Frequently Asked Questions

Lands used primarily for bona fide commercial purposes qualify for a reduction in their land value, which could greatly reduce their tax burden.

Anyone who is actively farming the land for commercial purposes. Lands can also be leased to anyone actively farming, and the leaseholder may apply as a registered agent of the owner and his/her property.

Our online application is available on our website at acpafl.org. Under the forms drop-down at the top, select the agricultural property. You will then find the application and our guidelines.<

Requesting a reassessment is free. Call our office, and we will schedule a site visit at your earliest convenience. After that, our valuation team will review any new information for accuracy.

Several different factors could make your taxes higher than your neighbors. Depending on how long someone has owned their property, they could have built up a lot of deferred value versus a brand-new owner. They could also have multiple exemptions that you do not.

The Property Appraiser’s office is NOT a revenue agency!  Our concern in the Property Appraiser’s Office is that values are both lawful and equitable. We are not rewarded for increases in value. State law requires that property be valued at market value. Every year the State tests our roll to assure everyone that we are meeting that threshold. ,if we are not, they have the authority to compel us to do so or to step in and do it themselves.

Visit theFlorida Department of Revenue’s Property Tax Data Portal.

Ad valorem property taxes are levied by the School Board, Board of County Commissioners, the Library District, the Water Management Districts and the City Commissions. The Property Appraiser does not set taxes. The taxing authorities use the Property Appraiser’s value to determine the distribution (who will pay what part) of the taxes they levy. If you have questions about the taxes you are paying, you should call the taxing authorities at the phone numbers listed on the TRIM notice. If you have questions about how your money is being spent or want to protest the amount you are paying, you should either call the taxing authorities or attend their budget hearings held at the place, date, and time listed on the TRIM notice.

To better understand your TRIM notice, please check out our robustTRIM resource page!

To better understand your TRIM notice, please check out our robust TRIM resource page!

We strongly recommend a real estate attorney or another professional handling title work.

Use the Split/Combine form under the Property Ownership heading on our website. We strongly encourage you to contact the Planning Department within your jurisdiction before taking this action.

Check your deed for a description of your easement. You may need to check with a title company if one is absent. We do not map easements or check to see if there is one. Easements are the right to use someone’s property for access (ingress and egress) or other utilities.

Our office does not assign addresses. We download them from the county Addressing office. If you have a problem with the address assigned, we will work with the Addressing Office to correct it, or you may need to contact them directly at addressing@alachuacounty.us

For a list of all the forms and online applications please click HERE.

Main office in Downtown Gainesville< 515 N Main Street Suite 200
Gainesville, FL 32601
opened to service Monday to Friday from 8am to 5pm (except County holidays) 

Satellite office in the City of Alachua Inside the Swick House
15010 NW 142nd Terrace
Alachua, Florida 32615
Closed for Construction through January 2, 2026

Set an appointment online
or walk in for service.

All timely applications are received up to March 1 of the year of application and promptly processed by June 1 of that year. If our office needs additional information, we send notifications via a certified general denial letter to the mailing address on record to the applicant’s attention, informing them of the status of the application. This notice will provide 30 additional days to re-review the application for the current tax year. 

When filing for the Homestead Tax Exemption, all applicants should ensure that any documents submitted with their application for the purpose of serving as residential proof are updated to the address for which they are filing. Below are some examples of some items frequently provided that must be updated.  

1. Florida Driver’s License of Florida ID
2. Florida Vehicle Registration
3. Florida Voter Registration
4. Income Documentation (Bank Statements, IRS Returns, W2’s or SSA1099)
5. Proof of Payment of Utilities

The 3% limitation increase is referring to annual Save Our Homes Cap to your property assessment value not your property tax bill increases. There are several factors that affect your property taxes which can result in an increase not associated with the annual 3% limitation. Taxes are affected for different reasons and each case is different. When reviewing your property taxes, there are several questions to ask; please see some below. 

For any new homeowner with a new Homestead Tax Exemption, the Save Our Homes Cap will start calculating on the following year of application, and if there is an amount to reflect, it will be identified on the following year‘s TRIM Notifications. For example, if you were approved for your tax exemption in the tax year 2024 and your market increases for the 2025 tax year, your 2025 TRIM notice will start to reflect your Save Our Homes Cap. 

Any property owner who qualifies for a tax exemption must first apply and submit the required documents to our office. We encourage any property owner who believes they qualify for a new tax exemption to contact our office to complete the process as soon as possible to avoid missed years of possible tax breaks. If an application is not submitted, our office cannot address any tax year following the status changed for the property owner.

In November, 1992, voters approved Amendment 10 to the Florida Constitution which limits the size of the annual increase in the assessed values of owner occupied residential properties which have homestead status. Under Amendment 10, increases in the annual assessment of homestead residential property shall not exceed the lower of either (1) three percent (3%) of the assessment of the prior year or (2) the percent increase in the Consumer Price Index for all urban consumers in the U.S. Amendment 10 does NOT apply to new construction or improvements to existing properties in the year following the year the changes were completed. However, in subsequent years, the cap provided by Amendment 10 will be in effect for both the property and the changes. In addition, when a property sells the process begins again.

Yes. If you were not in business on January 1st of the tax year, follow this procedure:

1. On your return, indicate the date you went out of business and the manner in which you disposed of the assets.
2. If the business sold, include buyer information such as date of sale, name address, telephone number. Include sales agreement, if available.
3. Sign, date and mail the return back to the Property Appraiser by April 1st.

We value assets based on market value.  Even if you purchased your assets at a garage sale at a huge discount, we would still value them at market value.

Market value is determined by analyzing the sales of similar properties, the cost to reproduce your property and the ability of your property to earn income. In Alachua County we use a computer assisted mass appraisal (CAMA) system. The CAMA system incorporates our conclusions from these three analyses. It then applies these decisions to all properties equally. Although this seems complicated, please keep in mind that we feel the best evidence of your market value is the sale, prior to January 1, of several properties similar to your property.

When market value changes, naturally so does appraised value. For instance, if you were to increase the total market value of your property by making changes, additions or improvements, the appraised value would increase proportionately.

Similarly, should your property’s value be decreased by fire, the appraised value would decrease to show the downward effect of this damage on the market value of your property.

The Alachua County Property Appraiser has not created this value. This office has the legal responsibility to discover it as it exists and appraise the property accordingly. Buyers and sellers set value by their transactions in the marketplace.

If your opinion of the value of your property differs from the Property Appraiser’s Appraisal, you are encouraged to come in and discuss the matter with us. Also, if you have evidence that the appraisal is more than the actual fair market value of your property, we will welcome the opportunity to review all pertinent facts.

After talking with us, if you still find a significant difference between our appraisal and what you feel your property’s market value is, you may be heard before the Value Adjustment Board. A petition must be filed with the Value Adjustment Board at the Alachua County Clerks Office.

The Value Adjustment Board has no jurisdiction or control over taxes or tax rates. Its one and only function is to hear evidence as to whether properties called to its attention are appraised at more or less than their market value. If this is the case, the Board has the authority to change the appraised value.

For more information on what to do if you disagree with your property value and Value Adjustment Board (VAB) contact info click HERE.

Informal: The first and most successful option for appeal of your property value is a meeting with one of our appraisers. In this meeting, you will review the physical information on your property (i.e., Is the property measured correctly and are the correct building materials reflected in our records?) and review sales of other properties and other pertinent information. If you have the time to review our record of sales and information on your property before your appointment, you will feel better prepared and the process will go more quickly. In any case, we encourage you to ask for an appointment if you have questions.

VAB: The Value Adjustment Board is the next step in the appeal process. However, this procedure is slightly more complex and formal than an informal meeting with one of our appraisers. It is highly recommended that you exhaust the informal approach prior to undertaking this step. The Value Adjustment Board is a process administered by the Clerk of the Court.

Circuit Court: If you are still not pleased after the VAB, your next step is to file a suit against us in circuit court. This proceeding gets very formal and has a lot of rules. If you are considering this option, you should talk to an attorney.

One last note which applies to all levels of appeal: There is no provision in Florida law for your value to be reduced because of personal hardship or inability to pay. While we definitely empathize with the many difficult personal situations people experience, we cannot lower values because of them. Likewise, what other properties are appraised for is irrelevant in the appeal process. Please be prepared to talk about your market value. Market value and the exemptions are the only place in the process where we have any control.

For more information on what to do if you disagree with your property value, disagree with your exemption status, or Value Adjustment Board (VAB) contact info click HERE.

Our office only places value on properties.  For questions about taxes, you need to contact each taxing authority.

For more information about Taxing Authorities, CLICK HERE.

A full list of all the taxing authorities in Alachua County can be found on the millage rates page located HERE.