How long do I have to petition the Value Adjustment Board in Florida?
How long do I have to petition the Value Adjustment Board in Florida?
You have 25 days from the date your county mails the TRIM notice to file a Value Adjustment Board petition (Form DR-486) — the exact deadline is printed on the notice itself, usually mid-September.
Florida gives you a short, statutory window to challenge your assessment before the Value Adjustment Board (VAB). Under Fla. Stat. §194.011(3)(d), a petition “must be filed with the clerk of the value adjustment board on or before the 25th day following the mailing” of the property appraiser's notice of proposed property taxes (the TRIM notice, see §200.069).
Find the exact date on your notice. Because counties mail TRIM notices on slightly different dates (most in mid-to-late August), there is no single statewide deadline date. The 25-day count produces a deadline that is printed directly on your TRIM notice next to the VAB filing instructions. In most counties it falls in mid-September — for example, several large counties' 2025 deadline was September 15–16. Use the printed date, not a number you saw online.
What “filed” means. You file the Form DR-486 petition with the clerk of the VAB (usually the Clerk of the Circuit Court), not with the property appraiser. Most large counties accept online filing; you may also mail or hand-deliver. The $15-per-parcel fee under §194.013 must accompany the petition.
If you miss it. The 25-day deadline is firm for the ordinary VAB route. A late petition may still be accepted only if the VAB finds good cause for the delay, which is decided case-by-case and not guaranteed. Separately, you retain the right to file an action in circuit court within 60 days of the roll's certification under §194.171, but that is a costlier path than the VAB.
The practical rule: open the TRIM notice the day it arrives and calendar the printed VAB date.