Damage Reporting

Report Property Damage (Hurricane, Fire, or Other Calamity)

If your home has suffered catastrophic damage, there are provisions in Florida law that pertain to your property tax assessment and how it is affected when a hurricane, fire or other calamity destroys your home.

• Contact our office as soon as possible to discuss the calamity and future assessment with your area appraiser.  For your convenience, we have created a storm damage form/survey to report structural damage to your home and improvements (not fence damage or downed trees)
• Provide photos and videos of damage, insurance adjusters’ reports, repair receipts and any other related documentation to the structural damage of your home and improvements (this would not include personal items, fence damage, or downed trees)
• Our appraisers will document the property’s condition and then return for a field visit at the end of the year to determine if the repairs or rebuild is complete.
  
  • If incomplete on January 1 after the damage occurred, appraisers will reduce your market and capped values accordingly as of January 1 for the new tax year
  • The reduced value will affect the property tax bill you receive next November (e.g., if your home suffered extensive damage in Sep 2023 and repairs are complete in Feb 2024, your Nov 2023 tax bill will not include any property tax reduction, it will appear on your Nov 2024 tax bill and the value of repaired/replaced property won’t be taxed until Nov 2025)
• Homeowners may continue to receive the homestead exemption and the Save-Our-Homes cap if they do not claim a new homestead exemption on a different home while they rebuild or repair the damages. Section 193.155 4(b), Florida Statutes
• Property revaluation once the rebuild or repair is complete:
  
  • If the repaired or replaced building is no larger than 110% of size of the former damaged building, no additional value is added over the capped value that existed when the damage occurred
  • If the rebuilt square footage exceeds 110% of the building’s original size, then only the value attributed to excess square footage is added as new value above the 3% Save-Our-Homes cap or 10% non-homestead cap.
  • If the original home was less than 1,500 square feet, the value of any square footage in excess of 1,500 SF will be added as new value.

FEMA questions

See our page Understanding the FEMA 50% rule and use our calculator to find your limit if using the tax roll values.

Property Tax Refund

You may be eligible for a property tax refund due to damage associated with the catastrophic event. The following conditions apply:

• The property must be residential.  Homestead exemption is NOT a requirement.
• The property must have been rendered uninhabitable for at least 30 days from damage associated with a hurricane or other catastrophic event.
• The owner must provide our office with a completed DR-465 Application for Catastrophic Event Tax Refund no later than March 1 of the year following the catastrophic event (Section 197.319,Florida Statutes).  NOTE: This form cannot be submitted until either the property has been repaired OR January 1, whichever comes first.
• The application must be accompanied by supporting documentation showing that the real property could not be inhabited following the date of the catastrophic event.
  • Acceptable documentation includes photographs, insurance claims, contractor statements, permit applications, and certificates of occupancy.
• The taxpayer is still responsible for paying property taxes owed.  If approved, the property appraiser will forward the refund paperwork to the Tax Collector, who will issue a refund after the taxes are paid in full.

Repair or Replacement of Damaged or Destroyed Property due to a Calamity

Under Florida Law, if a property is damaged or destroyed by misfortune or calamity after the damage or destruction occurs, the property owner may continue the homestead exemption. The owner must notify the Property Appraiser that they intend to repair or rebuild the property and use the property as the primary residence following the completion of repairs. Review the scenarios below to better understand how this may impact your property taxes:

• Elect not to rebuild - The property owner should cancel the exemption by notifying the property appraiser.  Once removed, the assessed value will be reset to market value on the January 1 following the damage.  The property owner will have the 3-tax year statutory window to port (transfer) any assessment differential to a new homestead.

• Repair - The property owner makes necessary repairs and reoccupies the property, which does not impact to the assessed value cap.

• Elevate (flooded properties) - If the property owner can repair and elevate (lift) the lowest living level of the home above the base flood elevation, the value of any newly constructed subarea(s) at grade level will be added above the assessed value cap. The elevated improvements will remain under the cap if they do not exceed 110% of the original structure or 1,500 SF, whichever is greater. The affected property owner has three years from the January 1 following the damage or destruction of the property to commence the changes, additions or improvements.
• Rebuild - If the property owner chooses to rebuild (up to 110% of original improvement or 1,500 SF, whichever is greater) then the Save Our Homes (SOH) cap or non-homestead cap will continue upon completion of the new building as if no damage occurred. The homestead exemption will remain on the vacant land during construction. However, if the owner chooses not to rebuild after notifying the property appraiser they wish to, the SOH cap will most likely be severely reduced. The affected property owner has 3 years from the January 1 following the damage or destruction of the property to commence the changes, additions or improvements. (Florida law increases the time limitation from 3 to 5 years effective January 1, 2025).

How do we determine when square footage exceeds 110%?

The calculation is based on the living area, listed just below the building sketch on the Property Record Card. The card can be found on our website (Real Property Search).

Examples:

• If the net/living area before the calamity was 1,648 square feet, accounting for 110% (1.10 x 1,648), the effective area could increase to 1,813 square feet without exceeding the existing capped/assessed value. Any square footage exceeding 1,813 square feet would add new value over the existing capped/assessed value.
• If, after rebuilding, the net/living area increased from 1,524 to 2,458 square feet, only the amount exceeding 110% (2,458 – 1,813 = 645) would be considered new construction and added above the calculated cap. The cap would then apply to this new value under the same ownership in future years.

Additional Resources

The State of Florida, Dept of Revenue has published an informative guide to help inform Florida homeowner’s who have suffered property damage:

• A Florida Homeowner’s Guide: Catastrophic Event Property Damage 
• Important information regarding the FEMA 50% rule

The loss or damage to your home due to a calamity (hurricane, storm or otherwise) is a devastating experience. The revaluation of your home is possibly the last thing on your mind; but please let us know as soon as you are able so we can help make the process easier.

Filing a damage report is important, but it does not relieve the homeowner of the requirement to timely file a DR-465 application for refund and is not a substitution for that form.