June 5, 2026
Stearns Weaver Miller News Update
Overview
Our statewide group has decades of experience in almost every aspect of property tax law and appeals. We represent owners, tenants, managers, lenders and developers and have substantial experience challenging the valuation of a broad range of property types.
Clients include:
- Affordable/Low-Income Housing
- Assisted/Independent Living Facilities/Nursing Homes, CCRC
- Car Dealerships
- Condominium Associations
- Entertainment
- Gas Stations
- High-End Residential
- Hotels (Full/Limited/Select Service, Boutique)
- Marinas
- Mixed-Use
- Multi-Family Housing
- Office Buildings & Office Parks
- Parking Garages
- Retail (Anchor Department Stores, Big Box, Grocery Stores, Shopping Centers, Regional Malls)
- Self-Storage
- Student Housing
- Tangible Personal Property
- Vacant/Undeveloped Land
- Warehouse/Industrial and Manufacturing Facilities
Range of Services
Property Tax Assessment Challenges
- Advocate for our clients’ rights through administrative appeals before Value Adjustment Boards and in Circuit Court throughout Florida with the goal of achieving tax savings
Challenges and Litigation of Property Tax Disputes
- Experience resolving disputes involving substantial completion, classification issues and exemptions from taxation
Economic Incentives, Exemptions, and Classifications
- Advise property owners on taking advantage of various local and state development tax incentive programs
- Counsel real estate owners on property tax exemption and classification applications including agricultural classifications and homestead exemptions
- Challenge denials of tax exemptions and applications before Value Adjustment Boards and in Circuit Courts
- Advise developers on state and local property tax exemptions available through the “Live Local Act”
Tax Projections and Planning
- Provide tax projections associated with the acquisition of real property and ground up development to maximize tax efficiency and avoid unplanned expenses
Featured Examples
2025 Overall Reductions & Highlighted Reductions By Property Type / Location
View Chart
National, Regional and Local Representative Property Tax Clients
View List
Property Tax Client Representation Across Florida
View MapWhat Makes Us Different
Notable Experience
- Achieved a market value reduction of over $18.3 million (tax savings of $335,000) for a national home furniture retailer’s distribution outlet in Hillsborough County.
- Secured market value reductions of over $97 million for hotel owners in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties in 2024 and 2025.
- Secured over $254 million in total market value reductions for office property owners in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach Counties in 2024 and 2025.
- Secured market value reductions totaling over $73.7 million for owners and operators of assisted and independent living facilities in 2024 and 2025.
- Secured market value reductions totaling approximately $60.3 million for car dealership owners in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties in 2024 and 2025.
- Secured over $304 million in total market value reductions for retail property owners on Lincoln Road since 2020. The combined original market value of the represented properties in 2020 was $526 million, which was successfully reduced to a final value of $206 million by 2025. On average, our clients saw a 61% reduction in market value.
- Secured market value reductions of over $78 million for department store retailer’s property in Miami-Dade and Broward County in 2024 and 2025.
- Achieved a total market value reduction of $46 million for a casino operator, including an initial $36 million reduction and a further $10 million reduction (38% of the property’s initial 2024 market value).
- Achieved a $6.6 million market value reduction (over $112,000 in tax savings) for a brand-new senior living facility in 2022.
- Achieved a market value reduction of over $28 million (21.5% of the property’s initial 2024 market value), resulting in $595,573 in tax savings for the owner of a newly constructed multifamily property in North Miami Beach.
- Achieved a market value reduction of over $17 million (17% of the property’s initial 2024 market value), resulting in $326,830 in tax savings for the owner of a newly constructed multifamily property in Broward County.
- Achieved a market value reduction of over $35.5 million (14% of the property’s initial 2024 market value), resulting in $726,854 in tax savings for the owner of a Class A office building in downtown Miami.
- Achieved a market value reduction of $21.5 million (25% of the property’s initial 2024 market value), resulting in $310,342 in tax savings for the owner of a Class A office building in downtown Fort Lauderdale.
- Achieved a market value reduction of over $17.9 million (16% of the property’s initial 2024 market value), resulting in $171,653 in tax savings for the owner of a Class A mixed-use multifamily, office, and retail building in downtown Orlando.
- Achieved a market value reduction of over $16.2 million (47% of the property’s initial 2023 market value), resulting in over $168,000 in tax savings for the owner of a multifamily asset in Fort Myers.
- Obtained removal of building values totaling over $75 million for properties that were not habitable as of January 1, 2024, resulting in an average market value reduction of 33% for our clients.
- Obtained the partial removal of building value for an uninhabitable luxury penthouse with a temporary certificate of occupancy, resulting in a market value reduction of $19 million and over $126,000 in tax savings.
- Secured market value reductions of over $24 million for property owners in Wynwood in 2024.
- Achieved market value reductions of over $6.6 million for the owner of a Class A office building in Tampa in 2022.
- Achieved market value reductions totaling $38 million for a single owner/operator of retail shopping centers in Miami-Dade and Broward County in 2024.
- Achieved a $14.7 million market value reduction for the owner of a vacant multifamily parcel in Miami-Dade County by successfully appealing a misclassification in zoning.
- Achieved a market value reduction of over $7.5 million (more than 24%) for the owner of a recently constructed luxury home in Boca Raton in 2022.
- Achieved a market value reduction of over $6.6 million for the owner of an office parking garage in Las Olas, Fort Lauderdale in 2022.
- Achieved a market value reduction of over $3.6 million (a 42% reduction) for the owner of a medical office building in Miami-Dade County in 2022.
- Achieved a market value reduction of over $5.7 million (a 25% reduction) for the owner of a recently renovated luxury boutique hotel in Hillsboro Beach, Broward County in 2022.
- Achieved a $5.3 million market value reduction for the owner of newly constructed Class B multifamily project located in Lauderdale Lakes, Broward County in 2022.
- Achieved market value reductions of over $4.7 million for the owners of two marina properties, representing an average reduction of over 25% in 2022.
- Obtained agricultural classification (“greenbelt exemption”) for a property owner’s aviculture operation (in raising exotic birds), a case of first impression in the State of Florida.
- Achieved a reduction in assessed value of over $1 million by successfully challenging denial of agricultural classification for multi-acre property.
- Obtained an ad valorem tax refund for the owner of a waterfront marina because of the tax appraiser’s misclassification, based on the constitutional amendment providing special tax treatment for waterfront marinas.
