Property

The Charlotte County Property Appraiser is now accepting applications for partial 2024 property tax refunds if a residential improvement was destroyed or rendered uninhabitable for at least 30 days due to a catastrophic event (hurricane, fire, or other natural disaster).

Some 24,000 TRIM notices for the wrong year were mailed Friday to Lee County homeowners, by mistake.Property Appraiser Matt Caldwell says the error was made when a batch of the notices did not get overwritten with the current year's data.

Lee County as a whole had its property values raise 6 percent over last year. For Fort Myers Beach it was 48 percent.

City and county boards would face a higher threshold for approving property-tax hikes, under a proposal that started moving forward Monday in the Legislature.In a 15-7 vote, the House Ways & Means Committee backed a bill (HB 1195) that would require two-thirds votes by city, county and special district governing boards to approve increases in millage rates, which represent dollars assessed per $1,000 in property value.

The 562,000 tax bills being mailed to property and business owners in Lee County today are not meant to be scary, they are simply a reality of life. The bills reflect the value of the property as of January 1, 2023, when Florida law required them to be assessed.

The public is invited to join Lee County’s Clerk and Comptroller Kevin Karnes, Property Appraiser Matt Caldwell and Tax Collector Noelle Branning for a comprehensive presentation on the property assessment, collection and dispute process.The class will take place on Wednesday, Aug. 2 from 2-3 p.m. at the Estero Recreation Center, located at 9200 Corkscrew Palms Boulevard in Estero.

Bonita and Estero made huge gains in terms of market values. Fort Myers Beach and Sanibel saw significant losses.

The state this week pushed back against a challenge to a new law that restricts people from China and six other countries from owning property in Florida, disputing arguments that it is unconstitutional and discriminates based on “race and national origin.”

Lee County property owners whose residence was uninhabitable for more than 30 days in 2022 can apply for the refund on the Property Appraiser’s website (www.leepa.org).