Florida’s Greenbelt Law provides significant property tax savings to those who can demonstrate the good faith commercial agricultural use of property, defined in Rule 12D-5.001 as the pursuit of an agricultural activity for a reasonable profit or at least upon a reasonable expectation of meeting investment cost and realizing a reasonable profit.
If you purchased property in 2020 or 2021 and made a new application for agricultural classification earlier this year, you should have received notification of the property appraiser’s decision by now if you were denied. Understanding why, when, and how to challenge a denial successfully requires diligence and thorough preparation. It’s important to preserve your ability to challenge the property appraiser’s decision by filing a petition with the Value Adjustment Board within 30 days of the notice’s mailing.
Understanding the basis for the denial is the first step. Analyzing whether the use as of January 1, 2022 may be supported through credible evidence applied under Florida’s laws to your unique situation is a step most often overlooked before it’s time to make your case. Property owners should speak with someone who has experience representing agricultural property owners through the processes, be it new applications, informal conferences with the property appraiser, and hearings before a special magistrate for the value adjustment board.
If you have any questions, please contact Gunster attorney Katie Edwards-Walpole. Katie has provided counsel to a wide range of agricultural property owners in counties such as Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Martin, Hillsborough, and Highlands whose uses include horse racing, boarding and training facilities, aquaculture farms, aquatic plant growers, plant nurseries, tropical fruit groves, and cattle ranches.
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This publication is for general information only. It is not legal advice, and legal counsel should be contacted before any action is taken that might be influenced by this publication.
About Gunster
Gunster, Florida’s law firm for business, provides full-service legal counsel to leading organizations and individuals from its 11 offices statewide. Established in 1925, the firm has expanded, diversified and evolved, but always with a singular focus: Florida and its clients’ stake in it. A magnet for business-savvy attorneys who embrace collaboration for the greatest advantage of clients, Gunster’s growth has not been at the expense of personalized service but because of it. The firm serves clients from its offices in Boca Raton, Fort Lauderdale, Jacksonville, Miami, Orlando, Palm Beach, Stuart, Tallahassee, Tampa, Vero Beach, and its headquarters in West Palm Beach. With over 220 attorneys and 200 committed support staff, Gunster is ranked among the National Law Journal’s list of the 500 largest law firms and has been recognized as one of the Top 100 Diverse Law Firms by Law360. More information about its practice areas, offices and insider’s view newsletters is available at www.gunster.com.
