The 2020 Tax Appeal filing season in now beginning if you have questions about the process please don’t hesitate to contact us to find out more about our services.  The deadline for filing the paperwork is in early September.

You can check the proposed new assessed values today on the County Property Appraiser Website.

Sign Up for 2020

REAL ESTATE TAXES IN SOUTH FLORIDA

The real estate tax assessment is established each year by the County Property Appraiser using mass appraisal techniques and covers the over 900,000 parcels in Miami-Dade County.

If you live in Florida and own property, you will receive a TRIM (Truth in Millage) notice in late August. This notice will give you an estimate of the real estate taxes that the property owner must pay, based on the assessed value and millage rate.

The millage rate is derived by dividing the funds the city and county government need to operate, the total assessed value of real estate. The real estate taxes for a property is then calculated by multiplying your assessed value by the millage rate.

The County’s Budget / Total Value of all properties in the County = Millage rate (tax rate)
Assessed Value x Millage rate = Your Yearly Real Estate Taxes

As a taxpayer, you are only obligated to pay your fair share, but the only part of the real estate tax equation which can be appealed is the value assessment. This is where we can help.

After you receive the TRIM notice, there is usually a period of 25 days to file an appeal petition if you wish to contest the proposed valuation assessment.

In the next 6-8 months, there will be a hearing before a Special Magistrate to present evidence that the property is over-assessed.  If the magistrate agrees with the evidence the County will issue a refund check for the difference.

As a property owner, you are permitted to file your own appeal and present your arguments before the Special Magistrate. However, most property owners find that using a professional that has experience with both the data and process is much more effective.

With our 40 plus years of combined knowledge of South Florida real estate valuations as estate brokers, former professional appraisers, and teachers, we are well equipped to represent property owners in the successful appeal of real estate tax assessments.

For over 20 years Dixon Commercial Real Estate has been assisting property owners in minimizing their taxes by

  • Proactively filing appeal petitions for clients in good standing.
  • Reviewing annual real estate assessment changes.
  • Preparing a no-nonsense valuation analysis that can be easily understood by the Special Magistrates that review cases.
  • Personally presenting the appeal information to the VAB Special Magistrates at the individual hearings.
  • Following up with both clients and the Tax Collectors office to confirm the correct amount is refunded.

Specialized skills to achieve results:

  • Knowledge of local markets – Residents of Miami for 40+ years.
  • Extensive use of latest technology for research and presentation.
  • Over 20 years of commercial appraisal experience.
  • Over 20 years of real estate tax appeal experience.
  • Over 40 years as an owner, manager, and developer of commercial real estate.
  • Active real estate brokers of commercial and multi-family and residential properties.
  • Tom Dixon is a licensed Real Estate Broker and a Miami Commercial Realtor member and past president of the Miami Association of Realtors and The Commercial Industrial Association of South Florida (CIASF).
  • Andrew Dixon is a licensed Real Estate Broker and also Miami Commercial Realtor member and formed Board Member(2015-2018) and as well as board member of The CIASF.
  • Roger Lopez is a licensed Real Estate Sales Agent and Miami Commercial Realtor.
  • Our office is the author of the annual CIASF Industrial Market Report and occasional co-producers of other CIASF Market Reports and events.

Results oriented:

We charge only a $20/folio fee to cover County filing costs and review research.  All other fees are based on successful reductions.

We don’t make any money unless you save money!

Frequently Asked Questions

Refunds are sent automatically by the County Finance Department to the entity that paid the taxes on the owner’s behalf in the form of a refund check that will list the year and the note “Tax Correction”.  This check is usually sent to either the bank’s escrow department, or the owner themselves. The county will default to using the name and address found in the top left corner of the check used to pay the taxes as the return address.  If for any reason you need this to be changed, you will need to contact the Tax Collector’s office (305-270-4916). We can assist in this but ultimately the request has to come from the property owner.

Typically the county will send out a refund 4-6 weeks after the hearing date.  We cannot control when the hearing for your property will take place, but it will occur between September and May.  At the latest you should receive a check by August if we were successful in reducing the taxes for the previous year.

Sometimes your property will be scheduled for a hearing before the taxes are paid.  In these cases, if we are successful in reducing the taxable value, you will receive a revised tax bill in the mail following the processing of the hearing.  For these we will calculate the savings based on the change between the value announced in the TRIM notice mailed in August and revised values as evidenced by the Finds of Fact sheet provided by the County Value Adjustment Board and the revised tax bill.

Refunds checks get issued by law to the entity that paid the taxes.  If a bank or escrow service paid the taxes on your behalf (normal for mortgaged property) then the County issues the check back to them.  Once the escrow company receives the check they will deposit it and credit it to the account for your property. You may then request they issue you a check or save the money to pay for next year’s taxes.  We can assist in verifying where and when the check was sent to the escrow company. However, the owner will have to contact the escrow company to request the refund out of the escrow account.

If the name on the refund check does not appear to be a bank or escrow company, please call us immediately so we can call the county to investigate.