Lee County Property Appraiser's Office
2024-2025
View budget information from previous years.
How the Millage Tax Rates are set:
A Florida Homeowner's Guide to Millage
Property Appraiser’s Budgetary Funding & Relationship to Other Governmental Units
The Lee County Property Appraiser is an elected Constitutional Officer who serves the people of Lee County.
This constitutional office is not a County department under the Board of County Commissioners, but rather it
receives oversight and annual approval for both the assessment of property and the budget from the Florida
Department of Revenue (DOR). The County Commission has no direct control over the Property Appraiser budget,
and with good reason, as this protects the check and balance provided by the independence of an elected
property appraiser. No entity which sets the property tax millage rates should control, in any fashion,
the process which sets the assessed value of property for tax purposes.
The property appraiser serves all taxing authorities: the county commission, school board, cities, special
districts, multi-county authorities, and best serves the public when they are not controlled by any one of them.
In other words, "the fox cannot guard the hen house". Our budget is prepared in accordance with Florida law
to ensure that adequate resources are available to fund the operations of the office. Funding for the property
appraiser budget is based upon fees for services rendered pursuant to
Section 192.091, Florida Statutes. This statute provides that the budget of the office, as approved by DOR,
is the basis upon which various taxing authorities in the county are billed for services rendered. Pursuant
to Florida Statute 195.087, on or before June 1st of each year, every property appraiser, regardless of the
form of county government, shall submit to the DOR a budget for the operation of the office for the coming
fiscal year, beginning October 1st. Note that the county commission pays a higher percentage of the budget
as the State Legislature has discounted the school system and the municipalities from paying their equitable
share of the cost. The table and chart below display a seven-year budget history.
Unsurprisingly, the rapid inflation in the cost of goods and services has impacted our budget since 2020,
however, we continue to look for ways to improve efficiency and strive to maintain our position as
consistently one of the least expensive property appraiser offices per capita and per parcel, out of
Florida’s 67 counties. The Office of the Lee County Property Appraiser continually seeks opportunities
to enhance the quality and value of services offered to the taxpayer. The office strives to utilize
new technology and maximize employee strengths and productivity in the most cost-efficient manner. It
is our goal to continue providing the highest quality of service consistent with the expectations of
our taxpayers.
Please feel free to contact our office if you should have any questions.
Respectfully,
Matt Caldwell
Lee County Property Appraiser