By Mary Hladky
The taxable values of Palm Beach County properties have jumped higher than Property Appraiser Gary Nikolits forecast in late May.
Countywide, the amount grew by about 8.4 percent from 2015 to 2016, above the earlier estimate of 7.8 percent, according to the updated tax roll numbers Nikolits released in late June and sent to the state Department of Revenue.
The county’s total taxable value is now $165.1 billion, very close to the record high of $169.5 billion set in 2007 before the real estate market collapse.
In south county, Delray Beach outpaced other cities and towns, with taxable values increasing by about 10.4 percent.
Boynton Beach showed an 8.3 percent gain and Boca Raton was up about 7.5 percent.
Taxable values increased by 8.1 percent in Briny Breezes, 5.9 percent in Gulf Stream, 6.7 percent in Highland Beach, 11.7 percent in Lantana, about 10.1 percent in Manalapan, 8.2 percent in Ocean Ridge, and 9.7 percent in South Palm Beach.
All the South County cities and towns showed greater increases than had been estimated in May.
Elsewhere in the county, Loxahatchee Groves posted the biggest increase — 16.8 percent. Tiny Cloud Lake showed the least improvement, with a gain of only 3.2 percent.
Nikolits has predicted the county and its 38 cities and towns will wipe out the losses of the 2007-2009 recession within about two years.
While taxable values continue to move up, the growth has slowed in recent years to what Nikolits considers a more normal market.
Local governments use his estimates to calculate how much property tax money they can expect and to set their annual budgets and 2016-2017 tax rates.
An increase in taxable values means the county, cities and towns will collect more property taxes if they keep tax rates the same as last year.
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