BY: Aaron Styza

PUBLISHED - September 3, 2026

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Truth in Millage (TRIM) notices were sent out from the Pinellas County Property Appraiser, hitting mailboxes across the city. For some property owners, they brought stark, confusing news: their property value decreased, but their taxes increased.

Officials in the Pinellas County Property Appraiser office say this confusion is the most common questions they receive from the public, so here’s what it means if you’re paying more in taxes but lost property value:

In Florida, property taxes use three important numbers: Just/Market Value, Assessed Value and Taxable Value; and Market Value is what the Property Appraiser says your property was worth as of Jan. 1 every year.

Assessed value differs in that, under Florida Law, it can be capped. It’s capped through instruments such as the Save Our Homes legislation (which is for homesteaded properties) or through a 10% cap (for some non-homestead properties). Taxable value is the assessed value after exemptions are taken out.

And here’s where it gets weird and why your TRIM notice may have homeowners scratching their heads. A property’s market value can fall while its capped assessed value still goes up.

As an example, take one Pinellas County TRIM notice. The property’s market value dropped from $215,319 in 2025 to $171,917 in 2026, a loss of more than 20%. But its assessed value for city and county taxes went the other direction, increasing from $64,423 to $70,865, a nearly 10% increase.

How? The property’s assessed value was already far below its market value because of Florida’s non-homestead 10% cap. Even after the market value fell to $171,917, the capped value was still only $70,865. Meaning that the market value was coming down, while the capped value was still catching up. This rule is commonly referred to as “recapture.”

Basically, a long time ago, the example property was capped under Florida’s 10% non-homestead rule once the rules were enacted into law. But because the actual market can move up or down much more quickly, a large gap can develop between market and assessed value.

Think of market value like a fast rabbit. The rabbit can take as many steps up or down as the market takes it each year. The assessed value is the hunter chasing the rabbit, but the hunter can only move up by 10% annually (the cap). So when the market turns and the rabbit starts running backward, the hunter may still be moving forward. The gap gets smaller, but the assessed value can still rise even as market value falls, because the market value remains higher than the assessed value. Meaning, the hunter (assessed value) is still allowed under law to move toward the rabbit (market value) by 10%.

How the rabbit/hunter metaphor plays out with figures is as such: if a property is worth $300,000 but has a capped assessed value of $150,000, there’s a $150,000 gap between the two. If the market value falls to $270,000 next year, the capped value could still rise to $165,000.

The house lost $30,000 in market value. But the value being taxed increased $15,000. That doesn’t happen to every property. A property with an assessed value already close to its market value could instead see both numbers fall. Homesteaded properties also operate under different assessment limitations than non-homesteaded properties.

For homesteaded properties, the same basic concept can apply, but under a different cap. Florida’s Save Our Homes benefit limits annual increases in assessed value to roughly 3% or the change in the Consumer Price Index, whichever is lower. So a longtime homeowner whose assessed value remains well below market value could also see their assessed value and taxes rise even as their home’s market value falls, because the market value remains higher than the assessed value.

This is common for many homeowners, especially since Pinellas has been in a market correction. During a public information session last week, Pinellas County Property Appraiser Mike Twitty said, “Pinellas lost $5.5 billion in overall aggregate market value,” adding that “the worm has turned there.”

Not that a higher taxable value solely determines the final tax bill, the millage rate does. Millage is used to calculate your property tax (i.e. $1, or mill, for every $1,000 your home is worth), and in St. Petersburg, the millage rate is up for a vote tonight during the City Council session.

https://stpetecatalyst.com/trim-notices-did-your-taxes-rise-but-your-home-value-fall/