Duval property values continue rising, but taxable value growth slows

Jacksonville, FL — Property values are once again rising in Duval County, which means you will likely see a bigger tab, when it comes to paying your next property tax bill.

But the growth in the overall property tax roll is less than last year.

As part of the City's annual budget process, the Duval County Property Appraiser submits the estimated taxable property values, so the City knows how much money they have to work with. The values obtained by WOKV show the Property Appraiser expects there to be about $50 million more paid out in property taxes for the upcoming City budget than the current one, which provides a boost as the Mayor's Office puts together that spending plan. The tax roll is up about 6.7% from last year, but that is down from the 7.8% growth the year prior.

“They’ve been predicting a slight decline for the next couple of years, so this may be the start of it. And we’re seeing that in talking to other Property Appraisers around the state- that some areas have dropped off in their increase,” says Duval County Property Appraiser Jerry Holland.

Holland says the fact that there has been some slower growth across the state means this likely reflects broader economic factors that are not specific to the area. One thing he has seen here that was somewhat surprising is a drop in new construction. That’s currently expected to drop more than 18% from 2018, to a little over $1.2 billion. Holland is hoping that, in to next year, some of the projects that are underway will come online, and help turn that number around.

“You see so much as you, visually, drive around. You still see a lot of growth,” he says.

Despite the somewhat smaller growth, Holland says Duval is still seeing a rise in property values.

The data from the Property Appraiser’s Office shows 2019 tax roll values up over 2018 by more than 7% in Atlantic Beach, more than 9% on the Southbank, and nearly 17% in a special redevelopment district of Arlington. Holland says areas near the water- like the beaches or the St. Johns River- traditionally see the bigger increase in value, largely because there is only so much room for property.

“As the supply gets limited, the demand goes up, and the limited number of availabilities drives the price up,” he says.

At this point, he doesn’t have an estimate of what the average increase will be in your property tax bill, especially because it will widely vary, depending on where you live. It is possible that your bill could stay the same, if Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry decides to roll back the property tax rate, but in his prior budgets Curry has so far held the rate flat.

Despite the smaller growth, Holland says he doesn’t see a point any time soon where there is no growth at all, unless there’s some unforeseeable triggering event.

While the growth is smaller, it could have been much worse. Florida voters decided against "Amendment 1" last November, which would have created a new property tax exemption. While that would have benefited some property owners, it's believed it would have means at least a $27 million drop in property tax collections for the City.