UPDATED september 2019
Property Appraiser has Burden of Complying with Professionally Accepted Appraisal Practices
In an action challenging the assessment of TPP, a Florida Court recently ruled that the property appraiser was statutorily required to present evidence that it calculated obsolescence of the TPP in accordance with professionally accepted appraisal practices.
At trial, taxpayer did not dispute that property appraiser could assess TPP based on the cost approach. The Court found that the property appraiser provided sufficient evidence that he determined the reproduction cost of the TPP as well as the effect of deterioration in accordance with professionally accepted appraisal practices.
However, the property appraiser had the additional burden of showing that he determined obsolescence of the TTP in accordance with professionally accepted appraisal practices. The court determined that the property appraiser failed to meet this burden because he did not present testimony that his methodology complied with professionally accepted appraisal practices, and taxpayer’s expert testified that the property appraiser failed to sufficiently examine comparable sales in determining obsolescence in violation of professionally accepted appraisal practices.
Case citation: Darden Restaurants, Inc. v. Singh, 266 So. 3d 228 (Fla. 5th DCA 2019)
Daniel Wolfe Esq.
Rennert Vogel Mandler & Rodriguez, P.A.
American Property Tax Counsel (APTC)
