Value Adjustment Board appeals — Sebastian, Florida

A Sebastian owner can ask the Indian River County Property Appraiser for an informal review and can file a petition with the Indian River County Value Adjustment Board within 25 days after the August TRIM notice.

The Value Adjustment Board, or VAB, is run through the Indian River County Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller. The Clerk describes it as an independent forum created by Florida Statute Chapter 194 to provide property owners with an opportunity to appeal their property value or denial of an exemption, classification, or tax deferral (Indian River Clerk). The Florida Department of Revenue adds portability decisions and change of ownership or control to the list, and says taxpayers file with the VAB clerk in the county where the property is located, which for every parcel in Sebastian means Indian River County.

The calendar drives everything. The Department of Revenue schedule runs from January 1, the date of assessment, to the August mailing of the TRIM notice, and says owners appealing a value must file a DR-486 petition within 25 days of the Notice of Proposed Property Taxes. Owners appealing a denied exemption, classification, portability or deferral file 30 days after the denial letter was mailed. For the 2026 roll, the Indian River County VAB set the deadline at Friday, September 4, 2026 (Indian River County VAB portal).

Stakes are real in a county this size. The Indian River County Property Appraiser reports the 2025 certified roll at a just value of $50,576,965,743 across 95,396 real parcels (Indian River County Property Appraiser), and each Sebastian parcel's share of the tax burden turns on the value assigned to it.

Yes: Florida law lets any Sebastian owner request an informal conference with the Indian River County Property Appraiser, which keeps a Sebastian office at 1921 U.S. 1.

For a Sebastian parcel, Florida Statutes 194.011 says any taxpayer who objects to the assessment placed on any property taxable to him or her may request the property appraiser to informally confer with the taxpayer. At the conference the owner presents the facts that support a lower value, and the appraiser's staff present the facts behind the assessment. The statute adds that nothing herein shall be construed to be a prerequisite to administrative or judicial review, so an owner may go straight to the VAB.

For North County owners the informal step is close to home. The Indian River County Property Appraiser lists two offices, its Vero Office at 1800 27th Street, Building B, and its Sebastian Office at 1921 U.S. 1, Sebastian, FL 32958, (772) 226-1133, 8AM to 5PM (Property Appraiser). A review that settles the question before the 25-day clock runs saves the filing fee, while an owner who is still talking with the appraiser near the deadline can protect the right to a hearing by filing the petition anyway.

For the 2026 tax year the Indian River County VAB deadline was September 4, 2026, and a single-parcel petition costs $50, with no fee for appeals of a denied homestead exemption.

The Indian River County VAB portal spells out the 2026 rules (VAB petition portal). Petitions by mail or in person had to be received in the Clerk's Office no later than September 4, 2026 at 5:00 p.m., and postmarks are not sufficient; online petitions had to be posted no later than September 4, 2026 by midnight. Filing online takes the 21 digit parcel number, a valid email address and a credit card, and paper petitions go to the Value Adjustment Board office in the County Administration Building, 1801 27th Street, room A2-801, Vero Beach.

State law sets the ceiling on the fee. Florida Statutes 194.013 allows a filing fee in an amount determined by the board not to exceed $50 for each separate parcel, bars any fee for an appeal from the disapproval of homestead exemption, and says a petition whose fee is not paid at filing shall be deemed invalid and shall be rejected. Indian River County charges that full $50 for a Sebastian single-parcel petition, $5 per added parcel on a joint petition and $15 for portability, per the portal. Joint petitions for contiguous or similar parcels need a written determination from the Property Appraiser first, at (772) 226-1506 for parcels.

A Sebastian petition is heard by a special magistrate, an independent appraiser or attorney hired by the Indian River County VAB, who recommends a decision, while the five-member board makes all final decisions.

The Clerk explains the split: Indian River County uses Special Magistrates to conduct hearings and recommend decisions to the VAB, and the VAB makes all final decisions (Indian River Clerk). The board itself has two County Commissioners, one School Board member and two citizen members. Under Florida Statutes 194.015, the citizen member appointed by the county must own homestead property within the county, the school board appointee must own a business occupying commercial space in the school district, and neither may represent property owners in tax appeals.

Notice and evidence follow fixed timelines. Florida Statutes 194.032 requires the clerk to notify each petitioner of the scheduled time of his or her appearance at least 25 calendar days before the day of the scheduled appearance. The Indian River County portal requires petitioners to deliver two copies of their tangible evidence to the Property Appraiser's Office at 1800 27th Street, Building B, 15 days before the hearing, with a written request for the appraiser's evidence no later than 7 days before (VAB portal). A Sebastian owner who cannot make the trip to Vero Beach may request a telephone hearing no later than 10 days before the hearing, and all parties are sworn in by the Special Magistrate.

Records stay public. Petition status can be tracked online with the transaction number and password the portal emails after filing, and the Clerk posts VAB minutes and public notices on its Value Adjustment Board page. The Clerk also keeps a Sebastian Office at 1921 U.S. Highway 1, open Monday, Wednesday, Friday, 8:30 am to 5 pm, phone (772) 226-1147 (Indian River Clerk).

Yes: a Sebastian owner with a pending value petition must pay all non-ad valorem assessments and at least 75 percent of the ad valorem taxes before the delinquency date, or the Indian River County VAB will deny the petition.

The Indian River County portal summarizes Section 194.014, F.S. (VAB portal). For value appeals and portability appeals, the payment before the delinquency date must include all of the non-ad valorem assessments and a partial payment of at least 75 percent of the ad valorem taxes, less applicable discounts. For appeals of a denied exemption or classification, the owner pays the ad valorem taxes the taxpayer admits in good faith to owe, plus all non-ad valorem assessments. The payment delinquency date is normally April 1 following the assessment year under review, so the last day is generally March 31.

A Sebastian value appeal does not put the non-ad valorem lines of the bill on hold: they must be paid in full before the delinquency date. The portal also warns that a special magistrate's recommended decision is not a final decision of the value adjustment board, so the partial payment is still required unless the board rules before April 1.

A late Sebastian petition needs a written good cause explanation to be heard, and an owner who loses at the Indian River County VAB faces a 60-day deadline under state law to file in circuit court.

Late-filed petitions, the Indian River County portal says, are those filed after the filing deadline of the 25th day following the mailing of the TRIM notice and will not be scheduled for a hearing (VAB portal). They must be accompanied by a written explanation showing good cause, defined as a verifiable showing of extraordinary circumstances such as a personal, family or business crisis, an illness or disability, or misinformation from the board clerk or property appraiser. The VAB attorney reviews every late Sebastian petition for good cause.

Court is the last step. Under Florida Statutes 194.171, no action may be brought to contest a tax assessment after 60 days from the date the assessment is certified for collection, or after 60 days from a VAB decision when the petition was still pending at roll extension. An owner who misses both the 2026 VAB window and the court deadline starts over with the August 2027 TRIM notice, after the Indian River County Property Appraiser sets values as of January 1, 2027.

Last verified: October 11, 2026, on the Indian River County Value Adjustment Board website.