The County Property Appraiser is an elected official charged with the duty and responsibility to appraise all of the property in Collier County. This includes real estate and tangible personal property (the equipment, machinery and fixtures) of businesses. The Property Appraiser prepares the tax roll, but does not collect taxes or determine tax rates.

What are the Property Appraiser´s Duties?

The County Property Appraiser is required by law to assess all property within the county each January 1^st. This task is closely monitored by the Florida Department of Revenue who, by law, establish rules and regulations that must be followed by the Property Appraiser.

In Collier County this means that the Property Appraiser is determining the market value for over 200,000 individual parcels of land and the buildings, including thousands of acres of citrus, pasture and farm land, as well as thousands of tangible personal property accounts.

The Property Appraiser does not create value. He reflects the market sales activity between willing buyers and sellers.

In addition to appraising property, the Property Appraiser must administer homestead exemptions, determine property entitled to capped assessments, agricultural classification, determine the eligibility of certain religious, charitable, educational and municipal property for tax exemption, as well as administer widow, widower´s and disability exemptions. The Property appraiser also maintains current and up to date legal descriptions and ownership tax maps of all the real property in Collier County.

Why Appraised Values change from Year-to-Year

As market value changes so does the appraised value. For instance, if a swimming pool were added to a property the value of that property would increase, and likewise the appraised value of the property would increase also. If a detached garage were removed from the property the market value of that property could decrease.

The economy of the community affects the appraised value. Each year the county is re-appraised in order to reflect the proper market value and comply with Florida Statutes. If the economy is strong, it may result in increased property values. Conversely, if the economy is weak, those real estate values may decrease.

The Property Appraiser does not create market value. It is created by supply and demand for property through buying and selling transactions. The Property Appraiser has the responsibility to discover this value as it exists and appraise the property accordingly.

The Property Appraiser does not set the tax rates or millage rates, collect taxes, nor does he have any input towards the setting of the tax rate or millage rate. However, as a property owner, you should not only be interested in what value is placed on your property for tax purposes, but in how your property taxes are determine and where your tax dollars end up.

The property tax is the primary means by which local government pays for the services it provides, such as police and fire protection, schools, roads, parks, libraries, and the court system. All of the property taxes collected remain in the local community and is the primary source of revenue for local government services.

Before the amount of property tax for your property can be determined, it is necessary to know the amount of money to be spent by the local government for one year (the budget) and the total assessed value for all properties on the assessment roll. Public Schools, Water Management, Mosquito Control, City and County governments are examples of different taxing authorities within our local government.

To figure the tax rate, let's assume the budget for all of the taxing authorities combined is 450 million dollars for the fiscal year. Let's also assume the total assessed value for all properties is 30 billion dollars.

The budget, (less anticipated revenues from sources other than the property tax,) is divided by the assessed value, (less exempt property,) to obtain the tax rate. (450,000,000 / 30,000,000,000 = 0.015). This result may be expressed as a 1.5 percent tax rate applied to taxable value.                                                                     

The tax bill for individual property is calculated by multiplying the taxable value of the property by the tax rate. Let's assume the market value of our property is 100,000. A Homestead Exemption of 25,000 was granted which reduces the value to 75,000.

Consequently, the total taxes levied in our example would be calculated as follows:

                                                       75,000 x .015 = 1,125

The tax liability for this particular property owner would be $1,125 towards the fiscal budget of 450 million.

Tax bills are mailed  out around   the first of November and become due and payable to the Tax Collector without penalty by March 31^st.  A 4% discount  is offered for an early payment in November. The discount reduces by 1% each month until March 1^st - March 31^st when the full amount becomes due.

"Save Our Homes" (Qualified Homestead Properties Only)

An amendment to the Florida Constitution (voted on and passed in November 1992, by approximately 54% of the voters in the State of Florida) was implemented in 1994 limiting the increases of the assessed value of a Qualifying Homestead Property to 3%, or the consumer price index (CPI), whichever is less, from one year to the next. This cap only applies to real property qualifying and receiving a homestead exemption. This cap does not apply to new construction or previously non-assessed improvements made to the property the first year that it is added to the tax roll.

The cap goes into effect the year following the granting of the homestead exemption. When a homesteaded property is sold or conveyed to a new owner, the assessed value then becomes the full market value. If the new owner applies and receives a homestead exemption then the process starts all over.