Broward County Property Appraiser Lori Parrish has fielded the question...

Broward County Property Appraiser Lori Parrish has fielded the question ''values are dropping this year, so why did my assessment go up?'' from property owners so often that she's posted an explanation at the top of her homepage.

The answer: Assessments are fixed as of Jan. 1, 2007, based on the market value of similar properties sold between Jan. 2, 2006 and Jan. 1, 2007.

That means some South Florida property owners will be paying taxes based on valuations that they could only dream of selling their properties for amid the current housing slump.