How to read your Florida TRIM notice

Its official name is the “Notice of proposed property taxes and non-ad valorem assessments” (Fla. Stat. 200.069). This is the TRIM notice.

NOTICE OF PROPOSED PROPERTY TAXES / DO NOT PAY—THIS IS NOT A BILL

That required first-page header tells you the document shows proposed taxes. It is not a bill (Fla. Stat. 200.069).

The property appraiser mails the notice in August. Florida's timing rule says the mailing happens by “the later of 55 days after certification of value ... or 10 days after either the date the tax roll is approved or the interim roll procedures under s. 193.1145 are instituted” (Fla. Stat. 200.065(2)(b)). In plain language, that means a mid-to-late August TRIM mailing.

The first page uses seven required headings (Fla. Stat. 200.069(2)(a)):

1. Taxing Authority
2. Your Property Taxes Last Year
3. Last Year's Adjusted Tax Rate (Millage)
4. Your Taxes This Year IF NO Budget Change Is Adopted
5. Tax Rate This Year IF PROPOSED Budget Is Adopted (Millage)
6. Your Taxes This Year IF PROPOSED Budget Change Is Adopted
7. A Public Hearing on the Proposed Taxes and Budget Will Be Held:

Read across the row for each taxing authority. The columns compare last year's property taxes and adjusted tax rate with this year's taxes under no budget change and under the proposed budget. The last column gives the proposed-tax public-hearing information.

The second page shows market value, assessed value, exemption value, and taxable value for the prior and current years, for each taxing authority (Fla. Stat. 200.069(6)).

If you challenge the value the property appraiser set, the number at issue is the just or market value. Assessed value, exemptions, and taxable value appear separately on the notice.

The seventh column points to a public hearing on proposed taxes and the budget. Florida law places that hearing within 80 days after certification of value, but not earlier than 65 days after certification (Fla. Stat. 200.065(2)(c)).

That hearing line is not your property value petition deadline. The property appraiser sets the value, not the tax rates. For the separate 25-day petition window, read our Florida property tax appeal guide.

The notice must include this disclosure (Fla. Stat. 200.069(9)):

Your final tax bill may contain non-ad valorem assessments which may not be reflected on this notice such as assessments for roads, fire, garbage, lighting, drainage, water, sewer...

Because those assessments may not appear on the notice, the final bill can differ from the amounts shown there.