Value Adjustment Board: recommended denials to be issued after no-shows for multiple petitions

The Hernando County Value Adjustment Board record for Nov. 3 shows a string of petitions in which the petitioners failed to appear for scheduled hearings, prompting the special magistrate to record that recommended decisions denying relief will be issued for each case.

Clerk and appraisal staff read the just and assessed values for petitions 25-066 through 25-080; in each instance the transcript records that the petitioner "did not appear for the hearing scheduled for 10 a.m. on November 3," did not state good cause and did not ask that the petition be heard in their absence. The property appraiser's office confirmed the values and the magistrate said a recommended decision denying relief will be issued in order "that any legal rights the petitioner may have for potential action in circuit court are not impaired."

Examples from the record include petition 25-066 (key number 00641185) with a taxable value read at $291,450; petition 25-067 (key number 00658522) with assessed and taxable value $216,615; and petition 25-074 (key number 00214191) with a value recorded at $216,696. The clerk read similar notices for each petition through 25-080.

Those recommended decisions are administrative steps that preserve petitioners' rights to later seek judicial review; they are not final adjudications of the merits. The magistrate did not take additional evidence on these petitions during the Nov. 3 session because the petitioners were not present.