Bay County
Bay County Value Adjustment Board
225 McKenzie Avenue
Panama City, FL 32401
Phone: (850) 767-3314
Fax: (850) 747-5199
email: vab@baycoclerk.com



 

Welcome to the Bay County Value Adjustment Board


2023 PETITION DEADLINE:

September 12, 2023

 

The Bay County Property Appraiser's Office sent out trim notices on   August 18 , 2023. The deadline for filing a petition to the Bay County Value Adjustment Board is   September  12 , 2023. If you did not receive a trim notice or have questions concerning your assessment, you should contact the Bay County Property Appraiser's Office at (850) 248-8401. If you have questions regarding the filing of a petition to the Bay County Value Adjustment Board please contact the Bay County Clerk's Office at (850) 767-3314 or at vab@baycoclerk.com.

FILING FEE:

THERE IS A $15.00 NON-REFUNDABLE FEE TO FILE A PETITION TO THE VALUE ADJUSTMENT BOARD. ELECTRONIC PETITIONS ARE SUBJECT TO A 3.5% NON-REFUNDABLE CREDIT CARD PROCESSING FEE. IF YOU PLAN TO PAY BY CASH, CHECK, MONEY ORDER OR CASHIER’S CHECK YOU WILL NEED TO FILE THE PETITION IN PERSON OR THROUGH THE MAIL. CHECKS CAN BE MADE PAYABLE TO THE CLERK OF THE VALUE ADJUSTMENT BOARD AND MAILED TO 225 MCKENZIE AVENUE, PANAMA CITY, FL 32401.

 YOU MUST FILE YOUR PETITION IN PERSON OR BY MAIL WHEN:

1)  YOU ARE PAYING BY CASH, CHECK, CASHIER’S CHECK OR MONEY ORDER – Make checks payable to Clerk to the Value Adjustment Board and mail to 225 McKenzie Avenue, Panama City, FL 32401.

2)  YOU ARE FILING A PETITION REGARDING THE DENIAL OF AN EXEMPTION, CLASSIFICATION OR TAX DEFERREL – Persons filing a petition due to the denial, by the property appraiser or tax collector, of a timely filed application for an exemption, classification or tax deferral, will need to file their petition by mail or in person along with the $15.00 non-refundable filing fee. Denied applications that were timely filed with the property appraiser or tax collector for homestead exemption or homestead tax deferral, are not subject to the filing fee. However, if the application was recived after the March 1st deadline and was denied, the $15.00 petition filing fee would apply. If you proceed by filing this type of petition electronically you will have to pay the filing fee, no matter if you are exempt. Remember this fee is non-refundable. You can print blank petition forms to mail or submit in person, at www.baycoclerk.com,  Value Adjustment Board.

3)  YOU ARE FILING A PETITION THAT CONTAINS MULTIPLE CONTIGUOUS PARCELS or TPP ACCOUNTS – You would need to bring in or mail in, with your petition, verification from the Property Appraiser’s Office that your parcels or accounts are contiguous or like in nature. The cost to file your petition will be $15.00 + $5.00 per contiguous parcel or account after the first. Checks should be made payable to the Clerk of the Value Adjustment Board and mailed to 225 McKenzie Avenue, Panama City, FL 32401. You can print the blank petition forms at www.baycoclerk.com,  Value Adjustment Board.

Required Partial Payment of Taxes To Avoid Denial Of Your Petition (Section 194.014, F.S.)

194.014 Partial payment of ad valorem taxes; proceedings before value adjustment board.—

(1)(a) A petitioner before the value adjustment board who challenges the assessed value of property must pay all of the non-ad valorem assessments and make a partial payment of at least 75 percent of the ad valorem taxes, less the applicable discount under s. 197.162, before the taxes become delinquent pursuant to s. 197.333.

(b)1. A petitioner before the value adjustment board who challenges the denial of a classification or exemption, or the assessment based on an argument that the property was not substantially complete as of January 1, must pay all of the non-ad valorem assessments and the amount of the tax which the taxpayer admits in good faith to be owing, less the applicable discount under s. 197.162, before the taxes become delinquent pursuant to s. 197.333.

2. If the value adjustment board determines that the amount of the tax that the taxpayer has admitted to be owing pursuant to this paragraph is grossly disproportionate to the amount of the tax found to be due and that the taxpayer’s admission was not made in good faith, the tax collector must collect a penalty at the rate of 10 percent of the deficiency per year from the date the taxes became delinquent pursuant to s. 197.333.

(c) The value adjustment board must deny the petition by written decision by April 20 if the petitioner fails to make the payment required by this subsection. The clerk, upon issuance of the decision, shall, on a form provided by the Department of Revenue, notify by first-class mail each taxpayer, the property appraiser, and the department of the decision of the board.

(2) If the value adjustment board or the property appraiser determines that the petitioner owes ad valorem taxes in excess of the amount paid, the unpaid amount accrues interest at an annual percentage rate equal to the bank prime loan rate on July 1, or the first business day thereafter if July 1 is a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, of the year, beginning on the date the taxes became delinquent pursuant to s. 197.333 until the unpaid amount is paid. If the value adjustment board or the property appraiser determines that a refund is due, the overpaid amount accrues interest at an annual percentage rate equal to the bank prime loan rate on July 1, or the first business day thereafter if July 1 is a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, of the tax year, beginning on the date the taxes became delinquent pursuant to s. 197.333 until a refund is paid. Interest on an overpayment related to a petition shall be funded proportionately by each taxing authority that was overpaid. Interest does not accrue on amounts paid in excess of 100 percent of the current taxes due as provided on the tax notice issued pursuant to s. 197.322. For purposes of this subsection, the term “bank prime loan rate” means the average predominant prime rate quoted by commercial banks to large businesses as published by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.

(3) This section does not apply to petitions for ad valorem tax deferrals pursuant to chapter 197.

History.—s. 1, ch. 2011-181; s. 9, ch. 2016-128.