By Mary Hladky
Boca Raton’s tax rate remained almost unchanged for the fiscal year that began on Oct. 1, marking the 10th year in a row that the rate has remained virtually the same.
The tax rate unanimously approved by the City Council on Sept. 23 was $3.67 per $1,000 of taxable property value.
The owner of a home with a taxable value of $450,000 will pay $1,655 for the city’s portion of the property taxes.
The $155 fire assessment fee for residential properties also is unchanged from last year.
The city has long boasted about its low tax rate, which falls below that of many other Florida cities. For comparison, Delray Beach’s rate is $5.94 per $1,000 of taxable property value, Boynton Beach’s is $7.80 per $1,000 and West Palm Beach’s is $8.19 per $1,000.
The rate is made possible because, at $37.6 billion, Boca Raton has the highest taxable property value of any city in Palm Beach County — more than the total for Delray Beach, Boynton Beach, Highland Beach, Gulf Stream, Ocean Ridge and Lantana combined.
Despite the city’s tax rate, property owners will see higher tax bills because property values increased by 8.5% this year.
Yet most homeowners are shielded from the brunt of higher taxes because state law caps the annual taxable value increase for homesteaded properties at 3%. Non-homesteaded properties are capped at 10%.
The city would have had to lower its millage rate by 6.9% to $3.42 per $1,000 of taxable value to bring in the same amount of tax revenue as the previous year, except for the taxes on new construction.
Council members also approved a total citywide budget of $785.3 million, up from last year’s $663 million. The general fund portion of the budget, which is supported by property taxes and pays for most day-to-day activities, is $245 million, up by nearly $22 million.
The majority of that, or about $14 million, will go to higher salary, benefits and pension costs. Ten new full-time positions will be added, including a police officer, park ranger, environmental officer, grant specialist and construction project manager.
Elsewhere in the budget, money is set aside for an additional 10 positions, mainly for information technology and water and sewer operations.
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