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Located on the west coast of Florida as shown in the map below, Hillsborough County enjoys a temperate climate and water sports galore.
It is little wonder that more than 112 million visitors who make Hillsborough County in general and Tampa in particular their vacation destination each year. In fact, the chances are good that you and your family have already visited Hillsborough County without even realizing it because square foot for square foot, there’s probably more fun and exciting things to see and do in Hillsborough County that anywhere else in the country. Besides major theme parks such as Adventure Island, Dinosaur World, Legoland Family Resort, ZooTampa at Lowry Park, Busch Gardens, the Florida Aquarium, and much more await the tens of millions of eager visitors to Hillsborough County today.
In 2010, the more recent estimated population of Hillsborough County was in excess of 1.2 million people, which makes it the fourth-most populous county in the state and the most populous county outside the greater Miami metropolitan area. A more recent census estimate placed the population of Hillsborough County at more than 1.4 million people, making this single county larger in terms of population than 10 states. The county’s largest city and county seat is Tampa, which is a part of the Tampa–St. Petersburg–Clearwater Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Taking its name from an early British secretary of state to the American colonies, Wills Hill, Hillsborough County has become a world-class tourism destination and a driving force behind the region’s continuing economic development. The county’s lengthy and colorful history includes having its county courthouse burned down in 1846 during the Second Seminole War, followed a series of other courthouses that were eventually torn down and larger buildings constructed in response to the needs of the burgeoning communities in the county. This growing need for municipal services was due in large part to the fact that Hillsborough County was significantly larger during the mid 19th century when its borders included eight other present-day counties (i.e., Charlotte, DeSoto, Hardee, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas, Polk, and Sarasota counties).
Playing an important role in this economic development has been the Hillsborough County property appraiser as described further below.
The general role of the Hillsborough County property appraiser is to determine the value of all county property which includes both improved and vacant real property as well as all tangible personal (i.e., equipment, machinery and fixtures for businesses) and agricultural property. In sum, in his capacity as an elected official, the Hillsborough County property appraiser is also tasked with accurately appraising all of the property located within county borders by January 1 each year. In the process of appraising all county property, the Hillsborough County property appraiser determines the fair market value for hundreds of thousands of individual parcels (including agricultural, residential, multifamily, commercial and industrial properties) together with thousands of personal property accounts.
In addition to his property appraisal responsibilities, the property appraiser is also charged with administering agricultural classifications, homestead exemptions, evaluating the eligibility of certain religious, charitable, educational and municipal properties to determine if they qualify for tax exemption status. Likewise, the property appraiser is also responsible for administering widow, widower’s and disability exemptions.
Beyond the other cost saving and modernization initiative that have been implemented by the Hillsborough County property appraiser, Mr. Henriquez maintains timely legal descriptions and ownership tax maps for all the real property that is located in Hillsborough County.
In addition, the property appraiser has also implemented mobile access to the office’s main Web site which includes a global positioning system feature that allows users to pinpoint their geographic location and find relevant information concerning adjacent property parcels.
Full Address
Mr. Bob Henriquez, Certified Florida Appraiser
15th Floor County Center
601 East Kennedy Boulevard
Tampa, Florida 33602-4932
Phone
(813) 272-6100
taxes@hillstax.org
Fax
(813) 272-5519
Hours
8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. weekdays
In addition, the Hillsborough County Appraiser also maintains regional offices as shown below:
311 Pauls Drive
Brandon, Florida 33511
(Across from the Post Office)
Phone
(813) 272-6100
Fax
(813) 635-8036
Hours
Open 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., Monday – Friday
Southshore Regional Service Center
410 30th St SE
Ruskin, Florida 33570
Phone
(813) 272-6100
Fax
(813) 672-7835
Hours
Open 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., Monday – Friday
Westgate Plaza Shopping Center
12082 Anderson Road
Tampa, Florida 33625-5682
Phone
(813) 272-6100
Fax
(813) 264-2946
Hours
Open 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., Monday – Friday
307 N. Michigan Avenue
2nd Floor – Suite 230
Plant City, Florida 33563-3400
Phone
(813) 272-6100
Fax
(813) 757-3877
Hours
Open 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., Monday – Friday
If you are like tens of millions of Americans each year, the odds are good that you have already visited Hillsborough County, Florida because its county seat and largest city, Tampa, is a veritable vacation paradise. With dozens of world-class entertainment venues, hundreds of miles of scenic coastlines and tropical waterways, visitors and residents alike enjoy a well administered infrastructure that is attributable in large part to the services of the Hillsborough County Property Appraiser, Mr. Bob Henriquez, who has modernized the property appraiser’s office and implemented a number of computer-based initiatives to make property appraisal services more accessible and easy to use for the county’s residents and businesses.