[author: George W. Powell]

The Florida County Property Appraiser Offices have started to mail the 2012 Property Tax Assessment Notices, commonly known as TRIM Notices. These Notices present the 2012 property assessments and are mailed for both real and for personal property. It is critical to review these Notices upon receipt as the Value Adjustment Board (VAB) appeal period is only 25 days from the date of mailing. Any appeal filed with the VAB after the filing deadline will be returned. Only under the most extreme circumstances may the VAB allow a late filing, and only after a hearing on the issue. If you are unsure of the validity of an assessment appeal, filing a timely appeal protects your appeal rights while the value is being analyzed, and there is no penalty for withdrawal.

Akerman handles property assessment appeals at both the VAB and circuit court level. Assessment appeals involve complex valuation issues in which our attorneys are trained. With a team including an attorney that holds the MAI designation from the Appraisal Institute, Akerman regularly handles appeals throughout the state of Florida. Mailing dates for selected Florida counties are detailed below.

• Broward: August 13
• Collier: August 17
• Duval: August 24
• Hillsborough: No later than August 17
• Lee: August 17
• Martin: August 20
• Miami-Dade: August 24
• Orange: No later than August 16
• Osceola: August 17
• Palm Beach: August 24
• Pinellas: August 20
• St. Lucie: August 17
• Seminole: August 20
• Volusia: August 17

For more information about TRIM Notices, please contact Cecelia Bonifay, James McCann, George Powell, or Christopher Roper.