The V.A.B.

The Broward County Value Adjustment Board (VAB) is the independent appeals board that has initial jurisdiction over challenges to any property valuations (the "assessed value"), denials of exemptions, denials of classifications, and other similar matters. The VAB is composed of three members of the Broward County Commission and two members of the School Board. The Board is completely independent of the Property Appraiser's office.

Late Filing for Exemptions

If you missed the March 1 deadline to timely file for an exemption or special classification, you MUST submit a Late Filing petition to the VAB (along with the statutory $15 filing fee) by the September 19, 2008, late filing deadline. You can download the forms and find the filing information further down this page. Important: In addition to filing a petition, you MUST also file for the exemption itself to be eligible.

Challenging Your Property Assessment

If you feel your taxes or tax rates are too high, the Value Adjustment Board cannot help you. You need to attend the annual public budget meetings of those Taxing Authorities (County Commission, School Board, Water Management District, Hospital District, City Commission, etc.) that set the tax rates. You can find a schedule (time, date and place) of all the annual budget public hearings for each governmental entity listing in your TRIM Notice of Proposed Property Taxes mailed to all taxpayers each August.

If you believe the total just (market) value as shown in the box "Your Property Value This Year" is higher than the market value of your property as of this past January 1, we encourage you to contact our Main Office. Please bring your TRIM Notice of Proposed Property Taxes with you when you come. One of our Deputy Property Appraisers will happily meet with you and discuss your market value and how it was calculated. After this conference, if you still feel your market value is too high, you can file a simple petition with the VAB. The VAB appeal application forms are available in our Main Office and are also available online on the VAB's website (and you can also check the status of your filed petition). The VAB has a statutory $15 filing fee, which must accompany the application. Also, the VAB does not accept petitions on valuation cases after the mid-September filing deadline.

V.A.B. Hearings

The Value Adjustment Board appoints Special Magistrates -- who are all qualified, professionally designated real estate appraisers and/or attorneys -- to conduct the hearings. These Special Magistrates are not connected with the Property Appraiser's office in any way. The only question the Special Magistrates can determine is whether the market value of your property as shown on your TRIM Notice is higher than the property's market value as of last January 1.

The Petition Process

You must fill in the petition completely, with all questions answered, or it may be rejected by the VAB. Be sure you read the information on the reverse of the form. The Petition is filed with the Clerk of the Value Adjustment Board, Broward Government Center, 115 South Andrews Avenue, Room 120, Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33301. If you have any questions, you may contact the VAB directly at 954.357.7292.

Pay close attention to the deadline for filing a petition printed on the TRIM Notice. The deadline for VALUATION disputes is in mid-September of each tax year. If you miss filing for homestead or another exemption, you may late file a "GOOD CAUSE" petition for this until the end of the year.