Property value appeals spike as deadline nears

South Florida tax appeal firms say they are seeing an overwhelming number of property owners hoping to appeal their taxes as the deadline to file assessment appeals approaches. About 10,400 property owners had filed appeals in Broward County as of yesterday, and 18,000 appeals had been entered into the system in Miami-Dade County, with many more applications yet to be processed. Property tax abatement companies said they had seen as much as a 20 or 30 percent jump in business this year, with property owners angry and eager to appeal because the assessed values of their homes have gone down but taxes have gone up.