The Pinellas County Property Appraiser’s office uses many terms and calculations to determine the value of Pinellas homes.  These values are then used to calculate the property taxes owed (which will be the subject of an upcoming post here on The Pinellas Peach).

There are THREE values used to determine ad valorem taxes:

1. Market (or Just) Value:  The market value is also known as the “Just” value and is based on recent sales and market information.  This value is established January 1st of each year.  Two truly equal houses will have the same Just or Market value.  Recent Palm Harbor foreclosures and short sales can be included as comparables to determine the value of your home.
2. The Assessed Value:  This is the value that is capped by the ‘Save Our Homes Cap‘ which prevents the assessor’s office from increasing the value of your home by more than 3% per year or the Consumer Price Index, whichever is lower.   So, with homes that aren’t homesteaded, the Market/Just value and the Assessed Value will be equal.
3. Taxable Value: The taxable value is simply the value after any exemptions are deducted, which most often include the $50,000 homestead exemption.  There are other exemptions which we’ll cover in a future post.

It’s important to note that because of the Save Our Homes cap, it’s impossible to compare assessed values or taxes with your neighbors.  Assuming you and your neighbor own identical Dunedin homes, and he purchased his home and filed for the homestead exemption 5 years ago, and you just purchased your Dunedin home a month ago, his assessed value and taxes could be lower than yours.