Alachua Property Tax: Rates, Deadlines & Appeals (2026)

Direct answer: For the 2026 Alachua property tax cycle, file a Value Adjustment Board petition by September 18, 2026 if the county follows Florida’s standard August 24 TRIM mailing date; your TRIM notice is the controlling notice if it lists an earlier county-specific date. File with the Alachua County Value Adjustment Board Clerk, not the Property Appraiser: online through the county’s Just Appraised petition portal, by email to dmw@alachuaclerk.org, by mail, or in person at 12 SE 1st St, 4th Floor, Gainesville, FL 32601.

How assessments work in Alachua

Alachua County’s 2026 assessment date is January 1, 2026. The Property Appraiser estimates each property’s just/market value as of that date, then applies caps, classifications and exemptions to arrive at assessed and taxable value. The county’s appraisal calendar says TRIM notices are mailed in mid-August and tax bills go out after the final roll is certified in November.

For houses, Alachua’s VAB guidance says the Property Appraiser uses a computer-assisted mass appraisal system with the three standard approaches to value — cost, sales comparison and income — and residential market value is usually based on comparable sales from the year before January 1. That means your best appeal evidence is usually sales from roughly January 2, 2025 through January 1, 2026, adjusted for differences in size, condition, location, updates and lot characteristics.

Do not confuse the three values on your notice:

• Market/just value: the Property Appraiser’s estimate of what the property was worth on January 1.
• Assessed value: market value after constitutional caps, such as Save Our Homes for homestead property.
• Taxable value: assessed value minus exemptions.

The VAB can decide whether the property is appraised at fair market value and whether a classification or exemption should be approved. It cannot lower your taxes because the bill is unaffordable or because you disagree with city, county, school or water-management tax rates.

Whether you should appeal

Start with the question: “Could I prove the January 1, 2026 market value is too high?” Pull your Alachua property record, check living area, construction quality, year built, additions, pool, land size and condition. Then compare your TRIM market value to arms-length sales that closed before January 1. Photos, repair estimates, a recent appraisal, MLS sheets and documentation of wrong property characteristics are useful.

For homestead owners, also ask whether a value reduction will actually reduce the tax bill. Florida’s Save Our Homes cap limits the 2026 assessed-value increase on homestead property to 2.7%. If your market value is $430,000 but your capped assessed value is $260,000, a VAB reduction from $430,000 to $400,000 may not change your taxable value this year. It can still matter for future years, but the immediate savings may be zero unless the reduced market value falls below the capped assessed value.

A worked Alachua example: a Gainesville home in tax code 37 had a 2025 total millage of 22.2493 mills. If a 2026 appeal reduces taxable value by $40,000 and the same rate were used for illustration, the annual ad valorem savings would be:

$40,000 ÷ 1,000 × 22.2493 = $889.97

That is only ad valorem tax. Non-ad valorem items — refuse, stormwater, paving, PACE, etc. — usually do not fall just because your property value changes.

Before appealing, check exemptions. Alachua lists homestead, senior citizen, veterans/active military, disability, widow/widower and agricultural/classified-use benefits. For 2026, Florida’s additional homestead exemption is inflation-adjusted to $26,411, so a qualifying owner may see up to $51,411 of homestead exemption value, with the second portion generally not applying to school taxes. Senior exemption requires homestead, age 65 by January 1 and income under the state limit; Alachua says senior exemption auto-renews if income stays within the threshold.

Step-by-step how to file

1. Call the Property Appraiser first — but do not wait. Alachua encourages an informal conference at 352-374-5230. The DR-486 form says an informal conference is your right but does not change the filing due date.

2. Use the right petition form. Most homeowners use Form DR-486, Petition to the Value Adjustment Board – Request for Hearing. Use DR-486PORT only if you are appealing transfer of homestead assessment difference, commonly called portability. The county VAB page links both forms.

3. File with the VAB Clerk. Alachua accepts VAB petitions:

• Online: Just Appraised portal, county=alachuacountyclerkfl.
• Email: dmw@alachuaclerk.org; the county warns emailed petitions are not complete without payment if a fee is required.
• Mail or in person: Value Adjustment Board, 12 SE 1st St, 4th Floor, Gainesville, FL 32601.
• Phone/fax for VAB Clerk: 352-374-3605; fax 352-374-5265.

Petitions must be received by the deadline; the filing date is the VAB Clerk’s receipt/clock-in date, not when you mailed it. If you file late, Alachua’s VAB Attorney Magistrate decides whether you showed good cause.

4. Pay the fee if required. State law now allows a VAB filing fee of up to $50 per parcel. Alachua’s page states there is no fee for timely homestead-exemption denial appeals, and late-filed exemption petitions carry a non-refundable $15 filing fee; it also says cash, money order, check payable to the Clerk of Court and credit cards are accepted, with a 3.5% card service fee. For value petitions, confirm the current portal/Clerk fee before submitting because the petition is not complete until required payment is made.

5. Send evidence to the Property Appraiser, not just the Clerk. Alachua instructs petitioners to send VAB evidence to: Attention: VAB Evidence, 515 North Main Street, Suite 200, Gainesville, FL 32601, fax 352-374-5278, or email vabevidence@acpafl.org. Evidence is due at least 15 days before the hearing; bring copies to the hearing too.

What happens after

The appeal authority is the Alachua County Value Adjustment Board. It has two County Commission members, one School Board member and two citizen members. Most hearings are conducted by a special magistrate — an independent appraiser or attorney appointed by the VAB — who hears testimony, weighs evidence from you and the Property Appraiser, and recommends a result.

You will receive a DR-481 notice of hearing with the time and place. Alachua says hearings are held at the Alachua County Family/Civil Justice Center, 201 East University Ave, Gainesville, FL. Electronic-media hearings are possible only if the parties agree on how witnesses, evidence and testimony will be handled and the hearing remains open to the public.

If you cannot or do not want to appear, DR-486 includes a non-oral option: check that you will not attend but want your evidence considered. In that case, submit duplicate evidence to the VAB Clerk; the Property Appraiser may still respond or object.

After the hearing, the special magistrate sends a recommendation. The Clerk sends you the recommendation and the date/time of the VAB meeting. At that final meeting, the VAB may approve or deny the magistrate’s recommendation; it does not take new testimony or new evidence on the merits. If you win after the tax bill is issued, the Property Appraiser sends a certificate of correction to the Tax Collector and a corrected bill or refund process follows.

You still must pay taxes while the appeal is pending. For value appeals pending after the delinquency date, pay all non-ad valorem assessments and at least 75% of ad valorem taxes, less discounts, before delinquency — normally before April 1 — or the VAB must deny the petition.

Local tips

• The 2026 countdown date to watch is September 18, 2026, based on Florida’s calendar: TRIM mailed August 24, petition due 25 days later. If Alachua mails earlier and your TRIM notice prints an earlier deadline, use the TRIM date.
• Use Gainesville/Alachua-specific comps, not broad county averages. A house near UF, Haile, Tioga, High Springs or rural Archer may have very different market behavior.
• If your issue is an exemption denial, include the denial letter and proof: driver license/address, voter registration, VA rating letter, death certificate, income documents or whatever the exemption requires.
• Alachua publishes tax-impact notices after VAB years, but it does not publish a clean homeowner success-rate or median-reduction table that should be relied on for 2026. Treat any commercial “average savings” claims as marketing unless they cite official VAB data.
• Remember the tax bill calendar: bills are normally mailed on or before November 1, the full amount is due by March 31, and discounts run 4% in November, 3% in December, 2% in January and 1% in February.

Alachua Property Tax Rate

Latest official final millage table found is FINAL 2025: Alachua County countywide millage is 7.6000 mills; for parcels in the City of Alachua tax area 17, the total combined millage shown is 21.7696 mills ($21.7696 per $1,000 of taxable value). Actual total millage varies by tax area and taxing authorities.

Source: https://www.acpafl.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/2025-FINAL-MILLAGE-RATES.pdf

When Are Property Taxes Due in Alachua?

Tax statements are normally mailed on or before November 1; the full amount is due by March 31; taxes become delinquent April 1. For the 2026 installment plan, applications were due by April 30, 2026; installments are due by June 30, September 30, December 31, and March 31, with the due date extended to the next working day if it falls on a weekend or legal holiday. Early-payment discounts: 4% if paid in November, 3% in December, 2% in January, 1% in February, and no discount in March; installment discounts are 6%, 4.5%, 3%, and 0% for the 1st through 4th installments.

This is not the same as the assessment appeal deadline above. The appeal deadline is your window to contest your assessed value; the payment due date is when the resulting tax bill must be paid. Missing one does not affect the other, but missing either has real consequences — one forfeits your right to appeal for the year, the other can trigger penalties and interest.

Source: https://www.alachuacollector.com/property-taxes/

Property Tax Exemptions in Alachua

• Homestead exemption — Owner with legal/equitable title as of January 1 who makes the property their permanent residence as of January 1 and meets Florida residency requirements.. For the 2026 roll, $25,000 applies to school, county, and municipal levies; the additional homestead exemption for non-school county/municipal levies is $26,411, applied to assessed value greater than $50,000. Yes, initial application required; file with the Alachua County Property Appraiser. Apply by March 1. (Source: https://floridarevenue.com/property/Documents/2026NALexempt.pdf)
• Save Our Homes assessment limitation — Property with an approved homestead exemption after the first year the homestead is granted, if market value increases.. Limits annual increases in assessed value of homestead property to the lesser of 3% or the Consumer Price Index; the 2026 SOH cap is 2.7%. No separate application after homestead is approved. (Source: https://floridarevenue.com/property/Documents/SaveOurHomes.pdf)
• Senior Citizen Exemption / Long-Term Senior Exemption — Homeowner age 65 or older as of January 1 with approved homestead exemption and household adjusted gross income within the state limit; the long-term senior exemption also requires permanent residence for at least 25 years and market value under $250,000.. Yes, initial application required; Alachua County Property Appraiser says it auto-renews after approval if income remains within the state threshold, but the owner must notify the office if no longer within the income limits. Apply by March 1. (Source: https://www.acpafl.org/exemptions-overview/)
• Veterans age 65+ with combat-related disability discount — Disabled veteran age 65 or older as of January 1 with a combat-related service-connected disability and approved homestead exemption.. Discount is based on the percentage of disability. Yes; DR-501DV and supporting military/VA documentation required; ACPA states it auto-renews annually unless the combat-related disability percentage changes. Apply by March 1. (Source: https://www.acpafl.org/exemptions-overview/)
• Totally and permanently disabled service-connected veteran exemption — Veteran with homestead exemption who is totally and permanently disabled due to service-connected disability; surviving spouse may be able to continue it by contacting the Property Appraiser.. Total exemption from ad valorem taxes. Yes; documentation required; ACPA states it auto-renews annually after approval. Apply by March 1. (Source: https://www.acpafl.org/exemptions-overview/)
• Disabled veteran 10% or more exemption — Veteran who owns the property and is 10% or more service-connected disabled; homestead exemption is not required.. Up to $5,000. Yes; VA disability rating letter required; ACPA states it auto-renews annually after approval. Apply by March 1. (Source: https://www.acpafl.org/exemptions-overview/)

How to Look Up Your Property Record in Alachua

You can look up your property's official record at https://qpublic.schneidercorp.com/Application.aspx?AppID=1081&LayerID=26490&PageID=10768&PageTypeID=2. The Alachua County Property Appraiser property record shows parcel summary, tax area, homestead status, millage rate value, owner information, current and prior valuations, exempt/taxable value, TRIM notices, sales, permits, tax collector links, maps, sketches, and photos.