Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Broward County commercial property tax appeals
Appeals start with the Broward County Property Appraiser (BCPA) and go to the Broward County Value Adjustment Board. Here is how commercial evidence is built, filed and heard in Broward County.
- Assessor
- Broward County Property Appraiser (BCPA)
- First-level board
- Broward County Value Adjustment Board
- Filing deadline
- Petition to the Value Adjustment Board on or before the 25th day after the TRIM notice is mailed (Fla. Stat. §194.011(3)(d)); the 2026 deadline was September 18, 2026
- Commercial assessment level
- 100% of just value; non-school levies limited to 10% annual growth in assessed value for non-homestead property (Fla. Stat. §193.1555)
- Value standard
- Just value (Fla. Const. art. VII, §4; Fla. Stat. §193.011)
- Valuation date
- January 1 of the tax year (Fla. Stat. §192.042)
- Assessment cycle
- Annual reappraisal of every parcel at just value as of January 1
- Notices mailed
- TRIM notice (Notice of Proposed Property Taxes) mailed in mid to late August; for the 2026 roll the VAB opened online petition filing on August 17, 2026
How Broward County assesses commercial property
Broward County runs one of the busiest Value Adjustment Boards in Florida, and its commercial docket covers Port Everglades logistics buildings, Pompano Beach flex industrial and the office towers of downtown Fort Lauderdale. The Broward County Property Appraiser values every parcel at just value as of January 1 and reports it on the TRIM notice mailed in August. For the 2026 roll the VAB opened online filing on August 17 and closed petitions on September 18, 2026, the statutory 25 days after mailing under Fla. Stat. §194.011(3)(d).
The VAB office sits in the Governmental Center at 115 S. Andrews Avenue, Room 120, and takes petitions through its AXIA portal. Effective March 1, 2026, the board set a $25 filing fee per petition, below the $50 per parcel ceiling the Legislature allowed in 2025 (HB 7031), and card payments add a 2.55% convenience charge. An unpaid fee makes the petition invalid. Multiple-parcel and contiguous-parcel petitions cannot go through AXIA and are filed on paper.
Value cases go to appraiser special magistrates, who must be state certified appraisers with at least five years of valuation experience. Hearings start in October and run weekdays until the docket clears; the board then adopts recommendations at monthly meetings, and Broward lets a petitioner request a legal review within 15 calendar days after the magistrate's worksheet is mailed. Because non-school levies on commercial parcels are capped at 10% annual growth under §193.1555, a just value reduction always cuts the school portion of the bill but trims the rest only when the new just value falls below the capped assessed value.
Major commercial submarkets
- Downtown Fort Lauderdale and Las Olas
- Cypress Creek office corridor
- Port Everglades and Dania Beach industrial
- Pompano Beach industrial
- Sawgrass and Sunrise
- Miramar and Southwest Broward (I-75)
Uniformity authority
Fla. Const. art. VII, §§2 and 4; Fla. Stat. §194.301(2)(a) (assessment arbitrarily based on practices different from those applied to comparable property in the county)
Appeal statute
Fla. Stat. §194.011 (VAB petition); §194.171 (circuit court)
After the board
Original action in the Circuit Court of the 17th Judicial Circuit (Broward), tried de novo, filed within 60 days of the VAB decision or of roll certification under Fla. Stat. §194.171
Official forms ATALI ELECTRIC fills for Broward County
| Form | Filed with | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| DR-486, Petition to the Value Adjustment Board, Request for Hearing | Broward VAB, through AXIA or at 115 S. Andrews Ave., Room 120, Fort Lauderdale | Contests the just value of a single folio; must be sworn and carry the owner's signature or written authorization for an agent |
| DR-486MU, Multiple Units Attachment | Broward VAB office (paper filing only; not accepted through AXIA) | Lists additional parcels on a multiple or contiguous parcel petition |
| DR-481, Value Adjustment Board Notice of Hearing | Issued by the VAB clerk to the petitioner | Sets the hearing date and time; the 15-day evidence exchange clock runs backward from this date |
| DR-485WI, Value Adjustment Board Withdrawal of Petition | Broward VAB office | Withdraws a petition after a settlement with BCPA |
Filing system: Broward VAB AXIA online petition filing (bcvab.broward.org)
Hearings and evidence
Quasi-judicial hearings before an appraiser special magistrate (attorney magistrates take exemption and classification cases), weekdays 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. from October until every petition is heard; testimony under oath with cross-examination, and the board adopts recommendations at its monthly meeting
- 01At least 15 days before the hearing the petitioner must give BCPA an evidence list, copies of every document and a summary of witness testimony (Fla. Stat. §194.011(4)(a)).
- 02Since September 1, 2025, BCPA owes the same package at least 15 days before the hearing, including the property record card; if it is late the hearing must be rescheduled (§194.011(4)(b), as amended by HB 7031).
- 03Documents BCPA requested in writing that the petitioner knew about and withheld cannot be presented at the hearing (§194.034(1)(h)).
- 04The assessment is presumed correct only after BCPA shows by a preponderance that it followed §193.011 and professionally accepted appraisal practices; the petitioner then must prove by a preponderance that the value exceeds just value (§194.301).
Income evidence
Income is the seventh of the eight just value factors in Fla. Stat. §193.011, so a capitalized NOI is a recognized basis for value in front of a Broward appraiser magistrate. Present actual rent rolls and trailing operating statements, then normalize: remove debt service and depreciation, apply market vacancy and reserves, and support the cap rate with South Florida market data rather than a single broker opinion. Operating records the owner produces to BCPA stay confidential in the appraiser's hands under §195.027(3). If the magistrate rejects the BCPA value, §194.301(2)(b) lets the board set a new value only when the record contains competent, substantial evidence that itself meets §193.011; a thin income exhibit can win the argument and still send the parcel back to BCPA on remand.
Practitioner notes
- Downtown Fort Lauderdale and Cypress Creek office leases often carry free rent and large TI packages; show effective rent from the rent roll, not the face rate the CAMA model reads from listings.
- Port Everglades, Dania Beach and Pompano Beach industrial trades frequently involve owner-users and outdoor storage yards; separate excess land and yard value before building a sales grid.
- Beachfront hotels report furniture and equipment on the tangible personal property return (DR-405), so the real property case should remove business value and FF&E from the income stream to avoid counting them twice.
- AXIA takes one folio per online petition; a shopping center or business park on several folios needs a paper multiple-parcel petition delivered to Room 120 before the deadline.
Broward County appeal questions
Last verified October 2026 against the assessor, board and statute.
What does it cost to file a Broward VAB petition?
The board approved a $25 non-refundable fee per petition effective March 1, 2026. Card payments through AXIA add a 2.55% convenience fee with a $2.00 minimum. The statutory ceiling is $50 per parcel.
Does a meeting with the Property Appraiser stop the deadline?
No. The informal conference under §194.011(2) is optional and the petition is still due 25 days after the TRIM mailing. File the petition first and withdraw it with a DR-485WI if BCPA agrees to a value.
Who decides a commercial value petition in Broward?
An appraiser special magistrate hears the case and makes a recommendation; the five-member Value Adjustment Board adopts it at a monthly meeting. Attorney magistrates hear exemption and classification cases.
What if the September deadline has passed?
The VAB can accept a late petition only on a showing of good cause. Separately, §194.171(2) allows a circuit court action within 60 days after the roll is certified for collection, without going through the VAB.
Nearby jurisdictions
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