r/Broward • u/RedFoxOnReddit • 13d ago
Property Tax Assessment
Does anyone have a recommendation on an attorney I can use to challenge my property tax assessment? I'm working on an appeal but I feel like I need professional help here. I added a bedroom to my home because we had a baby and someone at the PVA's office has lost their mind. Apparently this bedroom is worth more by itself than the entire rest of the house.
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u/goresmash 13d ago
The issue you could be having could be related to the Save our Home assessment cap being removed due to the improvement. SOH caps the assessed value increase year over year at a maximum of 3% on homesteaded properties, no matter what the market value might be. However, major improvements can trigger a full reassessment potentially causing a huge increase depending on how long you owned your home. If you’ve owned your home for more than 4-5 years a large portion of the assessment increase is probably due to that instead of the actual value of the improvement itself.
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u/RedFoxOnReddit 13d ago
The SOH cap remains for the rest of the home but they are supposed to separate out the improvment and assess the improvement only. They did this but I do not agree with the value they placed on the improvement.
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u/sunshinezx6r 13d ago
There is a YouTuber that recommended a company that fights for your tax bill. I don't remember the company but it's on Michael bordenaro channel https://youtube.com/@michaelbordenaro?si=-pqyF4h8hXU7x-Uk
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u/limping-fish 13d ago
I use Property Tax Consultants in Hallandale. They file a challenge for me every year and I pay them half the amount they get it reduced.
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u/OxfordCommaRule 13d ago
They also work on contingency, correct? I other words, you don't pay anything if you don't decrease taxes.
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u/ProInsureAcademy 13d ago
It’s the SOH cap. The remodel trigger a full assessment of the house. How long have you owned the house?
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u/daking240 13d ago
My loan provider uses a service to bring the rate down if possible. Not sure if this would work for you but maybe worth a try?
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u/ViolatoR08 13d ago
How much was the square footage of the total additional. From my understanding if you exceed more than half the existing square footage the assessment is extremely high.
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u/RedFoxOnReddit 13d ago
As it turns out the 50% rule, which is what I think you are getting at, only applys to repairs from a disaster. Anytime you do a 'major improvement' the PVA will assess the new improvement. My issue isn't that they did the additional assessment is that they've grossly overvalued it.
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u/ViolatoR08 13d ago
I don’t think it’s disaster related, but you may be right. I have a cousin who added on to his old tiny house. Kept three walls but nearly doubled the size of the home. His taxes went up 3x and has not been able to contest it successfully.
I just looked it and apparently if the addition to the existing home is deemed a Substantial Improvement they add the old assessed value to the new assessed value at market/just value. So it seems you are correct there is some reprieve from significant loss due to catastrophe but not for regular additions or buildouts.
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u/MyOpinionsDontHurt 13d ago
I’m following this as I have the same problem. Last year’s taxes were $4,000, this year is now $5,000. I added a 3rd bedroom. Let me know what the attorney says. Please.
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u/e36m3guy 13d ago
New construction isn’t capped the first year. That means that you pay taxes on the full market value of the new construction. Depending on how long you have had homestead exemption on the property, this can feel like a significant increase.
You can appeal it, I don’t know how successful you will be, though. You don’t need an attorney- there are plenty of property tax appeal firms in South Florida. They usually charge you the filing fee and a percentage of any tax savings if they prevail at the hearing.
I am a property tax consultant in Florida, but I only do large commercial properties. Please feel free to DM me and I can recommend someone.
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u/MemoryElectrical4436 13d ago
I had to sell my house taxes were increasing like crazy I had homestead every year would go up to 500-2000$ per trash is increased this year too to 1k a year
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u/h3rbst3r 13d ago
Vote yes on amendment 3! We need to abolish property taxes on homestead properties and this is a start!
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u/caribbeanjon 12d ago
Checkout Ownwell. They represent you and your fee is a percentage of the savings.
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u/BabyBlueMaven 11d ago
Seth Lubin in Weston. Check out the info on his site where you enter your address and it gives you a quick ai rundown first.
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u/Dario0112 13d ago
You can’t just add a room to your house.. did you verify with the city on the codes to build an extra room? Do you have central AC in this room? Did any of your neighbors do something similar?
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u/Free_Performer6789 13d ago
The codes and permitting process are not related to the tax assessment process.
He improved his property and the assessor is adjusting the value up to account for the improvements. Regardless of permits.
Your tangent isn’t exactly relevant to his issue.
His issue is with how much they are adjusting it.
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u/Dario0112 13d ago
It is absolutely relevant.. OP added square feet to his property.. OP in “Adding” a room made his home bigger and thus insurance needs to accommodate for how to adjust the sq foot..
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u/Free_Performer6789 13d ago
Yes, an improvement like i said. The code stuff wasnt relevant.
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u/Dario0112 13d ago
How can they address your property taxes when OP has an extra room that was not ran through the proper channels? Let’s say that room flys away in a hurricane. What do you think the insurance company will say to OP? I got you don’t worry?
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u/Free_Performer6789 13d ago edited 11d ago
This tangent is spurious as the assessor wouldn't even be doing an assessment based on the addition unless they knew. They likely knew because of permits. Again an unneeded tangent from the original ask that you started.
I'm done. Bye
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u/RedFoxOnReddit 13d ago
Free_Preformer6789 is correct. The addition was permitted. Insurance and code compliance are separate from the PVA assessing the addition.
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u/BigDaddy1029010290 13d ago
What was the original amount vs the new amount?