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Estimating Property Taxes when buying real estate in Lee County

The information displayed on this page serves as a guideline and is not guaranteed. 

This webpage does not warrant nor certify the tax information displayed; nor is it representative of past, current or future taxes. 

For more information please contact the Lee County Property Appraiser’s office directly at 239-533- 6100.

Florida property taxes are relatively unique because:

• They are levied annually.
• Taxes must be paid in full and at one time (unless the property owner has filed for the installment program for homestead tax deferrals) 
• Taxes may be paid from November through March. Substantial discounts are extended for early payment.
• Five months elapse before real property owners can be penalized for non-payment of taxes

The basic timing of the property tax system in Florida is as follows:

• January 1:     All Property in the State must be assessed on its condition on that particular date
• March 1:       The general deadline to submit homestead exemption applications and others like widow, widower, disability etc. You must own the property as of January 1 of the taxing year to qualify.
• April 1:         Filing deadline for tangible tax return with no penalty applied. Deadline for requesting an extension for filing tangible tax returns.
• May 15:        Filing deadline for tangible tax returns with extensions.
• July 1:           Local property appraisers generally have their values determined.
• Mid August: TRIM notices are mailed to inform owners of their proposed assessment and tax bill for that year.
• September:   25 days from the date of mailing the TRIMs, the appeal period expires if you want to appeal through the Value Adjustment Board.
• November:  Tax bills are sent out. Taxes can be paid with the greatest discount.

The ad valorem property tax liability is based on the ad valorem (assessed) value of the property and a millage rate (tax rate). All  Florida property is assessed on January 1 of the tax year. Tax rates vary in Lee County by location and are used to determine ad valorem property taxes. Non advalorem assessments, like waste removal, are added to the property tax liability. CDD assessments are often collected with your annual taxes and are itemized under non ad valorem assessment.

This page deals only with ad valorem taxes, taxes based only on the assessed value of a property. 

Lee County provides a Tax Estimator. The Tax Estimator uses the assessed property value and the tax rate in its most basic calculation which is assessed property value x tax rate. If you know the address, call me at 239-851-4512 and I will tell you the millage rate currently being used by the Tax Estimator. 

The Tax estimator assumes the assessed property value to be 90% of the sales price and multiplies that by the tax rate. Most basic example:  Sales price = $100,000. Tax estimator's assumes the assessed value = $100,000 x 90% = $90,000. The tax rate used in this example is $15.3885 per $1000 of assessed value. Estimated ad valorem taxes are $90,000 x ($15.3885/$1000) = $1,385 

This is only a very rough estimate. There are many other considerations which affect the actual property tax calculation performed annually by the Property Appraiser's office. For example if you qualify for homestead exemption which is $25,000 for each claimant and you and your spouse claim homestead exemption, the calculation could change to ($90,000 - (2x $25,000)) x ($15.3885/$1000) = ($90,000 - $50,000) x  ($15.3885/$1000)  =   $40,000  x  ($15.3885/$1000)  =  $615.54.  Non ad valorem assessments are added to ad valorem taxes as part of the total property tax liability. 

The actual tax rate (millage rate) used to calculate ad valorem property taxes is set every year by the various taxing authorities in Lee County. Historically, tax rates have fluctuated within a fairly narrow range. The below millage rates were used on March 3, 2019. The actual millage rate may differ based on decisions made by the taxing authorities. Millage rates compared to last year have been lowered across the board.

This table shows you a few selected millage rates on March 5, 2019 in Lee County.    

For more information please contact the Lee County Property Appraiser’s office directly at 239-533- 6100.