Understanding Your Florida 2005 Property Tax Bill

Real Estate and Tangible Personal Property Tax Billsremodeling, renovation or expansion, vertical or
May Now Be Paid at a Discounthorizontal.
Taxes paid--i.e., received by the Tax Collector--duringUpon completion of the certified tax roll, the Property
November are subject to a 4% discount;Appraiser delivers the certified tax roll to the Tax
December are subject to a 3% discount;Collector who mails tax notices to the last owner of
January are subject to a 2% discount;record and collects moneys due to the various taxing
February are subject to a 1% discount.authorities.
Taxes paid after March 31 are delinquent and areCombined Tax Notices are mailed each year in
subject to penalties and 1 1/2% delinquent interest perNovember for the calendar year January through
month.December. For instance, tax bills mailed in November
As of this writing, bills have been mailed out on every2005 are for calendar year January through
parcel of real estate and every folio of taxableDecember 2005. Taxes become delinquent on April 1
tangible personal property in Florida.each year, at which time additional interest and fees
Real property taxes are ad valorem assessments onare added to the bill. Discounts do not apply to
parcels of land, buildings and improvements to land anddelinquent payments.
buildings within Miami-Dade County. The real propertyAccording to section 197.122, Florida Statutes, the
tax notice also includes non-ad valorem assessmentstaxpayer is "held to know" when taxes are due and
levied against the property.payable. If a taxpayer does not receive a tax notice in
Both types of taxes appear on the same tax bill andNovember, it is the taxpayer's responsibility to contact
are subject to enforcemenet and collection in thethe Tax Collector's Office to request a duplicate tax
same way.notice.
Ad valorem taxes typically appear at the top of theThe Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners,
tax bill and non-advolrem at the bottom.municipal governments and various governing bodies
"Ad valorem" means "on the value." These are taxesset the millage rates for properties within their
based on the valuation of the property taxed. Adboundaries. One mill equals $1.00 per $1,000 of property
valorem taxes include real estate, tangible peronal;value.
property and intangible personal property.You may estimate your real property ad valorem tax
Non-ad valorem assessments are fees for servicesby using the assessed value, minus any exemptions,
such as Solid Waste, Fire, Lighting, Guard and othermultiply by the millage rate and divide by 1,000. For
special assessments.instance, $100,000 in taxable value with a millage rate
Real property tax notices are mailed to the owner andof 5.0000 divided by 1,000 would generate $500 in
address of record on or before November 1 of eachtaxes.
year for the calendar year, January throughNon-ad valorem assessments must be added to real
December.property tax, if applicable for the estimate to be
The property values are based on a valuationaccurate. Non-ad valorem assessments do not apply
prepared by the Property Appraiser as of January 1.to tangible personal property.
The same value carries through for the entire year,You may access tables of recent millage rates from
even though the value of the property may bethe Property Appraiser, or historical millage rates
reduced during the year by fire, demolition, hurruicanebelow.
or other causes--or enhanced during the year through