The office of Hillsborough County Property Appraiser (HCPA) Bob Henriquez is currently mailing the 2021 Notice of Proposed Property Taxes, also known as the ‘Truth in Millage’ (TRIM) notice, to all property owners in the county.
The TRIM notice is mailed each August and includes important information about individual properties, such as the property’s assessed value as of January 1, 2021; exemptions, if any, applied to the property; the proposed taxes calculated using the taxing authorities’ proposed millage rates; and the dates, times and venues of budget hearings for each of the various taxing authorities.
The TRIM notice is not a bill. Rather, it is an estimate of ad valorem taxes based on the proposed tax rates, a property’s value and exemptions. The Hillsborough County Property Appraiser (HCPA) does not set the tax rate, issue the bill or collect taxes. It only determines a property’s market value to be used by the taxing authorities for taxation purposes.
“I encourage all property owners to carefully review their TRIM notice to make sure they are receiving all the benefits they are entitled to by law,” Henriquez said. “If you need any help understanding your notice, please do not hesitate to contact my office.”
To help answer questions about the notices, Henriquez’s staff is available by telephone at 272-6100 from Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. until 5 p.m., excluding holidays. Assistance is also available online via the HCPA’s website, www.hcpafl.org, where property owners can use the new ‘live chat’ feature to have their questions answered by a representative from the property appraiser’s office.
During these same hours, the HCPA also has three of its offices open for limited walk-in service utilizing current Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines. These locations include the first-floor lobby of the County Center in downtown Tampa (601 E. Kennedy Blvd.), the Plant City office (307 N. Michigan Ave., 2nd Floor) and the Southshore Regional Service Center in Ruskin (410 30th St. SE.).
TRIM notices can also be reviewed on the HCPA website by visiting www.hcpafl.org and performing a property search. Once the property’s ‘parcel result’ page is located online, click on the ‘TRIM’ PDF icon at the top of the page to view the Notice of Proposed Taxes.
To help property owners understand the information found on TRIM notices, the HCPA has created an online explanation page found at www.hcpafl.org/property-info/truth-in-millage.
If a property owner disagrees with the value set by the HCPA or believes they should have qualified for an exemption but do not see it listed, they are encouraged to contact the HCPA at 272-6100 for an informal review. If the owner is not satisfied with the outcome or would prefer not to discuss the matter with the HCPA, they can file a formal petition with the county’s Value Adjustment Board (VAB).
A formal petition form must be received by the VAB by Friday, September 17. Petition forms are available online at: https://hcvab.hillsclerk.com/axiaweb2021/.
