The Florida TRIM notice — short for Truth in Millage — is the Notice of Proposed Property Taxes that arrives in your mailbox in August, and it exists so you can see exactly what each local taxing authority plans to charge you before any final vote. It is not a bill. It is a preview, and it is also a countdown: you have a short window to challenge your assessed value, and a specific evening on which you can walk into a public hearing and object to the proposed rate.
What Your TRIM Notice Actually Shows
Every TRIM notice is laid out in three columns for each taxing authority that levies against your property — the county commission, the school board, your municipality, the water management district, and any special districts.
- Column one: last year’s assessed value and the taxes you actually paid.
- Column two: what you would owe this year if each authority adopted the rolled-back rate, which holds revenue at last year’s level.
- Column three: what you would owe under the rate each authority is actually proposing.
The comparison that matters is column three against column two. If the proposed amount is higher than the rolled-back amount, that authority is proposing to raise taxes, even if the millage number itself looks the same or lower than last year.1The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 200.065 – Method of Fixing Millage Because each taxing authority is listed separately, you can tell which body is driving any increase.
The notice also prints the time, date, and location of the first public hearing where the proposed rate will be discussed, and it separates the property appraiser’s role (setting your value) from each taxing authority’s role (setting the rate). That tells you which office to call for which problem.
How to Tell Whether It’s Really a Tax Increase
The rolled-back rate is the millage that would produce the same total property tax revenue an authority collected last year, after removing changes that have nothing to do with spending decisions: new construction, major additions, substantial rehabilitations that at least doubled a building’s assessed value, properties added or deleted through boundary changes, and excess growth in tangible personal property value above 115 percent of the prior year’s total.2Florida Senate. Florida Code Chapter 200 – Section 200.065
Stripping those out isolates organic value growth. If home values rose 10 percent countywide but no new homes were built, the rolled-back rate falls to keep revenue flat. Any rate above rolled-back is a tax increase under Florida law, regardless of whether the raw millage number went up or down. That is the distinction the notice is built to expose.
Check Your Homestead Exemption and Save Our Homes Cap
If the property is your permanent Florida residence, two protections should be visible on the notice.
The homestead exemption can reduce taxable value by up to $50,000. The first $25,000 applies to all property taxes, including school district levies. A second $25,000 applies to assessed value between $50,000 and $75,000 for every levy except school district taxes.3Florida Department of Revenue. Property Tax Exemptions
The Save Our Homes cap limits how much your assessed value can rise once you’ve had homestead for a full year. After that first year, the assessed value for tax purposes cannot climb by more than 3 percent or the change in the Consumer Price Index, whichever is lower, no matter what market value does.4Florida Department of Revenue. Save Our Homes Assessment Limitation and Portability Transfer The cap resets when the property sells, which is why a new buyer often faces a much larger tax bill than the previous owner did.
If your homestead exemption is missing from the notice, or your assessed value jumped past the 3 percent cap and you had homestead in place, the TRIM notice is the signal to act.
The Non-Ad Valorem Line Is Different
Your notice may also list non-ad valorem assessments. These are not based on your property’s value. They cover specific services such as stormwater management, solid waste collection, fire rescue, or landscaping in a community development district, and they typically come from community development districts, special assessment districts, or PACE (Property Assessed Clean Energy) districts. These charges do not move when your assessed value changes, and the rolled-back analysis above does not apply to them.
Deadline to Challenge Your Assessed Value
If you think the property appraiser has your value wrong, you can file a petition with the Value Adjustment Board. The clock is short.
- Valuation disputes: 25 days from the date the appraiser mailed your TRIM notice.
- Denied exemptions or classification disputes: 30 days from the mailing of that denial notice.5Florida Senate. Florida Code 194.011 – Assessment Notice, Objections, Hearings
Miss the deadline and you are stuck with the assessed value for the entire tax year. The filing fee cannot exceed $15 per parcel for residential property or $50 per parcel for other property types.6Florida Department of Revenue. PTO Bulletin 25-01 – Increased Filing Fee for Petitions Filed with the Value Adjustment Board File with the clerk of the Value Adjustment Board, include the parcel number, and estimate how long you’ll need to present. The clerk must provide the Department of Revenue forms on request.
At the hearing, bring recent sales of comparable homes, an independent appraisal if you have one, and photos of any condition problems the appraiser may not have seen. A win applies only to that tax year, so it doesn’t roll forward automatically.
The Public Hearing on the Proposed Rate
The date, time, and place of the first public hearing are printed on your notice. Weekday hearings must start after 5 p.m. so working residents can attend. Saturday hearings have no time restriction. No hearing may be held on a Sunday.1The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 200.065 – Method of Fixing Millage
The first hearing considers the tentative budget and proposed millage. A newspaper advertisement follows, and a second hearing to finalize the budget is held between 2 and 5 days after the ad first runs.1The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 200.065 – Method of Fixing Millage If a taxing authority is proposing a rate above the rolled-back rate, it has to justify the increase publicly. This is when to say so on the record.
After the Rate Is Adopted: Paying the Bill
Once the governing body adopts its final millage rate and budget, tax bills go out in November. Florida rewards early payment on a sliding scale set by Section 197.162:7Florida Senate. Florida Code 197.162 – Discount for Payment of Taxes
- November: 4 percent discount
- December: 3 percent discount
- January: 2 percent discount
- February: 1 percent discount
- March: no discount
On a $5,000 tax bill, paying in November instead of March saves $200.
Taxes unpaid on April 1 become delinquent. Unpaid real property taxes then accrue interest at 18 percent per year, with a minimum penalty charge of 3 percent. During the first 60 days after delinquency, no additional interest beyond that 3 percent minimum accrues on real property.8The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 197.172 – Interest Rate, Calculation and Minimum
After that, the tax collector sells tax certificates on the property. Certificates are auctioned to the bidder willing to accept the lowest interest rate, up to a maximum of 18 percent, and if nobody bids, the certificate is struck to the county at the maximum rate. A certificate holder cannot contact you to demand payment until two years after April 1 of the year the certificate was issued.9Florida Senate. Florida Code 197.432 – Sale of Tax Certificates A tax certificate does not transfer ownership, but it creates a lien that must be paid off before you can sell or refinance, and it can eventually support a tax deed application that does transfer ownership.