By MARTY KIAR

Broward County Property Appraiser

The Broward County Property Appraiser is responsible for determining the assessment or value of your home for tax purposes.

The value of your home determines the amount of taxes you pay each year. It is important to understand the higher your property assessment, the higher your property taxes and the lower your assessment, the lower your property taxes. Our office works very hard to make sure residents only pay their fair share – no more, no less.

As our community recovers from Hurricane Irma, many people may have experienced storm damage to their properties. If your property sustained major damage to the structure of the home, it is important you let our office know so we can send an appraiser out to review this damage. This is important because damage to your home may affect your property assessment and the amount of taxes you have to pay next year.

Examples of structural damage include significant roof damage, damage to loadbearing walls or damage to the foundation of your home. While downed trees, fences, roof leaks and missing shingles/tiles may be difficult or expensive to repair, they do not affect the structural integrity of the home or make the home unsafe to live in.

We have created a simple online form to make this process easy for you. The online Hurricane Irma Catastrophic Structural Damage Report form is located on our website at www.bcpa.net or http://www.bcpa.net/DamageForm.asp If you do not have access to a computer, please call our office at 954-357-6831 and we will be happy to mail you a form.

It is important to know the Property Appraiser’s Office cannot adjust your 2017 property assessment or taxes as a result of damage sustained by Hurricane Irma. Damage to your property as a result of Hurricane Irma may impact your 2018 property assessment assuming the repairs have not been completed by January 1, 2018.

If my office can ever be of assistance to you with exemption or property assessment questions, please do not hesitate to contact me directly at 954-357-6904 or by email at martykiar@bcpa.net.