Dear Lee County Property Owners:
As you may be aware, we have been collecting data in an effort to provide a value
adjustment for the existence of Chinese Drywall for those properties that could
substantiate the claim. In previous updates we have advised you that the adjustment
would be 50% reduction of the Just (Market) value of the property. In order to determine
whether or not a property qualified for the adjustment, we have applied the Florida Department of Health’s (DOH) Step-by-Step Self-Assessment
Guide for signs that a home may be affected by drywall imported from China.
The information you provided to us has allowed us to categorize your parcel into
one of three status groups:
- Your parcel has documentation that “Meets DOH Guidelines” and HAS been granted a
50% Just value reduction; “Meets DOH” means that there are sufficient “Yes” answers
to the Florida DOH case definition questions and the answers have been documented/confirmed
by a third-party (inspector, contractor, builder, engineer etc.).
- Your parcel is classified as “Needs an Inspection” when there are sufficient “Yes”
answers to the Florida DOH case definition question but the answers HAVE NOT yet
been confirmed by a third-party. It meets the Florida DOH Guidelines and HAS been
temporarily granted a 50% Just value reduction pending verification.
- Your parcel is classified as “Needs Research/Needs More Information” when there
is no documentation or the documentation submitted is not sufficient to make a decision.
Your parcel HAS NOT been granted the Just value reduction.
In the next few days, if you reported Chinese drywall to our Office, you should
be receiving a Revised Notice of Proposed Property Taxes (“revised TRIM”). Included
with the Notice is a specific letter that reflects your parcel’s current status
listed above.
If your parcel is classified as “Meets DOH Guidelines” you should receive the Meets DOH letter.
If your parcel is classified as “Needs an Inspection” you should receive the Needs an Inspection letter.
If your parcel is classified as “Needs Research” you should receive the Needs More Information letter.
Contacting our Office. Within each letter there are instructions for what
you need to do to complete the process. Sending an email to
ChineseDrywall@leepa.org is best. If that is not an option, please call
us directly at (239) 533-6293.
- If you have questions about how we arrived at your specific value, you should contact
our Office.
- Please contact our Office immediately if you feel that you received the incorrect
letter; we can explain to you the information we have and how we came to the decision.
We are more than willing to work with you during these difficult times. Just be
aware that the determinations are scheduled to be finalized on October 19th. Please
do not wait until the last minute to contact us if you feel we have made an error.
- You should contact our Office if you have reported Chinese drywall and you have
not received a letter within the next few days. Please Note: If you reported Chinese
drywall to our Office after the deadline of September 18th, you will not be receiving
a revised TRIM Notice or a letter from our Office. Please visit our website in the
future for details regarding your situation.
Important Information About the Value Reduction. The 50% reduction is applied
to the Just (Market) value of property. This adjustment may or may not reduce your
taxable value by the same percentage. Since the adjustment was applied prior to
any other benefits, the amounts of things like exemptions and assessment caps may
have changed significantly from your original TRIM Notice. Please review the Notice
carefully and contact us with any questions.
Finally, if you disagree with the adjustment or the determination we have made,
you can file a petition to the Value Adjustment Board. The date for filing a petition
with the Value Adjustment Board is October 19th, 2009. Please click on the VAB Procedures
button from our home page for more information.
As always, please continue to check our website at www.leepa.org
for the latest information and updates regarding the Chinese drywall issue.
Sincerely,
Kenneth M. Wilkinson, CFA
Lee County Property Appraiser
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