Your Florida notice shows several different dollar figures for the same property, and they are supposed to be different. Market value is the appraiser’s estimate of what the property would sell for. Assessed value can be lower because of limits on how much it may rise each year. Taxable value is what remains after exemptions and is the number your tax is actually calculated on. Here is how each one works and which one matters if you think your assessment is too high.
Just Value, or Market Value
Florida’s constitution requires property to be assessed at “just value,” which the courts treat as fair market value: what the property would sell for in an arm’s-length transaction. To estimate it, the property appraiser weighs statutory factors listed in section 193.011 of the Florida Statutes, including recent comparable sales, the property’s size and use, condition, location, and the cost to replace it. On your notice, this figure is labeled market value or just value, and it is the number a valuation challenge is aimed at.
Assessed Value and Save Our Homes
Assessed value starts from just value but can be held below it by assessment limitations. For a homestead property, the Save Our Homes provision caps the annual increase in assessed value at the lower of 3 percent or the change in the Consumer Price Index. In a rising market, this cap compounds year after year, so a long-held home can have an assessed value far below its market value. If the calculated assessed value ever exceeds just value, it is lowered to just value.
This is why a homestead’s assessed value being lower than its market value is normal, not a discount the appraiser chose to grant. It reflects a cap the law applies automatically.
Taxable Value and Exemptions
Taxable value is assessed value minus the exemptions that apply to your property. The homestead exemption is the most common: for a qualifying primary residence, a portion of value is exempt, reducing what is taxed. Other exemptions may apply as well, such as those for certain veterans, seniors, or persons with disabilities. Because your tax is calculated on taxable value, an exemption that quietly disappears from your notice can raise your taxes even if nothing about your property changed.
One Property, Different Taxable Values
The second page of your notice lists assessed value, exemptions, and taxable value separately for each taxing authority, and the taxable values are not always the same. That is because some exemptions apply to some levies but not others. The additional homestead exemption, for example, does not apply to school district taxes. So the taxable value used for your school taxes can be higher than the taxable value used for county taxes on the very same home. Seeing different taxable values in different rows is expected.
Portability
When a homeowner with an established Save Our Homes benefit moves, Florida’s portability provision allows transferring some or all of that accumulated benefit to a new Florida homestead, subject to limits and a separate application. Portability affects the assessed value of the new home and is a common reason two similar houses on the same street carry very different assessed values.
Non-Homestead Properties
Homestead is not the only cap. Most non-homestead real property, such as second homes and many commercial and rental properties, is subject to a separate limitation of 10 percent on annual assessment increases, with exceptions, including that the limit does not apply to school district levies. The practical effect is similar in spirit to Save Our Homes but with a higher cap and narrower reach.
Why Purchase Price Does Not Automatically Equal Assessed Value
Buyers often expect their new assessed value to equal what they paid. It usually does not. For homestead property, the year after a change of ownership the assessed value generally resets to just value as of the following January 1, and the Save Our Homes cap begins again from there. A sale price is one piece of evidence the appraiser may consider in estimating just value, but the notice value is the appraiser’s own estimate, not a copy of the closing statement.
Wondering whether your market value is out of line with what similar homes have sold for? A Free Assessment Review compares your assessment against available property and comparable-sales data and tells you whether it appears worth a closer look. You decide whether to file, and you file directly with your county.
Why a Rising Tax Bill Does Not Prove an Error
A higher tax bill can come from a higher value, a higher millage rate, the loss of an exemption, or a combination. Because rates and values move independently, an increase alone does not show that your assessment is wrong. The question for a valuation challenge is narrower: is the market value the appraiser assigned higher than what comparable properties indicate?
Why a Lower Assessed Value Is Not the Appraiser’s Opinion of Worth
If your assessed value sits well below nearby sale prices, that is generally the assessment cap at work, not a signal that the appraiser believes your home is worth less than the market. In fact, a capped assessed value can coexist with a market value the appraiser considers accurate. When evaluating a possible challenge, compare the market (just) value to comparable sales, not the capped assessed value.
Which Value a Valuation Concern Targets, and When the Issue Is Something Else
A valuation challenge addresses just or market value. If your real issue is a missing homestead exemption, a denied agricultural classification, an ownership or record error, or a portability question, then a value petition is not the right tool. Those are separate matters with their own rules and, in several cases, their own deadlines. A missing or denied homestead exemption and a denied agricultural classification are challenged as exemption or classification issues, which carry a 30-day petition window rather than the 25-day valuation window. Ownership disputes and plain errors in the property record, such as the wrong square footage or year built, are often best raised first with the property appraiser directly, because correcting a factual record can change the value without a formal hearing. Sorting out which kind of issue you actually have is the first step, because it determines both the remedy and the deadline. The article on the Florida Value Adjustment Board process explains those separate petition tracks, and the Florida county deadlines and official resources guide points to current county source pages.
An Illustrative Example
The figures below are illustrative only. They use round numbers to show how the values relate to one another. They are not a prediction of any specific property’s assessment or tax bill.
Imagine a homesteaded house the appraiser estimates would sell for $500,000 this year. The owner has held it for several years while the market rose, so Save Our Homes has capped the growth in assessed value. Assume the capped assessed value is $360,000. The homestead exemption reduces taxable value, and one portion of that exemption applies to most levies while an additional portion does not apply to school levies.
| Line | County levies | School levies |
|---|---|---|
| Just (market) value | $500,000 | $500,000 |
| Assessed value (after Save Our Homes cap) | $360,000 | $360,000 |
| Homestead exemption applied | $50,000 | $25,000 |
| Taxable value | $310,000 | $335,000 |
Three things stand out. First, the assessed value ($360,000) is well below the market value ($500,000) purely because of the annual cap, not because the appraiser thinks the home is worth less. Second, taxable value differs by taxing authority: because the additional homestead exemption does not apply to school taxes, the school taxable value ($335,000) is higher than the county taxable value ($310,000) for the same house. Third, a valuation challenge would target the $500,000 just value, comparing it against recent sales of similar homes, not the capped assessed value.
If this owner bought the home this year instead, the picture would change. The year after a purchase, the assessed value for a homestead generally resets to just value, so assessed value would start near $500,000 and the Save Our Homes cap would begin building again from there.
Common Misconceptions
A few beliefs cause the most confusion. “My taxes went up, so my assessment must be wrong” overlooks that rates, values, and exemptions move independently. “I paid $500,000, so that should be my assessed value” overlooks the reset-and-cap mechanics that follow a purchase. “My assessed value is low, so the county already agrees my house is worth less” mistakes an automatic cap for an opinion of market value. And “all three of my values should match” misreads a system deliberately built to produce different numbers for different purposes.
Where to Start
If, after separating these concepts, you still think the market value on your notice is higher than what comparable homes have sold for, that is the kind of concern a valuation review addresses. A Free Assessment Review compares your assessment against available property and comparable-sales data and explains whether it appears worth a closer look. If the data does not support moving forward, you will be told that at no charge. You decide whether to file, and you file any petition directly with your county.