Every August, a plain envelope from the county property appraiser lands in mailboxes across Florida. Most people glance at it, see a number, and set it aside. Some assume it's a bill and panic. Others assume it's junk mail and toss it. It's neither. It's your TRIM Notice, short for Truth in Millage, and it's worth about ten minutes of your attention. If you closed on a Florida property in the past year, this may be your first one. Here's what it is, what to check, and why it shows up at the closing table.
It's a preview, not a bill
The TRIM Notice is the county's annual estimate of what you'll owe. It shows two numbers that people routinely mix up:
● Just value is the appraiser's opinion of what your property was worth on January 1 of this year.
● Assessed value is that number after exemptions, caps, and discounts are applied. This is the one your tax bill is actually built on.
The notice also lists proposed millage rates from every taxing authority with a claim on your property: county, school board, municipality, fire district, water management, and whatever else applies where you live. Run those against your assessed value and you have a close estimate of the bill that arrives in November.
Three things to check
Your exemptions. If you filed for Homestead Exemption, confirm it actually shows up. Homestead takes up to $50,000 off your taxable value, though the second $25,000 doesn't apply to school taxes. The bigger long-term benefit is the Save Our Homes cap, which limits your annual assessment increase to 3% or CPI, whichever is lower. If you applied and don't see it, call the property appraiser's office now. Not in November.
Portability. If you sold one Florida homestead and bought another, you may have been able to carry your accumulated Save Our Homes savings to the new property. Portability is not automatic. You have to apply for it, and the TRIM Notice is where you confirm it landed.
The assessed value itself. Once the exemptions check out, look hard at the number. Does it square with what you'd realistically list the house for? If it's meaningfully high, you have a remedy and a short window to use it.
If the number looks wrong
Start with a phone call to the property appraiser. Most counties will do an informal review, and a fair number of disagreements get resolved right there without a formal filing.
If that goes nowhere, you can petition the Value Adjustment Board. The deadline is 25 days after the TRIM Notice is mailed, which generally puts it in mid-September. Your notice prints the exact date. There is no grace period, and it is an easy deadline to blow.
One wrinkle for recent buyers. If you bought within the past year, this year's TRIM may still reflect the prior owner's capped assessment, because the county values the property as of January 1. The reset to just value happens the following January 1. That means a comfortable number now and a considerably less comfortable one twelve months out. We've watched more than one buyer budget off that first year and get an unpleasant surprise. Plan for the reassessment.
Where the TRIM Notice shows up at closing
This is the part closest to what we do.
Taxes get prorated at closing, with each side covering its share of the year. Standard K of the FAR/BAR contract sets the order of operations: prorate on the current year's tax if the millage is fixed; if it isn't fixed but the current year's assessment is available, use that assessment against the prior year's millage; and only if neither is available do you fall back to last year's tax bill.
That middle rule is where the TRIM Notice does its work. From roughly mid-August until the bills go out in November, it's the best data available, and it's what our closing team uses. On a property that recently changed hands or was recently built, the gap between the TRIM figure and last year's bill can be real money on the settlement statement.
Two provisions worth knowing about, because neither one happens on its own:
● If your proration was based on an estimate, either party can request that it be readjusted once the actual bill comes out. Standard K survives closing.
● If there are completed improvements as of January 1 that weren't there the prior January 1, the parties can ask the property appraiser for an informal assessment instead of guessing at a number.
Somebody has to ask. Usually that somebody should be you or your attorney.
When the real bill arrives
The Tax Collector mails it on or about November 1. Pay in November and you get 4% off. December is 3%, January 2%, February 1%, and March is the full amount. Taxes go delinquent April 1. On a typical Gulf Coast homestead, paying in November instead of March is a few hundred dollars for doing in November what you were going to do anyway.
One last thing
Open the envelope. Read it. If something looks off, the fix is a phone call in September, not an appeal in February.
If you have questions about how taxes were prorated on your closing, or what your first full tax year is going to look like, give us a call. It's usually a five-minute conversation, and it beats guessing.
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