Hernando County hearing set to weigh timberland classification for A and A Realty's 9.1-acre Cortez Boulevard parcel

A Hernando County Value Adjustment Board special magistrate hearing addressed petition 25-020, in which A and A Realty LLC asked to have a 9.1-acre parcel on Cortez Boulevard in Brooksville reclassified as timberland for the 2025 tax year. Joseph Haines Davis, the appointed special magistrate, presided and said he would write a recommendation to the clerk for legal-sufficiency review; the clerk told parties that process typically takes two to four weeks.

The property appraiser's office told the magistrate it denied the application after two site reviews (Feb. 13, 2025, and April 28, 2025) and recorded the subject parcel's just value at $355,037 and assessed value at $284,029. "It was found that insufficient effort has been made to care sufficiently and adequately for the land in accordance with accepted commercial agricultural practices pursuant to Florida Statute 193.461," said Nicholas Sisick, a representative of the Hernando County Property Appraiser's Office.

The appraiser's office explained it compared on-site conditions to the forestry management plan and found minimal timber-stand improvement, perimeter mulching that did not extend under the canopy, ongoing invasive species (including cogon grass) and insufficient tree density to demonstrate a marketable timber purpose. Inspectors said a mulching pass created a path but did not constitute timber-stand improvement, and that, in some circumstances, heavy mulching equipment can spread cogon grass if used at the wrong time of year.

Representing the petitioner, Sonny Siya said the parcel was purchased in November 2023 for $250,000 and remains in continuous timberland use. Siya submitted a forestry management plan prepared by Jessica Clark of the Florida Forest Service (dated Sept. 23, 2024) and said the owner had implemented forestry mulching, brush removal and targeted herbicide application, with invoices and photographs in the evidence packet. "This 9.1-acre parcel has been actively managed as commercial timberland," Siya said, adding that timber is a long-term crop and returns typically occur at harvest rather than within a single year.

Magistrate Davis asked both parties to identify the statutory basis for their positions. The property appraiser cited Florida Statute 193.461 (subsections a through g) and referenced Florida Administrative Code provisions governing agricultural and outdoor recreation classifications. The appraiser identified subsections related to size (d), whether the land is cared for sufficiently and adequately (e), and an other-factors catch-all (g) as central to the denial.

The parties disagreed about whether recently completed mulching and herbicide spraying satisfied the statutory requirement that bona fide agricultural practices be in place by Jan. 1 of the tax year. The appraiser's office acknowledged that some improvements can be decisive if clearly demonstrable on the statutory date, but said the evidence here showed insufficient density of marketable pine and insufficient timber-stand improvement as of the statutory date. The petitioner said the forestry plan was prepared before Jan. 1 and that some work preceded the April inspection; he also represented that additional work would continue in response to the appraiser's observations.

Magistrate Davis closed testimony after both parties submitted evidence packets and told them he needed to prepare a written recommendation. "You have 14 days for me to get you a recommendation, and then that recommendation goes to VAB legal counsel for legal sufficiency review," the clerk said during the hearing.

What happens next: The magistrate will submit a written recommended finding to the VAB clerk; counsel will review it for legal sufficiency and parties will receive the recommendation and any further instructions from the clerk. No final VAB action or vote was taken at the hearing: the record will be the magistrate's recommendation and the subsequent legal-sufficiency review by board counsel.

Clarifying details: the parcel was described as vacant land with a listed market value of $355,037 and an assessed value of $284,029; the petitioner supplied a forestry management plan dated Sept. 23, 2024, prepared by Jessica Clark of the Florida Forest Service; site reviews occurred Feb. 13, 2025, and Apr. 28, 2025; the petitioner reported purchase in Nov. 2023 for $250,000; the petitioner provided receipts for mulching and herbicide work.

Officials and next steps: The special magistrate will file his written recommendation to the Hernando County VAB clerk; the clerk estimates a two-to-four-week process for legal-sufficiency review by VAB counsel before parties are notified of the magistrate's recommendation.