What is Florida's Save Our Homes cap and can I appeal it?

Save Our Homes (SOH) is Florida's homestead assessment limitation, and it is one of the most valuable protections a Florida homeowner has. It comes from Fla. Const. Art. VII, §4(d) and is implemented by Fla. Stat. §193.155.

What the cap does. Once your property has a homestead exemption, its assessed value may increase each year by no more than the lesser of 3% or the percentage change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI), regardless of how much the just (market) value rose. The accumulated gap between your lower assessed value and the higher just value is the “SOH benefit.” In a hot market the benefit can grow large — your taxes are calculated on the capped assessed value, not the full market value.

The reset on sale. When the property changes ownership, the SOH cap is removed and the assessed value is reset to just value on the following January 1, after which the cap begins again for the new owner. This is why a recent buyer's assessment often jumps sharply.

Can you appeal it? You cannot appeal the existence of the 3%/CPI cap — it is constitutional. But you can petition the Value Adjustment Board (VAB) when:

• the property appraiser set your just value too high (the cap limits assessed value, but a wrong just value still matters for the SOH benefit and for any future reset);
• the appraiser miscalculated the capped assessed value or failed to apply the cap;
• you were wrongly denied homestead (which would have given you the cap) — see the homestead-denial question.

How to spot a problem. Compare the just value and assessed value printed on your TRIM notice year over year. If assessed value rose more than 3% (or CPI) in a year you held homestead with no qualifying improvement, the appraiser may have erred — raise it at an informal conference, then by DR-486 petition before the 25-day deadline if needed.