and appraising property to ensure that all properties within a municipality are valued uniformly and equitably. Mass Appraisal is the process of valuing all properties as of a given valuation date (January 1st) using common data, a standardized procedure, and statistical testing. Unlike individual fee appraisal, which is intended to derive the market value of a single property, the goal of Mass Appraisal is to bring all properties to their full and fair market value, whether properties have sold recently or not, and thus to achieve equity among all property values.
The DOR requires Property Appraisers to revalue all properties every year for certification according to specific requirements set by the DOR using state stature 193.011 “Factors to consider in deriving just valuation”. The results of the revaluation process must meet statistical standards defined by the DOR, but the methods used to achieve the results are largely within the jurisdiction of the Appraiser’s Office. The DOR requires the Appraiser’s Office to visit every property every three years. Due to rapid changes in the real estate market, the Appraiser’s Office visits every sold property in the year of its sale. Waiting three years between visits leads to large adjustments as experienced in past years, whereas visiting every year results in smaller increments of change.
Mass Appraisal is defined as all properties in the County including single family homes (including mobile homes), multi-family homes, condominiums, apartments, vacant land, commercial properties, industrial properties, and mixed-use properties. The process described in this document mostly addresses the mass appraisal of single family homes, multi-family homes and condominiums.
The valuation date for assessment is January 1st of the tax roll year, and the valuation reflects market values for the year prior to the valuation date. For example, the assessment date for the 2006 tax roll is January 1, 2006, using actual data of properties that sold between January 1, 2005 and December 31, 2005.
The standardized procedure followed for determining full and fair market value involves using a model, defining parameters, and performing iterations of statistical analysis to validate the model results. To accomplish this, a sales database is created each year containing information about the sales that occurred in the year prior to the valuation date. This is the small database of information (the sold properties) which will be applied to the large database of properties (the unsold properties). The sales database is used to establish the criteria for applying the characteristics of sold properties to the unsold properties. The standardized procedure used is the following:
The LOA is the median assessment of the sales ratio, and it measures actual differences between new assessments and sale prices. For all classes of property, the median assessment to sales ratio must be between 90% and 110%.
The COD is the coefficient of dispersion that occurs around the median assessment to sales ratio, and it measures the deviation between the new assessments and the sale prices. For single family homes and condominiums, the coefficient of dispersion should be less than 15%.
The grouped sales, called "stratifications", report the median assessment to sales ratio and the coefficient of dispersion for each sale in each category. The categories are: land use (single family, multi-family, condo, etc.), neighborhood (location in the county), actual year the house was built, lot size, and house size. Two other reports called price quartiles and date quartiles show the median assessment to sales ratio and the coefficient of dispersion grouped by the sale price and the sale date.
Each stratification report is intended to provide a different perspective of the same data, thus revealing discrepancies that require correction. If the LOA and COD values exceed the values required by the DOR, then this must be corrected.
Location: Neighborhoods have been adapted over time to reflect market changes. Periodically, the neighborhood boundaries are reviewed and modified if necessary. Each neighborhood has assigned land codes that reflect the land value for the basic house lot in that particular neighborhood. Sales in particular neighborhoods, when taken in the context of all characteristics of that neighborhood, contribute to the value of the land. As the stratification reports are run, and median assessment to sales ratios and the coefficients of dispersion are reviewed, the value of the land is evaluated and modified if necessary. In general, in most of Monroe County, land contributes value to the property as follows (excluding Key West). Dry lots 40% – 45%, canal lots 45% - 50%, water front and water view lots 50% - 60%. When changing the value of the land for the sold properties in a particular neighborhood does not improve the LOA and the COD sufficiently, and this factor does not cause the LOA and the COD to vary beyond current ranges in this stratifications, then this means the value for that particular neighborhood has either risen or fallen, and the change to the neighborhood Market Adjustment factor may correct this.
Market Adjustment: Existing Market Adjustment controls only affect residential structures in the current valuation computer system. (Land, Miscellaneous and commercial properties are not affected by Market Adjustments). A Market Adjustment is a percentage factor applied to a neighborhood to adjust the value of all residential properties up or down.
House Style: The style of the house has an associated base rate per square foot assigned to it, which is used to adjust its value. Depending on sales, these base rates can change, and therefore are reviewed and adjusted each year as part of the sales analysis. If the base rate for a particular house style is changed, and all other stratifications maintain median assessment to sales ratios and coefficients of dispersion values within acceptable ranges, then such a change to the base rate can be considered a valid correction to the sales database.
Valuation of land: A property assessment is the sum of the land value, miscellaneous value and the structures value. The land value is determined either by land-only sales or by the "land residual method". The structures value is determined by cost tables adjusted for Monroe County and by weighted measures such as the construction grade of the house or how well it has been maintained, etc.
Land Only Sales
: Determining the value of land is straightforward when a sale occurs which had no structures on it. That sale can be considered representative of the land value for properties in the neighborhood in which it is located. Properties where the structures are removed after the sale require additional information and judgment to determine the land value, and this may involve further study of trends and restrictions in the neighborhood in which the sale occurred.Land Residual Method:
In Monroe County, where few land sales occur each year, a method called "land residual" is also used to determine land values. This method extracts the value of the land from the total property value by subtracting the value of the structures and miscellaneous items from the total sale price. The remaining value is considered the land only value.Land Size or Use:
The land sales are used to set the price per square foot, per acre, per lot, etc., for each land use category. Land size also determines the discounts for parcels that are smaller or larger than the average lot size where the property is located.At this point, the Mass Appraisal process is over and the preliminary assessment data is reviewed by the Appraisal Supervisor. Once approved, the final tax roll is submitted to the Department of Revenue. The proposed property values are mailed to all residents and the public review process begins.
Note: Information
presented here can be found in more detail in several publications from the
Florida Department of Revenue, Property Tax Administration and Florida
Administrative Code index publications. These publications are available from
the Department of Revenue.
IAAO (International Association of Assessing Officers) textbook.
Also used was other publications and general public information.
COD -
Coefficient of Dispersion
Truth In Millage (TRIM) - Notice of Proposed Assessment
The Truth in Millage (TRIM) Notice, also known as Notice of Proposed Assessment, is a very important notice. It tells you last year's market value, this year's market value as of January 1, and this year's assessed value. The market value column is our office's opinion of what a willing buyer would have paid a willing seller for the property as of last January 1 based on market sales.
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 when the market value shown is higher than your estimate of your property's market value as of January 1, the tax bill for Homestead property will still be based on the CPI increase over last year's assessed value. See Important note below*.) The mailing of the TRIM Notice begins the 25 day appeal period. If no changes are made, your November tax bill will be based on the figure shown in the assessed value box.
All the exemptions granted to your property are shown in the box marked "Exemptions". If you bought this property during the current calendar year, and your seller qualified for exemptions, the exemptions shown are those that your seller was granted. These exemptions and homestead cap, if applicable, will be removed for the next year. You must apply for your own exemption! If you bought this property during the previous calendar year and you applied for exemptions for the current tax year and none are shown in the "Exemptions" box, you should contact the Property Appraiser's Office immediately to find out whether there is a problem with your exemption(s).
Each county has several taxing bodies. All 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 the telephone numbers.
*Important: By the 1992 Amendment to the Florida Constitution, passed by the voters, known as Amendment 10 - Save Our Homes, the assessed value of your Homestead property can increase no more than 3%, (or the consumer price index (CPI) - whichever is less), over last year's assessed value. The Department of Revenue certifies a consumer price index, then notifies the assessor's office of the official rate.
To give you an example: If your Homestead property was assessed at $100,000 last year and it's market value has increased to $125,000 this year, your maximum current year assessed value can only increase by the official CPI rate, (as listed above, 3% or less). The market value indicates a higher rate of increase in value, but the Homestead property's assessed value increase rate is capped. The increase can be no more than 3% over the previous year's assessed value.
There are only a few ways in which a
homestead property assessment can increase more than the 3% (or the CPI). One of
these is when there are improvements to your property which were
not reflected in the previous year's
assessment. (Contact the Appraiser's Office if you have a specific question.)
Remember! When there is a change in ownership, the assessed value will
be brought up to the market value.
2007 Consumer Price Index (CPI) -
To figure the 2007 Assessed Value of a homesteaded property, multiply the 2006
Assessed Value by the 2007 rate of 2.50%.
The official CPI for 2007, used for calculating the Amendment 10 CAP, is 2.50%
2006 CPI - 3.00%
2005 CPI - 3.00%
2004 CPI - 1.90%
2003 CPI - 2.40%
2002 CPI - 1.60%
2001 CPI - 3.00%
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 a willing buyer, (one who did not
have to buy the property) would pay a willing seller (one who did not have to
sell) as of last January 1.
The Property Appraiser does not set the tax rate nor collect the taxes.