By Mary Hladky
The taxable value of Palm Beach County properties has cooled for the second year in a row, heading back to a more typical rate of increase following stratospheric gains in 2022 and 2023.
But even with the smaller value jump, this marks the 14th consecutive year that taxable values have increased in a long rebound from the 2008 Great Recession.
In southeastern Palm Beach County, Ocean Ridge led the way with a 9.9% taxable value increase, closely followed by Briny Breezes’ 9.5%.
Gulf Stream was up 8.5%, Delray Beach 8.3%, Manalapan 7.6%, Boca Raton 7.1%, Highland Beach 6.7%, and Boynton Beach and Lantana, both 6.4%.
South Palm Beach was the only community in the county to see its taxable value drop — down 0.62% — the first time there’s been a year-to-year decrease for a county municipality since 2013.
South Palm Beach Town Manager Jamie Titcomb said the town’s taxable value — which comes overwhelmingly from aging condos — is finally feeling the impact of the 2021 Surfside condominium collapse and costly new state regulations that came about because of it.
“I think this is the first time we’re actually seeing those numbers reflected in the property appraiser’s assessment,” Titcomb said.
Healthy growth
Still, while County Property Appraiser Dorothy Jacks’ report is not as glowing as in the past few years, other communities had to be pleased with what they were hearing from her office, which will continue to refine the numbers until they are finalized at the end of June.
“While overall taxable value continues to increase, the rate of increase has slowed compared to last year,” Jacks said as she released the June 1 taxable value estimates.
The countywide increase of 7.7% from 2024 to 2025 was down from the previous year’s 10% but is still a healthy rate of growth.
Jacks provided a snapshot of the market to the County Commission on April 22 while her office was still tabulating the data.
She was surprised to see that $5.4 billion in new construction was added to the tax rolls this year on top of $5.1 billion in 2024.
That includes the construction of 2,700 single-family homes, while 22 new apartment complexes with a total of 3,773 units also were built, she said.
The number of home sales declined 3% in 2024, but the median sales price for single-family homes increased 6%, according to Jacks’ office.
Condo market
Similarly, condo sales were down but values increased slightly, Jacks said.
Despite fears that condo values would tank because of changes enacted after the Champlain Towers South collapse in Surfside, Jacks said that is not evident in Palm Beach County. Last year, she had expected a decline in condo values over the next few years.
“We are in good shape in the condo market,” she said. She acknowledged, however, that prospective condo buyers aren’t acting blindly and are looking carefully at the adequacy of reserve accounts and insurance coverage.
In South Palm Beach, Titcomb said his town was hurt because it doesn’t have the mix of residential and commercial properties more typical in county municipalities. The town is almost exclusively condominiums — just under 1,900 condos and only four single-family homes — and most of the condos are old, dating as far back as the 1950s, he said.
Those buildings now must comply with the recent state laws that require inspections and adequate reserve accounts to pay for repairs. That has resulted in higher maintenance fees and special assessments, prompting potential buyers to seek price reductions.
Even with the drop in value, the town’s tax rate may not increase.
“I have no intention of proposing an increase in the rate,” Titcomb said.
The last time a county municipality faced a drop in its taxable value was 12 years ago. In 2013, values dropped in four municipalities — including Briny Breezes — which were still experiencing the lingering effects of the Great Recession.
“In 2006-2007, values ballooned due to the housing market bubble and in 2008, values in Palm Beach County declined across the board when the housing market crashed,” Becky Robinson, public information officer for the Property Appraiser’s Office, said in an email. “Some municipalities continued to see declines in taxable value year over year through 2013, which was the last year that we saw that. After that, all saw taxable value gains until this year.”
Values affect tax rates
Of the county’s 39 towns and cities, Boca Raton continues to have the highest total taxable value of $40.1 billion, followed by Palm Beach’s $34.4 billion.
Taxable value increases are great news for municipal leaders as they work to finalize their budgets for the new fiscal year that begins on Oct. 1.
Local governments use taxable values to calculate how much property tax money they can expect. They then set their annual budgets and tax rates.
An increase in taxable value means they will collect more money from property owners if they keep their tax rate the same as the previous year.
Unless governments lower their tax rate, homeowners will face higher property tax bills at a time when inflation and rising interest rates are straining family budgets.
To prevent a tax increase entirely, elected officials would have to use the “rolled-back” rate, which state law requires them to calculate. That rate would generate the same amount of property tax revenue as the previous year, not counting taxes that come from new construction.
Municipalities seldom go to the rolled-back rate — though Delray Beach did last year — because they all face rising costs. For example, Boca Raton, a rapidly growing city with resident demand for quality services, usually lowers its tax rate by a minuscule amount, which allows city leaders to say they have cut the rate while still benefiting from increased revenue.
Homeowners with homesteaded properties, however, don’t feel the full brunt of rising property values because state law caps the taxable value increase to 3%. Non-homesteaded properties are capped at 10%.
The taxable value numbers are based on market conditions as of Jan. 1, so they do not reflect any changes in 2025. The final figures will be submitted to the Florida Department of Revenue at the end of this month. Local governments set their property tax rates in September.
Larry Barszewski contributed to this story.
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