The Hillsborough County deadline
Your exact 2026 deadline is printed on the TRIM notice your county mails each August — roughly 25 days after it goes out. We confirm every county's date against its official page before we publish it, so it is not shown here until it is certain.
TRIM notices mail in August · about 25 days to file
A missed deadline cannot be undone — the board must receive your petition by the due date, and a postmark is not enough. Confirm the date on the county’s official page before you rely on it.
How the appeal works, step by step
Read your TRIM notice. In August, Hillsborough County mails your TRIM notice (“Notice of Proposed Property Taxes”). It lists three numbers — just (market) value, assessed value, and taxable value — and the date your appeal is due. An appeal contests the just value.
Check whether an appeal actually helps. Because of the Save Our Homes cap, a high just value does not always mean a high bill. Enter your address above: we compare your assessment against Hillsborough County’s own records for comparable homes and do the cap math, then tell you the yearly dollars an appeal is worth — or that your assessment already looks fair.
File your VAB petition. File Florida Department of Revenue form DR-486 with the Hillsborough County Value Adjustment Board within 25 days of your TRIM notice. The filing fee is $15, paid to the county. You can file online or by mail through the county’s official page.
Present your evidence. Your hearing is before a special magistrate. The evidence that moves a residential value is comparable properties — similar homes near you carrying lower assessments. Our $79 packet assembles your five strongest, with the exact math, in the order the board reads them.
The board decides. The Value Adjustment Board issues a written decision. If your just value is lowered, the reduction flows through to your assessed and taxable value, and it carries forward — you are not re-litigating it next year from scratch.
What it costs
Two separate numbers. The county charges a $15 filing fee per parcel to hear your petition — that is paid to Hillsborough County, not to us. Checking whether you are over-assessed is free. If you are, an appeal packet — your five strongest comparables, the exact valuation math, every detail the DR-486 asks for, and filing instructions — is a one-time $79. You review, sign, and file it yourself in about 20 minutes.
The form and the official page
Florida uses a single statewide petition, form DR-486 (Petition to the Value Adjustment Board). File it with Hillsborough County through the board’s official page:
Hillsborough County Value Adjustment Board — official page
Overassessed is not affiliated with Hillsborough County or its Value Adjustment Board. We provide the evidence and the math; the county runs the process and decides the outcome.
Common questions
When is the Hillsborough County property tax appeal deadline?
Petitions are due 25 days after Hillsborough County mails its TRIM notices, which happens in August. The exact date is printed on your notice; confirm it on the county’s official Value Adjustment Board page.
How much does it cost to appeal in Hillsborough County?
The county filing fee is $15 per parcel, paid to the Hillsborough County Value Adjustment Board when you file form DR-486. There is no charge to check whether you are over-assessed.
Do I need a lawyer or a tax agent to appeal?
No. Florida’s Value Adjustment Board process is designed for owners to file themselves. You prepare and file your own DR-486 and present your own evidence. Overassessed gives you the comparables and the math; you stay in control and file it yourself.
What are my chances of winning?
Residential appeals succeed when comparable homes are assessed lower than yours. That is exactly what our free check measures. If your assessment is in line with comparable Hillsborough County properties, we tell you so and do not sell you a packet — we do not take money for cases that cannot win.
Will appealing raise my assessment or taxes?
A Value Adjustment Board petition asks the board to review your just value; in practice the risk of an increase from filing is low, and you may withdraw. We only recommend appealing when comparable records show your value is high.
Is your Hillsborough County home over-assessed?
Sixty seconds against the county’s own records: your comparables, the cap math, and a straight answer — free.
Check my assessmentIf your assessment looks fair, we say so and charge nothing.