The deadline to file a Value Adjustment Board Petition for 2025 was September 8th, 2025.
Creation of the Value Adjustment Board (VAB)
F.S. 194.015
“There is hereby created a value adjustment board for each county, which shall consist of two members of the governing body of the county as elected from the membership of the board of said governing body, one of whom shall be elected chairperson, and one member of the school board as elected from the membership of the school board, and two citizen members, one of whom shall be appointed by the governing body of the county and must own homestead property within the county and one of whom must be appointed by the school board and must own a business occupying commercial space located within the school district.”
Education & Resources
Section 194.011(5)(b), Florida Statutes, states:
“(b) The department shall develop a uniform policy and procedures manual that shall be used by value adjustment boards, special magistrates, and taxpayers in proceedings before value adjustment boards. The manual shall be made available, at a minimum, on the department’s website and on the existing websites of the clerk of circuit courts.”
The Florida Department of Revenue (DOR) has developed this uniform policies and procedures manual as prescribed by statute and other resources that the public may find helpful.
The Florida Statutes pertaining to the Value Adjustment Board and its processes are available at the Bay County Public Library and online. Suggested statute references are Chapters 193, 194, and 196.
Chapters 12D-9 and 12D-10 of The Florida Administrative Code can be found online.
To access the Sunshine and Public Records Law, read the Government-in-the-Sunshine Manual.
Filing a Petition
There is a $50.00 non-refundable filing fee to file a petition with the Value Adjustment Board. Petitions sent without the appropriate filing fees are deemed incomplete and cannot be processed unless the Clerk to the Value Adjustment Board receives the fee.
Petitioners filing a single joint petition containing multiple parcels or TPP accounts must first submit, to the Bay County Property Appraiser’s Office, a Florida Department of Revenue form DR-486MU, listing the contiguous parcels or similar accounts. The Property Appraiser’s Office must first approve the parcels or accounts as contiguous or like and similar in nature before the petition can be filed. The cost to file this type of petition is $50.00 + $5.00 for each additional parcel or account after the first.
Persons filing a petition due to the denial, by the Property Appraiser or the Tax Collector, of a timely filed application for a homestead exemption or a timely filed application for homestead tax deferral, are not subject to a filing fee. However, if the application was filed after the March 1st deadline and was denied, the $50.00 petition filing fee would apply.
You will file your petition with the Clerk of the Value Adjustment Board, who is located at the Bay County Board of Finance Office building at 225 McKenzie Avenue, Panama City, FL 32401. Payment can be made in the form of cash, check, cashier’s check, or money order, made payable to the Clerk of the Value Adjustment Board.
All petitions must be received by the Clerk of the Value Adjustment Board by the end of the business day on the deadline date provided on your TRIM notice. Petitions postmarked on or received after the deadline will be considered late. Refer to Rule 12D-9.015(11) for the late filing procedure.
To file a petition online and pay with a credit card, click on the link below. Credit cards are subject to a 3.5% non-refundable processing fee. Note: Single joint petitions containing multiple parcels must be filed in person or by mail and accompanied by a letter of approval from the Property Appraiser’s Office.
Bay VAB Downloads
Contact the VAB
Deputy Clerk to the VAB: Patrice Smart
Phone: (850) 767-3314
Fax: (850) 747-5212
Email: vab@baycoclerk.com
Value Adjustment Board Minutes Search
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