Property taxes in Highlands County, Florida — and how to appeal yours
Like every Florida county, Highlands County assesses your home at its just (market) value each January 1, mails a TRIM notice in August, and gives you a short window — generally 25 days — to challenge the assessment before the Highlands County Value Adjustment Board. Here's what that means where you live, with hearings administered from Sebring.
Is your Highlands County home over-assessed?
The free check takes under 60 seconds — enter your address and see whether your assessment looks out of line. Estimates, not guarantees.
Run my free checkHighlands County — 2026 appeal window
- TRIM notices mail: typically mid-to-late August — Highlands County sets its own mailing date each year
- VAB petition deadline: 25 days after the county mails its TRIM notice (Fla. Stat. §194.011(3)) — usually September
Highlands County has not yet published its 2026 TRIM mailing date. The exact deadline is printed on your TRIM notice when it arrives — that date controls.
Highlands County at a glance
- Who sets your assessment
- The Highlands County Property Appraiser estimates your home's just value as of January 1 each year.
- Where appeals are heard
- The Highlands County Value Adjustment Board — an independent board, separate from the Property Appraiser, that hears petitions from Highlands County owners.
- The form you file
- Form DR-486 — the statewide Florida petition to the Value Adjustment Board, filed with the Highlands County VAB clerk.
- Filing fee
- Florida law sets a small petition fee — typically $15 for the first parcel (Fla. Stat. §194.013). Confirm the current amount with the Highlands County VAB clerk before filing.
Highlands County guides
How to appeal your property taxes in Highlands County
The full Highlands County VAB process — from reading your assessment to the DR-486 petition and your hearing.
Read guide →Highlands County TRIM notice & petition deadline
When Highlands County mails its TRIM notice, how the 25-day clock works, and the one date you cannot miss.
Read guide →Is my Highlands County assessment too high?
Just value vs. assessed value, the Save Our Homes cap, and the data-driven way to tell if you're over-assessed.
Read guide →
More on Highlands County
- How to appeal your property taxes in Highlands County
- Highlands County TRIM notice & petition deadline
- Is my Highlands County assessment too high?
Other Florida counties
Check your Highlands County assessment — free
Enter your address and see whether your assessment looks too high, in under 60 seconds. Savings figures are estimates, not guarantees.
Check my home — freeAbatero is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice. Abatero is not affiliated with, or endorsed by, Highlands County, the Highlands County Property Appraiser, or the Highlands County Value Adjustment Board.
All savings figures are estimates, not guarantees — no one can promise your assessment will be reduced. Deadline dates and filing fees shown on this page are estimates based on Florida statute and prior-year county data; always confirm the exact deadline and fee on your TRIM notice and with the Highlands County VAB clerk before filing.