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What Happened? The Market Value of My Property Decreased, Yet My Assessed Value Increased. 

Because of a little known rule of the Save Our Homes (SOH) legislation called the Recapture Rule, homestead property owners previously protected from rapidly escalating property value will see an increase in taxable value.  SOH protection capped increases in homestead values at 3 percent per year, while homes without SOH protection experienced escalating property value at market rates.

The Recapture Rule permits increases in the assessed value (determined by the Property Appraiser annually) although the market value may decrease.  In instances where the property's market value exceeds the assessed value, homeowners will keep getting automatic increases in the assessed value until it catches up with whatever the market value is for the home.

By law, the Save Our Homes increase is the lesser of either 3 percent or the annual change in the federal Consumer Price Index. In 2008, the Consumer Price Index went up by one-tenth of 1 percent, which is the amount applied to the assessed value of homesteaded homes throughout Florida in 2009.

Although taxing districts increased their millage rate (i.e. Palm Beach County increased its millage rate from 3.7811 in 2008 to 4.3440 in 2009) they will not bring in additional funding.

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