Keep what the county already over-collected.
Most Florida homeowners who appeal pull the property appraiser's record, walk it line by line, and recover what the county took in error — the refund isn't a favor, it's an adjustment. The filing window is 25 days after the TRIM notice (Notice of Proposed Property Taxes) was mailed, per Fla. Stat. § 194.011(3), with a Sept. 18 statutory fall-back date under Fla. Stat. § 200.069. The packet walks one homeowner through pulling the property record card, building a defended DR-486 petition packet, and showing up to the county Value Adjustment Board (VAB) hearing prepared. Pay $37 once. Keep every dollar of the savings.
Pick the right county — the deadline on this page updates with the URL.
Land on /florida?county=Miami-Dade (or Broward, Palm Beach, Hillsborough, Orange, Duval, Pinellas, Lee, Polk, Volusia) to see that county’s § 194.011(3) filing window. Every other Florida county ships “data pending” rather than a manufactured countdown.
Three steps. One Florida VAB petition.
- 01Step 1
The TRIM notice arrives
Florida county property appraisers mail the Notice of Proposed Property Taxes (the TRIM notice — Truth in Millage) in mid-to-late August each year. The 25-day VAB petition window per Fla. Stat. § 194.011(3) runs from the date the TRIM notice was mailed — not from the start of the tax year. The deadline on this page is keyed to that citation, with the Sept. 18 fall-back under Fla. Stat. § 200.069 when the mail date is delayed.
- 02Step 2
File the DR-486 petition packet
Florida VABs require a petition on Form DR-486 (the Request for Hearing) plus the evidence packet that supports your challenge. The packet is sequenced the way you actually build the petition: walk the property appraiser record card, pull three comps, draft the right petition basis (market value, classification, or exemption denial), and slot the whole case into the evidence-packet template. File DR-486 with the County Clerk before the 25-day window closes.
- 03Step 3
File before the deadline and show up
Submit the DR-486 with filing fee to the Clerk well before the 25-day window closes (or before Sept. 18 if the TRIM mail date is delayed). The county VAB clerk schedules the hearing roughly 60–120 days out. Then read the four-line script once the morning of the hearing, bring the bound packet, and answer the objections as rehearsed — not improvised. The morning-of packet is what the VAB special magistrate flips through first.
The four moving parts.
Every Florida VAB petition runs through the same four checkpoints. The packet targets each one, so the file the special magistrate reads is built the way the procedure expects.
- Appeal body01
Value Adjustment Board (VAB)
Every Florida county convenes its own Value Adjustment Board — a special magistrate appointed by the board to hear petitions on real and tangible property assessments, classifications, and exemption denials. The same VAB hears every petition in the county for that cycle, and its decision is enforceable through the circuit court on further review.
- Petition form02
Form DR-486
The Florida Department of Revenue-prescribed petition form is DR-486 — the Request for Hearing. It is filed with the County Clerk (not the property appraiser), carries a filing fee per petition, and is processed by the VAB clerk who schedules the hearing. Most large counties accept DR-486 filing online through the Clerk VAB portal; smaller counties accept it by mail or in person.
- Filing window03
25 days after TRIM · Sept 18 fall-back
Per Fla. Stat. § 194.011(3), a petition to the VAB must be filed within 25 days after the TRIM notice (Notice of Proposed Property Taxes) was mailed. Most county property appraisers mail TRIM notices in mid-to-late August, so a 25-day window typically places the close in mid-September. Fla. Stat. § 200.069 sets Sept. 18 as a statutory fall-back landing-date when the county mail date is delayed or not yet verified.
- Hearing format04
In person · before a VAB special magistrate
Hearings run roughly 60–120 days after the DR-486 file date at the county courthouse or a published VAB hearing room. The packet is what the special magistrate reads first — bring it bound, tabbed, paginated. The magistrate will walk the comps with you and respond to the property appraiser’s evidence on the record. A non-attorney agent may appear on the owner’s behalf with a signed authorization.
The five things Florida
homeowners ask first.
The same questions come up before the appeal — and the same honest answers apply to a § 194.011(3) VAB petition as anywhere else.
The five things people
ask before filing.
Read this once before paying. The same questions show up every time — and the honest answer to each is below.
Pay $37 once. Keep every dollar of the savings.
Start at the $37 packet and pay by card. Toggle the +$17 hearing-script bump on the way to Stripe if you want the four-objection rehearse sheet included.
What the Florida kit covers
- · A Florida-property-record audit checklist.
- · Comps worksheet + free comp sources list.
- · Three DR-486 petition basis templates (market / classification / exemption denial).
- · Evidence-packet template, VAB-formatted.
- · § 194.011(3) + § 200.069 deadline guide for Florida counties.
Questions first? overruled-2@polsia.app
Not legal advice. Overruled ships information and templates — checklist, worksheet, DR-486 petition basis templates, evidence-packet template, and a § 194.011(3) filing-window guide — so you can prepare and represent yourself at a county Value Adjustment Board (VAB) hearing. It is not a substitute for a property tax attorney, especially for rentals, multi-property, commercial, or matters in active litigation (in which case circuit-court review may follow). Paid firms typically take a percentage of your first-year savings; the packet exists so that money stays yours.