Field Descriptions


     Field Name                          

     
     Identification Information

     Mill Group
     Parcel Number                           
     Location Address                   Total Millage   
     Today's Date                        Legal Description
        
     
     Value Information

                                                           
     Land Value (Regular & Ag)        Assessed Value
     Building Value                         Exempt Value
     Miscellaneous Value                 Taxable Value
     Total Value
     
     Land Data
 
     Type of Land Use
     Number of Units            
     Unit Type
     Sale Information

     Book(Official Record Book)           Qualification   
     Page(Official Book Page)             Improved?(At Time Of Sale?)          
     Date(Sale Date)                        Sale Price





     Instrument
     

     
     
     Building data 
     Floor Area
     Type                      
     Effective Year Built

  











































Today's Date For your convenience, this field records the date you viewed or printed this information. 
Parcel Number The Parcel Number or "Parcel Identification Number" is a numerical code used for record storage that also serves as an abbreviation of the parcel's legal description. Each number is a unique identifier for one parcel only, yet parcel numbers in the same geographic area will have similar numbers. 
Millage Group The Millage Group a parcel belongs to refers to the geographic area of parcels that share the same set of taxing authorities. Taxing Authorities must hold public hearings each year before any taxes are levied.
Total Millage  The Millage Rate identifies the total aggregate millage rate levied for a particular parcel. Parcels in the same Millage Group will share the  same Millage Amount. A "Mill" is a monetary unit equal to one one thousandths of a dollar. It is set by the representatives of a Taxing Authority each year to fund their jurisdiction's budget. According to State Law, budgets cannot be set without public hearings for citizen input.
Location Address This is the address of the property location (when available). This address is usually created when a new building permit is issued. Many vacant parcels have either no address or just a street name as their location address. Although the Property Appraiser's Office does not rely on the location address for the indexing and locating of parcels (we use plat maps and legal descriptions), we try to update this information on a constant basis. Please feel free to contact this office in the case of any location addresses that needs updating or correction. We appreciate the help!


Legal Description This is the legal statement by which a property is identified and  described. This description is on or attached to an owner's deed.
Land (Regular & Agriculture) This is the value that the Property Appraiser has attributed to the land portion of your Total  Value. The Land Value, along with the Building Value and the Miscellaneous Value comprise the parcel's Total  Value. Assessed Value on properties classified as  Agricultural  according to Florida Law is assessed a little differently.
In this case, the law dictates that we assess 
the value for tax purposes based on the capitalized income stream from
the normal market expected from the sale of an agricultural product.
This legislation was enacted to protect the full time farmer and enhance
stability in the citizen's supply of agricultural products. 








Building & Miscellaneous Value Like the Land Value, the Building Value is the value that  the Property Appraiser attributes to the building(s) that have been built on the property.
Miscellaneous Value
Any miscellaneous improvements that have
been built onto a property. This would include pools, pole barns, boat
docks, paved parking areas and similar type improvements not attached to
a building.





Total Value This value represents the total Value of the parcel. It includes Land Value, Building Value and Miscellaneous Value. 
Assessed Value Assessed Value only differs from Total Value on Homesteaded property or property classified "agricultural" as specified by Florida State Law. Assessed Value on residential property, because of a constitutional  amendment to Florida law ("Amendment 10 "Save Our Homes"), has been capped at a yearly increase of 3% or the CPI (Consumer Price Index) whichever is lower (The CPI in 2000 was 2.7%).
In cases where the total value on a residential property increases more than
the capped amount, the total value will be different from the assessed value..

Assessed Value on Commercial and Industrial properties will always show the
Just value and Assessed value as the same.

Assessed Value on properties classified as Agricultural
according to Florida Law would also show a difference between the Just
Value and the Assessed Value. In this case, the law dictates that we assess
the value for tax purposes based on what the land produces from the sale of
an agricultural product.

This legislation was enacted to protect the full time farmer and enhance
stability in the citizen's supply of agricultural products.

In all cases, the Property Appraiser's Office maintains both a yearly 
Total Value as well as a yearly Assessed Value on every parcel in the
county. 










Exempt Value Exemptions are like "credits" granted by Florida Law to be deducted from your Assessed Value for various reasons. This reduced value will effect the final tax bill you pay. Some exemptions are based on property use like churches (totally exempt) and  homesteads (usually $25,000). Other exemptions are situational like disabled veterans and widows & widowers. Visit the Exemptions section of this site for more information.
Taxable Value The Taxable Value is the amount, after all legal classifications and exemptions have been applied, that the approved millage in your jurisdiction(s) is levied against.                              Example   Assessed Value   minus   Exemption Amount    =    Taxable Value      72,500                 25,000                47,500 In this example, the taxable value would be $47,500. If The parcel's jurisdiction had a Millage Amount of 26.304301, then: $ 47,500 X 26.304301 divided by 1000 (to convert to dollars) = $1249.45
One easy way to estimate the tax is to round the Millage Rate to dollars
and multiply this amount by the number of "thousands" you have in taxable Value.

               Millage Rate = 26.304301, convert to $26.00
         Thousands of Taxable Value = $ 47,500, convert to 48.
                              Thus:
        48 multiplied by $26 = $1248.00 (a very close estimate to $1249.45)

For further information, contact this office.











Book (Official Record Book) This number is the official record book at the County Clerk's Office where the deed for this transaction was recorded. The Book and it's corresponding Page number will enable you to quickly find the documents recorded regarding that particular sale transaction in the County's vast archive of records.
Page(Official Record Page) Like the Official Record Book information, the page number tells us where in that particular record book the documents relating to this sale transaction will be found. 

Sale Date

This is the date that the transaction took place. The Sale Date is very
Important to the Property Appraiser's Office because the real estate
market has been known to change dramatically over time.
 
 
 
 


Instrument

Instrument refers to the kind of legal instrument that was used to transfer
the parcel. For example, most open market transactions are executed by
Warranty Deed (WD), while most transfers of ownership within families are
done by Quit Claim (QC)deed. There are several ways to transfer property.


Qualification

Because the Property Appraiser's Office uses actual sales transactions when
analyzing property values in using the comparable sales method of
valuation (one of the methods used in considering value), it is important
that we use only sales that represent an "arms length" transaction. That
is - a sale of property between a knowledgeable buyer and a knowledgeable
seller with no undue influence that may have affected the price.

The sale Qualification process used by this office determines if we will or
will not use the sales in our analysis because the sale price "may" have been affected by some other influence aside from the fair market price.

For example, a parcel sold by parents to their children "may" have been
sold for a price lower than the parents could have received on the open
market. A seller who agrees to finance the sale to the buyer personally,
is more likely to sell at a higher price than the market because of the
extra service, and the buyer more likely to pay it for the same reason.

In both of these cases, we would choose not to use these sales for
analytical purposes because they may not accurately represent the market.


Improved?(at time of sale) This field tells you if the parcel was vacant or improved when the sale transaction took place. Sale Price This is the indicated sale price of the transaction. Deed Analysts from the Property Appraiser's Office consider the data on the transfer documents to ascertain the sale price.

Land Use

This is highest and best use a parcel could expect to be used for at
the present time. Potential use depends on the prevailing use and zoning
laws to determine its utility. The potential allowed use of a parcel
is a major consideration in the estimation of value.

It is not uncommon to see a property being used for a purpose other than
its highest and best potential. Consider the case of a 30 year old house
that sits on a prime parcel of commercial land. The knowledgeable buyer
would not consider this property a residential parcel nor would a
knowledgeable owner sell it as such. On most properties, however, the
existing land usage is the highest and best use.

The Property Appraiser's Office lists each land use for all sections
of the parcel.


Number of Units

The number of units refers to the amount of land for each section described
in our records.   The land units are usually characterized by "front feet", "lots",
"acres", or "square feet'.
 
 


Unit Type This is the unit of measure used to describe the parcel. In most cases this is a size measure like acres and square feet.  The data in this field refers to the unit of measure currently  being used to describe the parcel.
Improvement Type This describes the type of building (or Improvement). Although there could be many buildings on a single parcel, there will only be one Improvement Type per building. Examples of Improvement Types would include Single Family Residences, Mobile Homes, Multi-family and Condominiums to name just a few.

Total Floor Area This is the size of the building in square feet .
Effective Year Built
This is usually the same as the year we have on record as the year the structure was built.
In some cases, the  dates are adjusted up to account for major upgrades or remodeling.  The  dates may be adjusted downward to account for abnormal depreciation.