Every August your county property appraiser mails a Notice of Proposed Property Taxes. It is not a bill, but it is the only warning you get before your November bill is set in stone.
- The TRIM notice arrives in August and cannot be paid. The bill arrives in November.
- Three values matter: market (just) value, assessed value after any cap, and taxable value after exemptions.
- You have 25 days from the mailing date to petition the Value Adjustment Board.
- The proposed millage can still change at the September budget hearings listed on the notice.
What TRIM stands for and why you get it
TRIM is Truth in Millage, the name of the Florida law that forces every taxing authority to tell you what it plans to charge before it charges you. Under section 200.069 of the Florida Statutes, your county property appraiser mails the Notice of Proposed Property Taxes in August, usually in the second or third week. Marion, Brevard, Palm Beach and every other county follows the same statute, so the layout is nearly identical statewide.
The notice does three jobs. It tells you what the appraiser thinks your property is worth as of January 1. It shows the tax each local government proposes to levy on that value. And it gives you the dates, times and locations of the public hearings where those budgets are adopted. What it does not do is ask for money. If you try to pay it, the tax collector will send it back.
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The three values on the notice
The columns that confuse people are the values. Florida uses three, and the difference between them is where most of your savings live.
- Market value, sometimes labelled just value, is the appraiser's estimate of what the property would sell for on January 1 of the tax year. It moves with the market and has no cap.
- Assessed value is market value after the Save Our Homes cap for homestead property or the 10% cap for everything else. On a home you have owned for years this figure can sit far below market value. On a home you bought last year the two are usually identical, because the cap resets on a sale.
- Taxable value is assessed value minus your exemptions: the $25,000 homestead exemption, the second $25,000 on the non-school portion, and any widow, senior, veteran or disability exemption you qualified for. This is the number the millage is multiplied against.
Read the three values as a chain. If market value rose 12% but assessed value rose 3%, the cap is doing its job and the notice is not a problem. If assessed value jumped to match market value, something changed: a sale, a change in ownership, a lost exemption, or an appraiser reclassification. That is the case worth a phone call.
Reading the millage columns
Below the values you will see one row per taxing authority: the county, the school board (split into required local effort and discretionary), your city if you are inside one, the water management district, and any special districts such as fire, hospital or children's services. Each row shows last year's rate, this year's proposed rate, and the rate that would have produced the same revenue as last year, called the rolled-back rate.
The rolled-back rate is the honest comparison. If the proposed rate is higher than the rolled-back rate, that authority is raising taxes in real terms even if the number of mills went down. The notice also prints the tax each row would produce on your taxable value, in dollars, so you can see who is responsible for the increase. Our Florida property tax estimator reproduces this arithmetic for any county so you can check the total.
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Non-ad valorem assessments
A second section lists assessments that are not based on value: solid waste, stormwater, street lighting, fire rescue in some counties, and community development district bonds in newer subdivisions. These are flat charges per parcel or per unit and they are not reduced by any exemption. On a modest home in a CDD community the non-ad valorem lines can be a third of the bill, which surprises buyers who only checked the millage.
Why the November bill can differ from the notice
The TRIM figure is proposed. Each taxing authority holds two public hearings in September, and the rate adopted at the final hearing is what appears on the November bill. Most adopt the proposed rate, some adopt less, and occasionally one adopts the maximum the notice allowed. If your November bill is higher than the TRIM total, compare the millage lines rather than the totals. That is almost always where the difference sits.
Then the discount schedule starts. Pay the November bill in November and you keep 4% of it. That schedule and the installment option are covered in our guide to the Florida property tax early-payment discount.
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Submit a Contract →The 25-day clock
The most important date on the notice is printed near the bottom: the deadline to file a petition with the county Value Adjustment Board. By statute it is 25 days after the appraiser mails the notices, which puts it in mid-September in most counties. Miss it and you cannot contest the value until next year, no matter how wrong it is.
You do not need a lawyer to file, and you do not need to wait for the hearing to talk to the appraiser. Most counties will review an informal request within days and correct obvious errors, such as a wrong square footage or a pool that was removed years ago, without a petition. File the petition anyway if the deadline is close, then withdraw it if the informal review resolves the issue. The full process is in our guide to appealing a Florida property assessment.
What the notice means at a closing
If you are buying or selling between August and November, the TRIM notice is the best estimate anyone has of the tax that will be prorated at closing. Closing agents use the prior year's bill until the current bill exists, then true it up. If the notice shows a large increase, ask the closing agent to prorate on the proposed figure rather than last year's bill so neither side is surprised in November. How that proration works is explained in who pays property taxes at a Florida closing.
Buyers should also read the notice with one correction in mind: it reflects the seller's exemptions and the seller's capped assessment. Your first full bill will be based on the purchase price with the cap reset, which is why property taxes rise the year after you buy.
Related Reading
Florida Property Tax Discount: Pay in November, Save 4%
Florida property tax bills mail November 1.
How to Appeal Your Florida Property Tax Assessment in 2026
The petition window closes about 25 days after your August notice.
Who Pays Property Taxes at Closing in Florida? Proration Math
Florida property taxes are paid in arrears, so the seller credits the buyer at closing.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a Florida TRIM notice a bill?
No. It is a Notice of Proposed Property Taxes mailed in August. The actual bill comes from the tax collector on or about November 1. You cannot pay the TRIM notice.
When are Florida TRIM notices mailed?
In August, typically the second or third week, by the county property appraiser. The mailing date is printed on the notice and starts the 25-day appeal clock.
What is the difference between market value and assessed value on a TRIM notice?
Market value is what the appraiser believes the property would sell for on January 1. Assessed value is market value after the Save Our Homes 3% cap for homesteads or the 10% cap for other property. Taxable value is assessed value minus exemptions.
How long do I have to appeal my TRIM notice?
25 days from the mailing date to file a petition with the county Value Adjustment Board. The exact deadline is printed on the notice, usually in mid-September.
Why is my November tax bill different from my TRIM notice?
The notice shows proposed millage rates. Each taxing authority adopts its final rate at September hearings, and the adopted rate is what appears on the bill. Compare the millage lines to find the change.
Does the TRIM notice show the taxes a buyer will pay?
Not exactly. It reflects the current owner's exemptions and capped assessment. After a sale the assessment resets to market value and the buyer must apply for their own exemptions, so the buyer's first full bill is often higher.