Homestead owner withdraws petition after appraiser applies countywide reduction

A property owner who built a homestead and asked the Gadsden County hearing board to lower its 2025 assessed value withdrew a petition after county appraiser staff said the office had already applied a 15% reduction to the building value.

The petitioner described building their home with "a lot of sweat equity" and said construction costs and a bank loan reflected the actual outlay to build the house. The owner told the board the house cost roughly $330,000 to build and said they were concerned the appraisal placed a higher market value on the property than their out‑of‑pocket costs justified.

Appraiser staff told the board that the parcel had been valued and that the office applied a 15% countywide reduction in accordance with appraisal criteria, lowering the building value from about $444,496 to about $369,824. Staff said adjustments had been made to assist the taxpayer and that confidential parcels require a notarized affidavit to allow staff to discuss details with third parties.

When asked by board members whether they accepted the appraiser’s adjustment, the petitioner responded that if the revised figure reflected the adjustment, they would withdraw the petition. The petitioner then confirmed withdrawal on the record.

Appraiser staff noted multiple attempts to inspect the property and said additions observed during inspection attempts had not been accounted for in public records. Staff warned that agricultural‑classification and other exemptions require access for verification and that refusal to allow access can trigger audit attention.

The transcript shows no formal contested hearing result because the petitioner elected to withdraw after learning of the office’s internal adjustment.