(1) In addition to the requirements of Fl. Admin. Code R. 12D-8.007, the Real Property Roll for each county shall include a description of the property assessed or a cross-reference to the description which shall be accurate and certain enough to give to the taxpayer the necessary notice of the tax assessed against the particular piece of property; the description so cross-referenced shall afford an adequate conveyance to the purchaser at a sale of the property for satisfaction of a lien originating in the non-payment of the tax. The Official Record Book and Page number of the conveyance upon which the owner of record’s title is based shall also be shown, provided such information has been gathered pursuant to Fl. Admin. Code R. 12D-8.011(1)(m)

Terms Used In Florida Regulations 12D-8.008

  • Deed: The legal instrument used to transfer title in real property from one person to another.
  • Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
  • Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
  • Personal property: All property that is not real property.
  • Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
    (a) All descriptions of real property shall be based upon reference to the government grid system survey (Section, Township, Range) in general use in this state, provided:
    1. Where real property has been subdivided into lots according to a map or plat duly recorded in the office of the Clerk of Circuit Court of the county in which the lands are located, or is a condominium or co-operative apartment, the description of real property shall, in addition to Section, Township, Range, be based upon reference to such map or plat. (Crawford v. Rehwinkel, 163 So. 851 (Fla. 1935))
    2. For Spanish Grants or donations which have not been surveyed and platted, or where if platted, the plat is not recorded in the office of the Clerk of the Circuit Court, the description of real property may also include a reference to deed of record, giving the book and page as it appears in the office of the Clerk of the Circuit Court.
    (b) Metes and bounds descriptions making reference to the government survey for determination of the point of beginning and closing of such description are considered for the purposes of this rule to be based upon the government survey.
    (c) Abbreviations and figures may be used in descriptions if they are of general use and acceptance, not misleading, and indicate with certainty the thing intended.
    (d) For the purposes of uniformity, if and when the following abbreviations and figures are used, they shall have the following meaning.
ABBREVIATION
MEANING
Ac
Acre
Add
Addition
Et Al
And Others
Et Ux
And Wife
Beg.
Beginning
Bdy., Bdys.
Boundary, Boundaries
Blk.
Block
Cen.
Center
C. L.
Center Line
Ch.
Chain
Com.
Commence,
Commencing

Cont.
Continue
Cor., Cors.
Corner, Corners
Desc.
Description
Deg.
Degree
E, E’ly
East, Easterly
Exc.
Except
Ft.
Foot or Feet
1/4 or Qtr.
Fourth or Quarter
Frac.
Fraction
Fracl.
Fractional
Govt. Lot
Government Lot
1/2
Half
Hwy.
Highway
In.
Inch, Inches
Int.
Intersection
Lk., Lks.
Link, Links
Mer.
Meridian
Mi.
Mile
&p; or M.
Minutes
M. or L., M/L
More or Less
N, N’ly
North, Northerly
NE
Northeast
NE’ly
Northeasterly
NW
Northwest
NW’ly
Northwesterly
No.
Number
P.
Page
//
Parallel
Pt.
Point
P. O. B.
Point of Beginning
Qtr. or 1/4
Quarter or Fourth
Rad.
Radius
R.R.
Railroad
Rwy.
Railway
R., Rs.
Range, Ranges
Rt.
Right
R/W or R. O. W.
Right-of-Way
Rds.
Rods
Rgn.
Running
&p;&p; or S.
Seconds
Sec., Secs.
Section, Sections
Sq.
Square
S, Sl’y
South, Southerly
SE
Southeast
SE’ly
Southeasterly
SW
Southwest
SW’y
Southwesterly
St., Sts.
Street, Streets
S/D
Subdivision
Th.
Thence
Twp., Twps.
Township, Townships
W
West
W’ly
Westerly
    (e) A unique parcel number derived from a parcel numbering system applied uniformly throughout the county.
    (f) When a code or reference number system is used for describing property, an explanation of how to read the code or reference number system (referred to as a “”key””) shall be made available.
    (g)1. For the purpose of accounting for all real property within the county, the property appraiser shall list all centrally assessed real property in its proper place on the Real Property Roll as required by this rule with the notation “”See Centrally Assessed Property Roll,”” but no tax shall be extended against same, and the value of such property need not be shown. Provided, however, when the legal description for railroad right-of-way is not furnished by the Department or is not otherwise available, such property need not be listed on the real property roll. All tabulations of value, parcels, etc., for the Real Property Roll shall not include centrally assessed property. Taxes shall be extended against centrally assessed real property, centrally assessed tangible personal property, and centrally assessed inventory listed on the Centrally Assessed Tangible Personal Property Roll and inventory shall not be listed on the Tangible Personal Property Assessment Roll.
    2. When property is classified (lands classified agricultural for ad valorem tax purposes; outdoor recreational and park land) so that its taxable value is determined on a basis other than under Florida Statutes § 193.011, the value according to its classified use, less any exemptions allowed, shall be its value for tax purposes. In addition to its value determined under Florida Statutes § 193.011, the value of the property according to its classified use shall be entered on the assessment roll either under the appropriate column heading (e.g., Classified Use Value) or with proper identifying words, abbreviations, code symbols, or figures set opposite it. In either case a notation shall be made identifying the classified use value as agricultural (e.g., “”A””), park or outdoor recreational land (e.g., “”PR.””).
    (h) When more than one listing is required to be made on the same property (as in the case of a taxable possessory interest in property which is otherwise exempt or immune, and mineral, oil, gas and other subsurface rights in or to real property which have been separated from the fee) the appraiser shall, immediately following the entry listing the record title owner or the record title owner of the surface fee, as the case may be, make a separate entry or entries on the assessment roll, indicating the assessment of the taxable possessory interest or the assessment of the mineral, oil, gas and other subsurface rights in or to real property which have been separated from the fee.
    (2) Classification of Property.
    (a) The appraiser shall classify each parcel of real property to indicate the use of the land as arrived at by the appraiser for valuation purposes and indicate the same on the assessment roll according to the codes listed below. This use will not always be the use for which the property is zoned or the use for which the improvements were designed whenever there is, in the appraiser’s judgment, a higher and better use for the land. When more than one land use code is applicable to a parcel, the appraiser may list either multiple land use codes with an indication of the portion of total property ascribed to each use, or a single code indicating the primary and predominant use. If multiple codes are listed, the code shown first shall represent the primary and predominant use. For land classified “”agricultural,”” the primary and predominant use shall mean the use code representing the most acreage. For example, if the use of 100 acres contains 40 acres of cropland (code 52), 30 acres of timberland (code 54), 15 acres of grazing land (code 61), and 15 acres of citrus groves (code 66), the first two-digit code in the “”land use”” field in the Name – Address – Legal (N.A.L.) file should be “”52″”; the next part of that field could be coded “”54″” or “”61″” or “”66″” based upon a method consistently used by the property appraiser. Taxable possessory interests shall be classified as code 90 or 93 as appropriate.
    (b) Real property shall be classified based on ten major groups. The classification “”residential”” shall be subclassified into two categories – homestead and non-homestead property. The major groups are:
    1. Residential:
    a. Homestead;
    b. Non-homestead.
    2. Commercial and Industrial.
    3. Agricultural.
    4. Exempt, wholly or partially.
    5. Leasehold Interest (Government owned).
    6. Other.
    7. Centrally Assessed.
    8. Non-Agricultural Acreage.
    9. Time-share Property.
    10. High-water recharge.
    (c) Following is a detailed list of the classifications and subclassifications which shall be used, and the numeric code designation for each. The description beside the code number defines the category of property and illustrates the uses of property to be included. Upon request, the Department of Revenue will advise the appraiser of the classification under which specific uses not listed below should be placed. The appraiser may divide any of the 100 listed categories (except for undefined code numbers which are reserved for future definition by the Department of Revenue into finer categories as long as the definition of the herein listed categories is not expanded. The code numbers for finer categories shall consist of the four digits defined herein.
USE

CODE
PROPERTY TYPE
Residential

0000
Vacant Residential
0100
Single Family
0200
Mobile Homes
0300
Multi-family – 10 units or more
0400
Condominia
0500
Cooperatives
0600
Retirement Homes (not eligible for exemption under Florida Statutes § 196.192 Others shall be given an Institutional classification)
0700
Miscellaneous Residential (migrant camps, boarding homes, etc.)
0800
Multi-family – less than 10 units
0900
Undefined – Reserved for Use by Department of Revenue only
Commercial

1000
Vacant Commercial
1100
Stores, one story
1200
Mixed use – store and office or store and residential or residential combination
1300
Department Stores
1400
Supermarkets
1500
Regional Shopping Centers
1600
Community Shopping Centers
1700
Office buildings, non-professional service buildings, one story
1800
Office buildings, non-professional service buildings, multi-story
1900
Professional service buildings
2000
Airports (private or commercial), bus terminals, marine terminals, piers, marinas
2100
Restaurants, cafeterias
2200
Drive-in Restaurants
2300
Financial institutions (banks, savings and loan companies, mortgage
2400
Insurance company offices
2500
Repair service shops (excluding automotive), radio and T. V. repair, refrigeration service, electric repair, laundries, laundromats
2600
Service stations
2700
Auto sales, auto repair and storage, auto service shops, body and fender shops, commercial garages, farm and machinery sales and services, auto rental, marine equipment, trailers and related equipment, mobile home sales, motorcycles, construction vehicle sales
2800
Parking lots (commercial or patron), mobile home parks
2900
Wholesale outlets, produce houses,
3000
Florist, greenhouses
3100
Drive-in theaters, open stadiums
3200
Enclosed theaters, enclosed auditoriums
3300
Nightclubs, cocktail lounges, bars
3400
Bowling alleys, skating rinks, pool halls, enclosed arenas
3500
Tourist attractions, permanent exhibits, other entertainment facilities, fairgrounds (privately owned)
3600
Camps
3700
Race tracks; horse, auto or dog
3800
Golf courses, driving ranges
3900
Hotels, motels
Industrial

4000
Vacant Industrial
4100
Light manufacturing, small equipment manufacturing plants, small machine shops, instrument manufacturing printing plants
4200
Heavy industrial, heavy equipment
4300
Lumber yards, sawmills, planing mills
4400
Packing plants, fruit and vegetable packing plants, meat packing plants
4500
Canneries, fruit and vegetable, bottlers and brewers distilleries, wineries
4600
Other food processing, candy factories, bakeries, potato chip factories
4700
Mineral processing, phosphate processing, cement plants, refineries, clay plants, rock and gravel plants
4800
Warehousing, distribution terminals, trucking terminals, van and storage warehousing
4900
Open storage, new and used building supplies, junk yards, auto wrecking, fuel storage, equipment and material storage
Agricultural

5000
Improved agricultural
5100
Cropland soil capability Class I
5200
Cropland soil capability Class II
5300
Cropland soil capability Class III
5400
Timberland – site index 90 and above
5500
Timberland – site index 80 to 89
5600
Timberland – site index 70 to 79
5700
Timberland – site index 60 to 69
5800
Timberland – site index 50 to 59
5900
Timberland not classified by site index to Pines
6000
Grazing land soil capability Class I
6100
Grazing land soil capability Class II
6200
Grazing land soil capability Class III
6300
Grazing land soil capability Class IV
6400
Grazing land soil capability Class V
6500
Grazing land soil capability Class VI
6600
Orchard Groves, Citrus, etc.
6700
Poultry, bees, tropical fish, rabbits, etc.
6800
Dairies, feed lots
6900
Ornamentals, miscellaneous agricultural
Institutional

7000
Vacant Institutional
7100
Churches
7200
Private schools and colleges
7300
Privately owned hospitals
7400
Homes for the aged
7500
Orphanages, other non-profit or charitable services
7600
Mortuaries, cemeteries, crematoriums
7700
Clubs, lodges, union halls
7800
Sanitariums, convalescent and rest homes
7900
Cultural organizations, facilities
Government

8000
Undefined – Reserved for future use
8100
Military
8200
Forest, parks, recreational areas
8300
Public county schools – include all property of Board of Public Instruction
8400
Colleges
8500
Hospitals
8600
Counties (other than public schools, colleges, hospitals) including non-municipal governments
8700
State, other than military, forests, parks, recreational areas, colleges, hospitals
8800
Federal, other than military, forests, parks, recreational areas, hospitals, colleges
8900
Municipal, other than parks, recreational areas, colleges, hospitals
Miscellaneous

9000
Leasehold interests (government owned property leased by a non-governmental lessee)
9100
Utility, gas and electricity, telephone and telegraph, locally assessed railroads, water and sewer service, pipelines, canals, radio/television communication
9200
Mining lands, petroleum lands, or gas lands
9300
Subsurface rights
9400
Right-of-way, streets, roads, irrigation channel, ditch, etc.
9500
Rivers and lakes, submerged lands
9600
Sewage disposal, solid waste, borrow pits, drainage reservoirs, waste lands, marsh, sand dunes, swamps
9700
Outdoor recreational or parkland, or high-water recharge subject to classified use assessment.
Centrally Assessed

9800
Centrally assessed
Non-Agricultural Acreage

9900
Acreage not zoned agricultural
Special Designations

N000
This 4-digit designation shall be placed in the data processing record in the use code field for records that are printed as notes on the roll.
H000
This 4-digit designation shall be placed in the data processing record in the use code field for records that are printed as headings on the roll.
    (d) Definitions:
    1. Classified use assessments shall be those valuations determined pursuant to Article VII, Section 4(a), Constitution of State of Florida.
Rulemaking Authority Florida Statutes § 195.027(1), 213.06(1) FS. Law Implemented 195.027, 195.073, 195.084, 213.05 FS. History-New 12-7-76, Formerly 12D-8.08, Amended 12-27-94, 12-25-96, Repromulgated 12-30-02.