"Abbreviations and Acronyms" - list of the most commonly used abbreviations and acronyms in Property Appraisal:

&H - and Husband
&W - and Wife
AVP - Adverse Possession
C/O - in Care Of
CDD - Community Development District
CLUC - County Land Use Code
CO TRS - CO Trustees
CPI - Consumer Price Index
CUSTDN - Custodian
DBA - Doing Business As
EST OF - until probate is completed
ETAL - and other Person or Persons
F.S.- Florida Statute
GDN - Guardianship
HEX - Homestead Exemption
JTRS - Joint Tenants with Right of Survivorship
LE - Life Estate
OR - Official Record Book and page Ex: (OR # 12345-6789)
PSR - Public Service Request
REM - Remaindermen (Remaining person or party)
SLUC - State Land Use Code
TPP - Tangible Personal Property
TR - Trust
TRS - Trustees
VAB - Value Adjustment Board

"Ad valorem tax" means a tax based upon the assessed value of property. The term "property tax" may be used interchangeably with the term "ad valorem tax."

"Non-Ad Valorem" means special assessments and service charges which are not based upon the value of the property and millage. Non-ad valorem fees can become a lien against a homestead. (Ref. S.4 art. X of the state constitution)

"Agricultural Classification" means a good faith commercial agricultural use of property and is defined as the pursuit of an agricultural activity for a reasonable profit or at least upon a reasonable expectation of meeting investment cost and realizing a reasonable profit. The profit or reasonable expectation thereof must be viewed from the standpoint of the fee owner and measured in light of his investment.

"Assessed value of property" means an annual determination of the just or fair market value of an item or property or the value of the homestead property as limited pursuant to s. 4(c), Art. VII of the State Constitution or, if a property is assessed solely on the basis of character or use or at a specified percentage of its value, pursuant to s. 4(a) or (b), Art. VII of the State Constitution, its classified use value or fractional value.

"Building Actual Area" is the sum total of all measured areas within the subject property.  This includes garages, patios, mezzanines, interior offices and all other areas maintained in the Property Appraiser’s record.

"Building Adjusted Area" is the Property Appraiser’s office internal unit of measure used for calculating the area’s value.  It is the Actual Area adjusted to reflect approximate market costs.

"Building Livable Area" for residential properties the Livable Area represents the space used for habitation purposes. Typically livable area will have access to electricity, plumbing and oftentimes air conditioning.  It may include hallways, closets, bathrooms, storage and other areas outside the main living structure.  It does not include garages, carports, and patios.  On commercial properties, where livable is not applicable, this will mirror the Actual Area.

"The Community Development District- CDD" - means a local unit of special-purpose government. A community development district may charge separate non-ad valorem special assessments for satisfying the debt obligations of the District related to financing, constructing, maintaining and servicing the District's improvements and/or services.

"County property appraiser" means the county officer charged with determining the value of all property within the county, with maintaining certain records connected therewith, and with determining the tax on taxable property after taxes have been levied. He or she shall also be referred to in these statutes as the "property appraiser" or "appraiser."

"County tax collector" means the county officer charged with the collection of ad valorem taxes levied by the county, the school board, any special taxing districts within the county, and all municipalities within the county. (See the Miami-Dade County Tax Collector.)

"Department," unless otherwise designated, means the Department of Revenue.

"Extend on the tax roll" means the arithmetic computation whereby the millage (Millage Table Page) is converted to a decimal number representing one one-thousandth of a dollar and then multiplied by the taxable value of the property to determine the tax on such property.

"Fee timeshare real property" means the land and buildings and other improvements to land that are subject to timeshare interests which are sold as a fee interest in real property.

"Governing body" means any board, commission, council, or individual acting as the executive head of a unit of local government.

"Homestead" means that property described in s. 6(a), Art. VII of the State Constitution.

"Levy" means the imposition of a tax, stated in terms of "millage" (Millage Table Page), against all appropriately located property by a governmental body authorized by law to impose ad valorem taxes.

"Market Value" means the most probable price in cash, terms equivalent to cash, or in other precisely revealed terms, for which the appraised property will sell in a competitive market under all conditions requisite to fair sale, with the buyer and seller acting prudently, knowledgeably, and for self-interest, and assuming that neither is under undue duress.

"Mill" means one one-thousandth of a United States dollar. "Millage" (Millage Table Page) may apply to a single levy of taxes or to the cumulative of all levies.

"Personal property," for the purposes of ad valorem taxation, shall be divided into four categories as follows:

1. "Household goods" means wearing apparel, furniture, appliances, and other items ordinarily found in the home and used for the comfort of the owner and his or her family. Household goods are not held for commercial purposes or resale.
2. "Intangible personal property" means money, all evidences of debt owed to the taxpayer, all evidences of ownership in a corporation or other business organization having multiple owners, and all other forms of property where value is based upon that which the property represents rather than its own intrinsic value.
3. "Inventory" means only those chattels consisting of items commonly referred to as goods, wares, and merchandise (as well as inventory) which are held for sale or lease to customers in the ordinary course of business. Supplies and raw materials shall be considered to be inventory only to the extent that they are acquired for sale or lease to customers in the ordinary course of business or will physically become a part of merchandise intended for sale or lease to customers in the ordinary course of business. Partially finished products which when completed will be held for sale or lease to customers in the ordinary course of business shall be deemed items of inventory. All livestock shall be considered inventory. Items of inventory held for lease to customers in the ordinary course of business, rather than for sale, shall be deemed inventory only prior to the initial lease of such items. For the purposes of this section, fuels used in the production of electricity shall be considered inventory.
4. "Tangible personal property" means all goods, chattels, and other articles of value (but does not include the vehicular items enumerated in s. 1(b), Art. VII of the State Constitution and elsewhere defined) capable of manual possession and whose chief value is intrinsic to the article itself. "Construction work in progress" consists of those items of tangible personal property commonly known as fixtures, machinery, and equipment when in the process of being installed in new or expanded improvements to real property and whose value is materially enhanced upon connection or use with a preexisting, taxable, operational system or facility. Construction work in progress shall be deemed substantially completed when connected with the preexisting, taxable, operational system or facility. Inventory and household goods are expressly excluded from this definition.

"Real property" means land, buildings, fixtures, and all other improvements to land. The terms "land," "real estate," "realty," and "real property" may be used interchangeably.

"Save Our Homes (SOH) - Amendment 10" - Limits the increase of assessed value for a home by 3% or the Consumer Price Index, whichever is less. The assessment limit begins in the second year of your homestead exemption. See a more detailed explanation of Amendment 10.

"Taxpayer" means the person or other legal entity in whose name property is assessed, including an agent of a timeshare period titleholder.

"Taxing jurisdiction" the power to tax and the power to govern within a territorial range.

"Taxable value" means the assessed value of property minus the amount of any applicable exemption provided under s. 3 or s. 6, Art. VII of the State Constitution and chapter 196.

"Timeshare period titleholder" means the purchaser of a timeshare period sold as a fee interest in real property, whether organized under chapter 718 or chapter 721.