Lee County Property Appraiser's Office
2022-2023
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. The constitutional office of the property appraiser retains a clear and distinct
separation from the county government. The Office of the Property Appraiser 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."
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.
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. The table and
chart below display a seven-year budget history. It is our goal to continue providing the highest
quality of service consistent with the expectations of our taxpayers.
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 Property Appraiser 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. 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.
Please feel free to contact our office if you should have any questions.
Respectfully,
Matt Caldwell
Lee County Property Appraiser