Our Appraisals & The Appeal Process

The Volusia County Property Appraiser's Office annually appraises almost 300,000 properties. With this volume of appraisal work, we will make some mistakes and we expect that some will disagree with the valuations on some other properties, as well. We can correct mistakes at any time during the year. One does not have to wait until the Proposed Notices (TRIM) are mailed to contact us. We encourage all taxpayers who would like a review of their property to contact us at any one of our four offices:

In Florida, we have a duty to assess at full value, called Just Value. Our typical valuation is targeted at about 85% of what we think a particular property would sell for. The concept of "Market Value" involves a reasonable range of values which buyers and purchasers would pay for a particular single property. We are targeting our assessments at the lower end of that range, around 85%, a practice employed by all Florida Counties.

In our valuation processes, we have broken the county into over 2,600 neighborhoods. These may be thought of as subdivisions, however, a single subdivision may have many neighborhoods if there are value influencing characteristics present (golf courses, condo properties next to single family, apartments next to others, etc.) . Our appraisers statistically analyze each of these 2,600 neighborhood every year in their tax roll preparation. They perform statistical analysis (viewing means, standard deviation, coefficients of variations, etc.) to see how our appraisal system appraised those properties which did sell. The same calculations and processes apply to the properties which did not sell, but there is no "evidence of value" until we see a sale (or sometimes a listing, in areas where sales are not present). If we look at listings, we do so understanding that virtually nothing sells for the listed amount.

We have a computer assisted mass appraisal (CAMA) system which contains our data, allows us to perform the masses of analysis and calculations, produce our taxroll and provide the information to the Volusia County Finance Department for the Tax Bills which they mail each year. Our CAMA system contains property descriptions, including sketches. The descriptions are codes like:

For each coded area of square footage, there are rate tables in the computer for calculation purposes. We update these tables each year, building our rates from a combination of national construction cost manuals and local construction costs. Before finalizing them, we compare value calculations to prices of newly constructed homes, calibrating our computer model to the specific real estate market here in Volusia County. Upon finalization of our rates, we input the new tables and recalculate the values of all properties in the county. These valuations are then further checked by our appraisers through statistical analysis of each of the 2,600 + neighborhoods in the county to look at a comparison of how our appraised values to actual sales. The appraisers view vacant land sales, improved sales and look at composite statistics on both.

The resulting tax roll valuations each year have been viewed and reviewed by our staff with the intent of providing high quality values with a high degree of fairness and equity between individual properties and property types.

Value Adjustment Board (VAB)

Every taxpayer has a right to disagree with our valuations. As stated above, we value almost 300,000 properties each year and will make some mistakes on some of them. We do, however, encourage everyone to call us at one of our four offices when you think we have made a mistake. Many of those can be corrected during the year and do not require the trouble of filing a VAB Petition. The option of whether or not to file a Petition is always that of the taxpayers.  

Upon filing a VAB Petition:

The Value Adjustment Board will mail you a written copy of its final decision.

If you wish to file a petition, you will need to bring in documentation (comparable sales, construction cost information, other appraisals, etc.) to demonstrate why the Property Appraiser's value is excessive.

Download Petition Forms

What if I disagree with the VAB decision?

No further action is required on your part if you accept the Value Adjustment Board's decision on your petition. But if you disagree with that decision and wish to continue to contest the value, you may file a civil suit in the Circuit Court and the court will determine if the appraised value exceeded the taxable value of your property.

Even if you do not file a petition with the Value Adjustment Board, you may file a lawsuit in circuit court under Florida law.

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