Pieces to the Puzzle

Welcome to May! As we all get settled into the warmer weather that beautiful Florida likes to bring us, I wanted to share what our office is currently doing. Just like the daily sunshine and possible afternoon thunderstorms are routine around these parts, many of our daily, weekly, monthly, and annual functions are also the same each year. Yes, each year stands on its own when it comes to values but the processes and the deadlines are the same.  

The Citrus County Property Appraiser's office continues to work on the 2024 tax roll and make preparations for the release of the estimated 2024 taxable property values to the Citrus County taxing authorities. Let’s talk about a few of these dates and why they are important to not only you the property owner but to our organization as well. 

Before June 1, my office will be submitting the estimated taxable property values for 2024 to cities and other authorities who levy taxes because they need them to begin developing their budgets. The taxing authorities review the property values in their jurisdictions and decide on a proposed tax rate. 

On July 1, my office will be submitting a preliminary tax roll to Florida’s Department of Revenue, the agency that oversees the operations of all Property Appraisers in the state. At that time the Florida Department of Revenue will begin their review process of all of our values based off of their independent study. This protects you the property owner as well as the taxing authorities for a fair and equitable roll. The Florida Department of Revenue will be the final approval on all of our values. 

On August 16, my office will then mail the Notice of Proposed Taxes to all property owners, detailing the assessed and taxable values of your property, as well as the tax rates proposed by taxing authorities. We will be writing about this topic more in the coming months. 

As you have read in my previous articles, we should know that March 1^st was the Florida Statute deadline to apply for your homestead exemption; however, don’t fret. I have extended this deadline which is also allowed for you to late file your application for me to grant you this amazing exemption.

One of the most underrated aspects of the homestead exemption is that it doesn’t just reduce the taxable assessment of your home, it also caps its annual valuation. The “Save Our Homes Cap” limits any increase to the assessed value of a homestead exempt property to a maximum of 3% each year or the change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI), whichever is lower. Over time, the cap can provide substantial tax bill savings.

For 2024, the maximum increase will be 3%, as the change in CPI increased 3.4% from December 2022 to December 2023. This increase in CPI reflects continued but slowing inflation over the past year across dozens of consumer categories including shelter, food, transportation, and energy.

While the change in the CPI follows many markets, Florida law requires my office to value property based on the status of the real estate market. My office will determine a total market value for every home as of January 1, taking into consideration the price fluctuations reflected in the sales of residential properties. But if your property is homesteaded, the taxable assessed value will not increase more than 3%.

As Florida law requires my office to value property based on the status of the real estate market and the property as of Jan. 1 each year, my staff are currently gathering information for 2024 assessments. I want to thank my staff for their hard work and commitment to accuracy and excellence. I am proud of every single one of the 49 qualified public servants in my office. We determine the taxable value of more than 147,000 parcels and nearly 7,000 tangible personal property accounts in the county every year.

These preliminary estimates assist the county, municipalities, and other taxing authorities in projecting their budgets and tax rates and also provide a benchmark as to what revenue they can expect to receive from property taxes in the coming year.

After the taxing authorities have determined their budgets and proposed tax rates based on the preliminary estimates, my office will mail the Notice of Proposed taxes to every property owner in August. The notice will detail the assessed value of your property, your proposed tax rates, and an estimate of your tax bill.

We look forward to providing Citrus County residents and property owners with continued information in the coming months. Our Customer Service Department is always available to answer questions in both offices. Please call (352) 341-6600 or visit our website at citruspa.org. Our social media pages are also available via Facebook or Instagram at @CitrusCountyFLPropertyAppr.

Sincerely,

Cregg E. Dalton, CFA

Citrus County Property Appraiser