Miamidade County Tax Appeal Evaluations Hit Billions

By Yudislaidy Fernandez
Miami-Dade property tax appeals have soared to 7,500 filed already, and a single tax-appeal partnership says it has appeals to file totaling $4 billion in property so far.

The count jumped from the 50 filed the day after tax notices were mailed Aug. 24 to county property owners.

Case totals in Miami-Dade’s Value Adjustment Board system — still in line with the number around this time last year — are expected to balloon by the Sept. 18 filing deadline, said Robert Alfaro, the board’s manager.

About 102,000 appeals were filed in 2008, with many still awaiting their date in front of the appeals board.

The bulk of tax appeal cases are filed closer to deadline, Mr. Alfaro says, because many property owners, still exploring their options, tend to file at the end of the appeal period.

So far, business is booming for a Miami-based law firm that formed a tax appeal group this year, representing $4 billion worth of assets that include 35 condo associations and various commercial properties, a law firm chair says.

Bilzin Sumberg Baena Price & Axelrod’s Real Estate Group formed the partnership with Mitchell Feldman known as FBS Property Tax Abatement.

Jim Shindell, the real estate group’s chair, said residential and commercial cases so far are "in line with our projections and we are expecting a fair amount more between now and the end of the deadline."

Mr. Shindell noted that many commercial owners are appealing this year and more could do so in 2010.

To streamline the process, property owners can now file appeals electronically on the board’s Web site.

The board expects to hear 2009 tax appeals after December, the month it hopes to finish hearing 2008 cases. Advertisement