Notice of proposed property taxes: how to read it line by line

Last updated 2026-07-10

What is a notice of proposed property taxes and why did you get one?

It's the official document that tells you what value the assessor put on your property, which exemptions they applied, and what each taxing body plans to charge you. You got one because the county thinks you own taxable real estate. That's the whole reason.

Every year, your local assessor or appraisal district sets a value on your property. That value drives your bill.

In Florida, this document has a formal name: the Truth in Millage notice, almost always shortened to TRIM notice. Florida Statute 200.069 requires every county property appraiser to mail TRIM notices by August 24 each year ^[1]. Other states call it something else. Colorado uses "Notice of Valuation," Illinois uses "Assessment Notice," California sends a "Change of Assessment" only for mid-year changes, and many states just mail an assessment card or a "Property Tax Statement." The layout changes state to state. The core information does not.

If you just bought a house, your first notice can look alarming, because it may reset your value to the sale price. If you've owned for years and the number jumped, that's the exact situation where reading every line pays off.

What are the main sections on the notice and what does each one mean?

Most notices follow the same rough layout, so once you learn one, you can read almost any of them. Here's the walkthrough, block by block.

Property identification block. At the top sits a parcel number (also called a folio number, account number, or APN depending on your state), the situs address (the physical location), and a legal description. Check all three against your deed. Errors here occasionally drop someone else's value onto your tax roll, and a single phone call fixes it.

Prior year vs. current year assessed value. This side-by-side is where most homeowners react. The "just value" or "market value" is the assessor's estimate of what your property would sell for. In states with assessment ratio laws, you'll also see an "assessed value" that is a percentage of market value. Illinois assesses residential property at 33.33% of market value by statute ^[2]. In Florida, the assessed (SOH-capped) value may sit well below just value if you've owned the home for years, thanks to the Save Our Homes cap, which limits increases to 3% or the CPI, whichever is less ^[3].

Exemptions. This line shows what gets subtracted before taxes are calculated. Florida's standard homestead exemption is $25,000 on the first $50,000 of value, plus another $25,000 on value between $50,000 and $75,000 for non-school taxes ^[3]. Other common ones cover seniors, disability, veterans, and agricultural use. If you qualified for an exemption last year and it's gone this year, call the office today.

Taxable value. Assessed value minus exemptions. This is the number that gets multiplied by the millage rate to produce your bill.

Proposed millage rates and taxes by authority. This part confuses everyone. Your property doesn't pay one tax. It pays several stacked taxes: county, city, school district, water management district, fire district, hospital district, and more. Each authority sets its own millage. One mill equals $1 of tax per $1,000 of taxable value. Taxable value of $200,000 times a total of 20 mills gives a proposed tax of $4,000.

Last year's taxes vs. this year's proposed taxes. Most notices show the dollar comparison. A big jump here deserves a hard look even when the assessed value barely moved, because the millage rates may have climbed.

Hearing dates and locations. By law, the notice lists the public budget hearings where you can speak to the taxing authorities. In Florida, those run from mid-September through late September ^[1].

How is assessed value different from market value, and why does it matter?

Market value is what the assessor thinks a buyer would pay. Assessed value is the number the tax system actually uses. They're often not the same, and the gap decides whether an appeal makes sense.

Some states assess at 100% of market value (California for new purchases under Prop 13, New York City for Class 1 residential). Others apply a ratio. Massachusetts assesses at 100% of fair cash value, but Mississippi and Alabama assess residential property at 10% of market value ^[4]. Illinois uses 33.33%.

Why does this matter for your appeal? If your state uses a ratio, you compare against other properties assessed at the same ratio, not against raw sale prices. And if the assessor's market value is inflated, the ratio doesn't cure that. It just scales the overassessment down by the same proportion.

There's a second wrinkle: assessment caps. Florida, California (Prop 13), Michigan (Proposal A), and New York all limit how fast assessed value can grow, sometimes no matter what the market does. Buy a house recently and your cap resets to the purchase price. Longtime owners can carry assessed values far below market, and those owners generally should not appeal. You'd be poking a sleeping number.

The quick check: pull two or three recent sales of genuinely comparable homes in your neighborhood and set their sale prices against your notice's market (just) value. If your just value runs 10 to 15% or more above what those homes sold for, you probably have a case ^[5].

What is the deadline to appeal after receiving the notice?

This is the number that matters most. Miss the deadline and you lose your appeal rights for the entire tax year. No extensions. No sympathy.

Deadlines swing hard from state to state. The table below shows appeal windows measured from the notice mailing date for a sample of states. These are the statutory windows. Your county may layer on extra local procedures.

State	Appeal deadline	Counted from
Florida	25 days from TRIM notice mail date	TRIM mail date (Aug 24 by statute) [1]
California	Sept 15 or Nov 30, depending on county	Assessment roll opening date [6]
Illinois (Cook County)	35 days from assessment publication	Publication in local newspaper [2]
Texas	May 15, or 30 days after notice, whichever is later	Notice mail date [8]
New York (NYC)	March 15 (tentative roll deadline)	Tentative roll publication [7]
Georgia	45 days	Notice mail date [11]
Colorado	June 1 (odd years, reappraisal)	Statutory date
Michigan	July 31	Statutory date [12]

These dates move. Confirm with your county assessor's office or its official website, because the controlling date is set by state statute and the local office's actual mailing calendar. For Cook County homeowners, the cook county tax assessor tax bill process has its own quirks worth reading before you file. Gwinnett County in Georgia holds a strict 45-day line; details are on the gwinnett county tax assessor page.

One practical tip that trips people up: the countdown starts from the mail date printed on the notice, not the day you opened the envelope. If the notice says it mailed August 24 and you have 25 days, your deadline is September 18, even if you were on vacation and didn't read it until September 10.

How do you read the millage rate section without getting confused?

A millage rate is a rate per $1,000 of taxable value. A millage of 6.5 means $6.50 per $1,000. To find your tax for any single authority, divide your taxable value by 1,000, then multiply by that authority's millage. That's the whole trick.

Here's an example. Taxable value: $180,000. School district millage: 7.2 mills. School tax: (180,000 / 1,000) x 7.2 = $1,296.

Add up every authority's millage to get the total, then run the same formula for your total proposed bill. The notice already shows this math, but redoing it takes two minutes and occasionally catches an arithmetic error.

The notice usually prints a "rolled-back rate" next to the proposed rate. The rolled-back rate is the millage that would raise the same total revenue as last year from existing properties, with new construction excluded. If the proposed rate sits above the rolled-back rate, the taxing authority is raising taxes in real terms, and the notice is legally required to flag it. In Florida, a rate above roll-back triggers an enhanced public hearing requirement ^[1].

You cannot appeal the millage rate through the value appeal process. Elected bodies set the millage (county commission, school board, city council), and your only recourse there is showing up to the public hearings on the notice, or voting. The value appeal is strictly about whether your property's value and exemptions are correct.

What exemptions should be on your notice, and what happens if one is missing?

Exemptions hide in plain sight, because the notice often lists them in a small table with codes instead of plain English. The common ones:

• Homestead exemption (primary residence)
• Senior exemption (age and income thresholds vary widely by state)
• Disability exemption (sometimes requires annual renewal with proof)
• Veteran / surviving spouse exemption
• Agricultural classification
• Conservation / greenspace exemption

If you applied for an exemption and it's not on this year's notice, act now. Don't wait for the appeal deadline. Call the assessor's office, because in many places exemption disputes have a separate and sometimes shorter correction window. Florida sets its exemption application deadline at March 1 of the tax year ^[3]. Miss that, and you generally can't add it retroactively for the current year except in narrow cases (recent move, administrative error, or first-time qualifying after a spouse's death in some states).

If the exemption is there but the dollar amount looks off, that's appealable. A Florida homestead exemption should show $25,000 off the first $50,000 of just value. If you see only $25,000 when you expected the added $25,000 on the school-tax portion, the assessor may have coded your property type wrong.

Montgomery County homeowners face extra state-specific credits; the montgomery county property tax page goes deeper.

How do you know if the assessed value on your notice is wrong?

The notice hands you a number. It never explains how they got there. That part is your job.

Start with the property record card, almost always posted on your county assessor's website. It lists what the assessor believes your property is: square footage, bedrooms and bathrooms, year built, lot size, construction quality grade, plus any outbuildings or pools. Errors are common, especially in old records or after a renovation. A basement counted as finished living space when it's actually bare concrete is the textbook example. Find the card, print it, and walk your house with it in hand.

Next, pull comparable sales. Your assessor used sales from the prior year, and the assessment date is usually January 1 of the tax year. Search your county's public records or a site like Zillow or Redfin for homes with similar characteristics that sold in roughly the 12 months before that date. Three genuinely comparable homes selling 10 to 15% below what your assessed value implies gives you evidence you can put on the table.

A 2021 Lincoln Institute of Land Policy study found that assessment errors run in a direction, not at random. Lower-value homes across the U.S. get assessed at higher ratios of market value than higher-value homes, a pattern called regressivity ^[5]. That study won't hand you a number to cite at your hearing, but it tells you something useful: the system does not correct itself, so the burden is on you to bring your own comparables.

In Los Angeles, the assessor's online portal lets you search comparable properties; the la county property tax page has direct links. For Bexar County (San Antonio), the bexar county tax assessor page covers pulling records from the appraisal district site.

What steps should you take immediately after reading the notice?

Don't set the notice on the counter and forget it. That's how deadlines die.

Step one: write the appeal deadline on your calendar the day the notice arrives. Count from the mail date on the notice, not today.

Step two: pull your property record card from the assessor's website and check every field against what you know about the house.

Step three: compare your assessed market value against recent sales of comparable homes. Three to five solid comps tells you whether you have a case.

Step four: check your exemptions against what you applied for and what you should qualify for.

Step five: if you find problems, decide between an informal route (an assessor's office review, sometimes called a conference or informal appeal) and going straight to the formal appeal board. In many counties an informal review costs nothing and clears obvious errors in weeks. The formal hearing gives you more procedural rights but runs longer.

If you want to run the whole thing yourself, TaxFightBack's DIY appeal kit lays out the exact documents, a comparable sales worksheet, and hearing scripts, so you keep 100% of whatever reduction you win instead of handing a contingency firm 25 to 40% of the savings.

Hennepin County (Minneapolis) and Santa Clara County both run assessment calendars that don't match most national guides; see the hennepin county property tax and santa clara property tax pages for local specifics.

Can you appeal just the exemption, or only the value, or both?

You can appeal both, but through different channels and sometimes on different clocks. When both are wrong, raise both at once.

Value appeals go to the local appeals board: the Value Adjustment Board in Florida, the Board of Review in Illinois and much of the Midwest, the Assessment Appeals Board in California, and the Appraisal Review Board in Texas. These boards decide whether the assessor's market value is accurate.

Exemption disputes often land at the same board, but the argument shifts. It's not "this value is wrong," it's "I qualify for this exemption and it wasn't applied." Some states route exemption denials to a separate administrative track.

Most appeal forms have checkboxes for each type of issue, so file both challenges together. In some jurisdictions, skipping the chance to raise an exemption at the appeal stage waives your right to raise it later, though this varies.

Texas has a broad rule worth knowing. Under Texas Tax Code Section 41.41, a property owner may protest "any action of the chief appraiser, appraisal district, or appraisal review board" that applies to the owner's property ^[8]. That covers value, exemption denials, and even failure to send required notices.

What if you never received the notice but the deadline has passed?

This happens more than you'd think, especially after a move, a name change, or a switch in mortgage servicer. The legal reality is blunt: most states treat the notice as delivered if the assessor mailed it to the address on record, whether or not it reached you.

If you never got your notice, check the assessor's website first. Almost every county now posts proposed values online, with the mail date right there. If the deadline hasn't passed based on that date, you can still file.

If it has passed, your options narrow. Some states allow late appeals for "good cause" or when the taxpayer can show the notice was never actually mailed (an assessor error, not a lost-in-the-mail problem). Florida Statute 194.034 allows late-filed petitions in limited circumstances with Value Adjustment Board approval ^[1]. Texas allows a late protest under Section 41.44(b) through the following year's deadline if the owner did not receive the notice and can prove it ^[8].

The fix is simple: don't trust the mail. Check your county assessor's website in July or August each year (or January for calendar-year cycles). A missed notice never catches you off guard if you go looking for it.

How do TRIM notices in Florida differ from assessment notices in other states?

Florida's TRIM notice is one of the most detailed property tax documents in the country. The Florida Department of Revenue sets the exact format under Rule 12D-9.001 of the Florida Administrative Code, and the notice must show every proposed millage rate, the rolled-back rate, the dates and locations of all budget hearings, and the Save Our Homes capped value next to the just value ^[1].

Florida also runs a dual-appeal window. You can petition the Value Adjustment Board (VAB) within 25 days of the TRIM notice mail date, or you can show up at the September budget hearings and speak to the commission directly. The VAB petition is the formal route, and it leads to a hearing before a special magistrate.

California works on a different principle entirely. Under Proposition 13, passed in 1978, assessed value locks at purchase price and rises no more than 2% a year until the property sells ^[6]. Most California homeowners never get an annual notice of value change. What they get is the annual tax bill. The appeal window (July 2 through November 30 in most counties, September 15 in some) applies when an owner believes market value has dropped below the Prop 13 base, a "decline in value" claim under Revenue and Taxation Code Section 51 ^[6].

Texas appraisal notices go out in April, and the protest deadline is May 15 or 30 days from the notice date, whichever is later ^[8]. Texas has no state income tax and leans hard on property taxes, so rates run high. The average effective property tax rate in Texas was about 1.60% in 2023, against a national average near 0.99% ^[9].

New York City builds everything around four property classes with very different assessment ratios and caps. Class 1 (1 to 3 family homes) is assessed at 6% of market value, with annual increases capped at 6% and five-year cumulative increases capped at 20% ^[7]. The nyc property tax page breaks down the class system in detail.

What documents should you save from your notice for the appeal process?

The notice itself is document one. Save it. Photograph it. If you're going to a hearing, bring the original. From there you build a thin, well-labeled file.

1. The notice (front and back, all pages) 2. Your property record card from the assessor's website, printed the week you start preparing 3. Three to five comparable sales printed from a reliable source (county recorder, MLS data through an agent, or Redfin/Zillow with the sale date and price confirmed against public records) 4. Any evidence of condition problems, such as repair estimates, contractor invoices, or photos showing deferred maintenance the assessor's record misses 5. Any prior year notice showing a lower value, if the jump was sudden 6. Your deed, especially if you bought recently below the assessed value

If you hired an appraiser (a formal appraisal by a licensed appraiser typically runs $300 to $500 for a residential property ^[10]), that report becomes your strongest single exhibit. It's not required for an informal review or even a formal hearing, but it carries more weight than comps you gathered yourself.

Keep everything in one folder. Hearing officers see dozens of petitions a day. Organized, clearly labeled exhibits get read. A stack of loose printouts gets skimmed.

Frequently asked questions

What does TRIM stand for on a property tax notice?

TRIM stands for Truth in Millage. It's the name for Florida's annual notice of proposed property taxes, required under Florida Statute 200.069. Every Florida county property appraiser must mail TRIM notices by August 24 each year. The name traces to a 1980 Florida law meant to make tax rate increases more transparent to property owners.

How do I calculate my property tax from the notice?

Take your taxable value (assessed value minus exemptions), divide by 1,000, then multiply by the total millage rate on the notice. Example: taxable value of $175,000, total millage of 18.5 mills, tax = (175,000 / 1,000) x 18.5 = $3,237.50. The notice usually shows this already, but running it yourself confirms there's no error.

Can I appeal my property taxes if I just bought the house?

Yes, and your purchase price is often your strongest evidence. If the assessor's market value sits above what you paid in an arm's-length sale, that sale price is highly persuasive of true market value. Most appeals boards give recent sales real weight. File before the deadline and bring your closing disclosure or HUD-1 statement as an exhibit.

What is the rolled-back rate on my notice?

The rolled-back rate is the millage that would raise the same total revenue as the prior year, counting only existing properties (not new construction). If the proposed millage sits above the rolled-back rate, the taxing authority is raising taxes in real terms. Florida law requires notices to disclose this comparison. You can't appeal the millage rate through a value appeal.

Does filing an appeal freeze my tax payment deadline?

Generally no. Most states require you to pay the bill when due, even with an appeal pending. Win, and you get a refund or credit. California, Florida, Texas, and most other states follow this rule. Missing the payment can trigger penalties and, in some states, kill your appeal, so pay the bill and fight the value at the same time.

What is the difference between just value, assessed value, and taxable value on the TRIM notice?

Just value is the assessor's estimate of market value. Assessed value is just value after any state cap or ratio applies (in Florida, the Save Our Homes capped value). Taxable value is assessed value minus exemptions like homestead. Your bill runs off taxable value, so it can sit well below what your property would actually sell for.

How long does a property tax appeal take after I file?

Informal reviews through the assessor's office often close in 4 to 12 weeks. Formal hearings before an appeals board usually take 3 to 9 months from filing to decision, depending on the backlog. Florida VAB hearings are sometimes scheduled a year or more out in crowded counties. You still owe taxes in the meantime at the proposed rate.

Do I need a lawyer or an appraiser to appeal?

No. Most residential owners appear at informal reviews and formal hearings without a lawyer and win reductions. A licensed appraisal ($300 to $500 for residential) strengthens your case but isn't required. Lawyers and contingency firms are worth considering for commercial properties or complex disputes. For a standard homestead, organized comps and a corrected record card usually carry the day.

What happens if I don't respond to the notice at all?

Nothing, except you lose any chance to contest the value for that year. The proposed values become final, the bill issues, and you owe it. There's no penalty for not appealing. But if the assessment is genuinely wrong, doing nothing means you overpay until the next cycle, which in some states is annual and in others every three to five years.

Can a tax appeal raise my assessment instead of lowering it?

In theory yes, though it's rare for a board to raise your value after you file. In most states the board can only sustain, reduce, or vacate the value the assessor set. But if you open a formal proceeding and new information surfaces, some jurisdictions allow an upward adjustment. Ask your local board about its rules before filing if your value is borderline.

What if my neighbor's assessed value is lower than mine for a similar house?

Unequal appraisal (also called inequity) is a valid appeal ground in most states. Texas Tax Code Section 41.43 explicitly allows protests on the ground that a property is appraised unequally compared to other properties ^[8]. You'd present the neighbor's assessed value alongside comparable sales to show your assessed-to-market ratio runs higher than others.

When do property tax assessment notices typically arrive by mail?

It varies by state. Florida: by August 24. Texas: April. Illinois (Cook County): rolling through summer by township. California: annual tax bills in October, with change notices only when values move outside normal cycles. New York City: tentative roll published January 15, final roll May 25 ^[7]. Check your state's statutory calendar, usually posted on the state revenue department website.

What is a special magistrate at a Florida VAB hearing?

A special magistrate is a licensed attorney, certified public accountant, or licensed real estate appraiser appointed by the Value Adjustment Board to hear and decide individual petitions. They aren't county employees and are meant to stay neutral. They review your evidence and the assessor's, then issue a recommended decision. The VAB votes to accept or reject it, and almost always accepts.

Is the notice of proposed taxes the same as the actual tax bill?

No. The notice of proposed taxes shows what taxing authorities plan to charge, based on proposed budgets and millage rates that aren't final yet. The actual bill issues later, after governing boards finalize their budgets. In Florida, the TRIM notice arrives in August and the bill mails in November. The final bill can differ slightly if the boards adjusted millage at their September hearings.

Sources

1. Florida Department of Revenue, Property Tax Oversight: Florida Statute 200.069 requires TRIM notices mailed by August 24; rolled-back rate disclosure and public hearing requirements are prescribed by Florida law
2. Illinois General Assembly, Illinois Property Tax Code (35 ILCS 200): Illinois residential property is assessed at 33.33% of market value and Cook County has a 35-day appeal window from publication
3. Florida Department of Revenue, Save Our Homes and Homestead Exemption: Save Our Homes cap limits Florida assessed value increases to 3% or CPI, whichever is less; standard homestead exemption is $25,000 on first $50,000 of just value; exemption application deadline is March 1
4. Tax Foundation, Property Taxes by State: Assessment ratios vary widely by state; Alabama and Mississippi assess residential property at 10% of market value
5. Lincoln Institute of Land Policy (2021 study on property tax assessment): Lower-value properties in the U.S. are systematically assessed at higher ratios of market value than higher-value properties (regressivity finding)
6. California State Board of Equalization, Assessment Appeals: Proposition 13 caps assessed value at purchase price with 2% annual increase; decline-in-value appeals available under Revenue and Taxation Code Section 51; appeal window July 2 through November 30 in most counties
7. New York City Department of Finance, Property Tax: NYC Class 1 residential property assessed at 6% of market value; annual increases capped at 6%; tentative roll published January 15, final roll May 25
8. Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, Property Tax (Texas Tax Code Chapter 41): Texas Tax Code Section 41.41 allows protest of any assessor action; Section 41.44(b) allows late protest; Section 41.43 authorizes unequal appraisal protest; protest deadline is May 15 or 30 days from notice
9. Tax Foundation, Property Tax Rates by State: Texas average effective property tax rate approximately 1.60% in 2023 vs. national average of approximately 0.99%
10. Appraisal Institute: Residential property formal appraisal by a licensed appraiser typically costs $300 to $500
11. Georgia Department of Revenue, Property Tax: Georgia property owners have 45 days from assessment notice mail date to file an appeal
12. Michigan Department of Treasury: Michigan property tax appeals must be filed by July 31 of the tax year