By Mary Hladky
Boca Raton’s tax rate will remain virtually unchanged for the fiscal year that began on Oct. 1.
The 2025-26 property tax rate, approved unanimously by the City Council on Sept. 25, is $3.66 per $1,000 of taxable value, or 1 cent less than the previous fiscal year’s $3.67 per $1,000.
Residents owning a home with a taxable value of $450,000 will pay $1,649 in ad valorem taxes, slightly less than last year’s $1,655.
The $155 fire assessment fee for residential properties is unchanged.
The city prides itself on maintaining a low tax rate, which has held steady since the 2015-16 fiscal year.
Even though the tax rate is stable this year, many property owners will see higher tax bills because taxable values in the city increased 7.5% this year.
To avoid that, the city would have had to lower its tax rate to $3.49 per $1,000 of taxable value, an amount known as the rolled-back rate.
But Boca is a growing city, with a population now topping 103,000, and the rolled-back rate would hamstring its need to add employees, buy or replace equipment and upgrade facilities, while also paying the increased cost of materials and supplies, city officials say.
Most homeowners, though, are shielded from the brunt of higher tax bills because state law caps the taxable value increase for homesteaded properties at 3%. Non-homesteaded properties are capped at 10%.
In outlining the estimated tax rate and budget to City Council members in July, Deputy City Manager and Chief Financial Officer Jim Zervis noted that the city’s taxable property values rose to $40.2 billion this year and new construction added $729 million to the tax roll. Both are higher than in any other Palm Beach County city or town.
The new fiscal year’s operating budget, also approved by the council on Sept. 25, is $794 million. That is down slightly from last year’s $794.3 million.
The new general fund budget, which pays for most of the city’s day-to-day activities, is nearly $255 million, up from last year’s $247.4 million.
Most of the increase is due to higher costs for employee pensions, salary increases and cost of living adjustments.
Overall, the city is adding 16 new employees in the new fiscal year.
Two new recreation services employees, one police traffic infraction enforcement officer, and half the cost of a customer service representative in financial services will be paid out of the general fund budget while the rest will be paid out of other city fund categories, such as water and sewer.
Most user fees will remain unchanged in the new fiscal year, but there will be a few changes.
The monthly residential solid waste, special pickup and commercial collection fees as well as water, sewer and stormwater rates will go up 3.1%.
Ballfield rental fees will go to $32 per hour, up from $30. Small fee increases will be made to basketball, volleyball, tennis and pickleball courts per-hour costs and the Explorium Science Camp. The Ocean Rescue junior lifeguard program will go up to $300 from $250.
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