What are non-ad valorem assessments on a Brevard County, FL tax bill?

They are flat-rate charges for specific services like trash collection, fire protection, and stormwater. On a Brevard County tax notice they sit below a bold horizontal line, separate from your property taxes, and they are not based on your home's value.

Every relocation buyer I work with on the Space Coast eventually gets handed a Brevard County tax notice and asks the same question: what is all this stuff at the bottom?

The top half of the bill is ad valorem tax, which is millage multiplied by your assessed value. The bottom half is something different. Those are non-ad valorem assessments, and they do not move with your home's value, your homestead exemption, or the Save Our Homes cap. They are set amounts tied to a service. If you are budgeting a monthly payment for a house in Merritt Island, Suntree, Melbourne, or anywhere else in Brevard County, Florida, this is the part people leave out and then get surprised by.

How are non-ad valorem assessments different from property taxes?

  Ad valorem taxes Non-ad valorem assessments
Based on Assessed value times millage A set amount for a service
Affected by homestead exemption Yes No
Affected by Save Our Homes cap Yes No
Changes when your value rises Yes No
Where it appears Above the bold line on the tax notice Below the bold line

The Brevard County Tax Collector bills and collects non-ad valorem assessments on a fiscal year running October 1 through September 30. You can see the full list the county collects on the Tax Collector's non-ad valorem assessments page.

What assessments show up on a Brevard County tax bill?

Solid Waste Disposal

Implemented in 1977, this one funds the operation of the county's landfill facilities that handle trash and garbage generated across Brevard County. Questions go to Solid Waste Management at (321) 633-2042.

Solid Waste Collection

Implemented in 1982, this covers curbside trash and yard waste pickup provided by the county through a franchise collector. It applies to property in the unincorporated areas of Brevard County, which includes Suntree, Merritt Island, and a large share of the county's residential inventory.

State Mandated Recycling

Implemented in 1989 for unincorporated Brevard County. Florida law requires the county to achieve and maintain a 30 percent reduction in materials sent to the landfill, and the recycling program is how that happens. Municipalities inside the county run their own recycling programs, so a home inside Melbourne or Rockledge is handled by that city instead.

Fire Services Special Assessment

Implemented in 2006 to pay for fire protection provided by Brevard County Fire Rescue. It is charged on the annual tax bill to property owners in unincorporated Brevard County, West Melbourne, Melbourne Village, Palm Shores, and Grant-Valkaria. The rate is based on the primary property use code assigned by the Property Appraiser and the base square footage of the structures on the property, which means two houses on the same street can pay different amounts. Questions go to Brevard County Fire Rescue at (321) 633-2056.

Stormwater Utility Fee

Brevard County established the stormwater utility fee in 1990 as a dedicated funding source for managing runoff and reducing downstream flooding. Money collected in each district stays in that district. Several Space Coast municipalities levy their own stormwater assessment, including Melbourne, Satellite Beach, Indian Harbour Beach, Melbourne Beach, Cocoa, Titusville, West Melbourne, Malabar, and Grant-Valkaria, alongside Brevard County Districts 1 through 5. Questions on the county fee go to Stormwater Management at (321) 633-2016.

What is an MSBU in Brevard County?

A Municipal Service Benefit Unit is a special assessment that funds a specific improvement for a specific set of properties. Improvements can include potable water, sanitary sewer, re-use water, roadway paving, canal dredging, or drainage work.

Here is the part that matters to a buyer. An MSBU is not imposed from the top down. It starts with a petition from property owners in unincorporated Brevard County, and at least 66.66 percent of the affected owners have to request and approve it. The Board of County Commissioners funds the improvement up front and the cost is repaid by the benefited properties over a set period.

After the county accepts a completed project, owners get a 30-day window to pay all or part of the assessment with no interest. If it is not paid in full, interest accrues monthly. The annual billing happens in November and the installment is due by December 31 to avoid additional interest and penalties. The Tax Collector's MSBU page covers the process, and the Public Works Department handles petitions at (321) 617-7202.

How do you check assessments before you buy on the Space Coast?

Do not rely on a listing's estimated taxes. Pull the actual parcel record.

  1. Look up the address on the Brevard County Property Appraiser site and note the taxing district, which tells you whether the property is unincorporated or inside a city.
  2. Pull the prior year's full tax notice and read everything below the bold line, not just the total.
  3. Check whether an MSBU installment is still running on the parcel. Those have an end date, but the remaining balance rides with the property.
  4. Remember that your ad valorem taxes will reset after you buy, while most non-ad valorem assessments will stay roughly where they are.

That last point catches a lot of Space Coast buyers going the other direction. People assume the whole tax line will jump after a sale. The value-based portion usually does. The service assessments generally do not, because they were never tied to value in the first place.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does homestead exemption reduce non-ad valorem assessments in Brevard County?

No. Homestead exemption and the Save Our Homes cap apply to the value-based portion of your bill. Solid waste, fire, and stormwater assessments are set amounts and are unaffected.

Do all Brevard County homes pay the same assessments?

No. It depends on whether the property is in unincorporated Brevard County or inside a municipality, and on the property's use code and square footage in the case of the fire assessment. A house in unincorporated Merritt Island and a house inside the City of Melbourne will show different lines below the bold line.

Can I appeal a non-ad valorem assessment?

These are not value-based, so the Value Adjustment Board process for assessed value does not apply the same way. If you believe a charge is wrong, start with the department that levies it, since the Property Appraiser's use code and square footage data drive some of the calculations.

When I run numbers with buyers on the Space Coast, I pull the real tax notice rather than an estimate, because the bottom half of that bill is where the surprises live. If you want an accurate monthly number on a specific Brevard County home before you write an offer, send me the address. My partner Nichole and I got your back. Reach out anytime at (321) 212-7676 or www.livingspacecoast.com.