Q&A of the Day – Palm Beach County’s Property Taxes
Each day I feature a listener question sent by one of these methods.
Email: brianmudd@iheartmedia.com
Social: @brianmuddradio
iHeartRadio: Use the Talkback feature – the microphone button on our station’s page in the iHeart app.
Today’s Entry: Brian, I've lived in Palm Beach County for over twenty years and have listened to you for much of it. I have a follow up question to something you said about Palm Beach County’s property taxes. It’s confusing to understand the difference between higher property taxes paid due to higher property tax assessments and what’s charged by local governments. I’d appreciate it if you could explain that difference. I’ll keep listening. Thanks.
Bottom Line: You’ve got it and it’s a good question. To your point, given how desirable Palm Beach County is relative to the rest of the country and even within the state of Florida, it’s likely our net property taxes will always be higher than average. But there’s a big difference between paying higher property taxes due to having higher property values and thus assessments, and having higher property taxes because local governments are sticking it to us big time. In the case of Palm Beach County, we’ve been experiencing both. Yesterday, as part of my Top 3 Takeaways, I used the example of Palm Beach County’s property tax rate (along with gas tax rate) as an opportunity for potential reforms as Republicans assumed control of the county commission. As I mentioned... It’s not just that Palm Beach County has among the highest property tax rates in the state, we’re paying among the highest property tax rates in the country. Palm Beach County imposes a higher property tax rate than 93% of the country, a number which jumps to 95% when adjusted for median incomes. Why exactly, with a booming local economy bringing in record windfalls of tax revenues, in addition to record high property tax assessments leading to maximum property tax assessment increases for residents of the county, should we be paying what is nearly the highest property tax rate in the state and one of the highest in the country as well? Can the county not do more with more already? Did you know that Palm Beach County revenues and expenditures grew by 10.4% year-over-year?
There are two numbers that represent each of those considerations. The average tax payment and the average effective property tax rate. Most recently, here’s where Palm Beach County stands with both.
- Property tax rate: 1.12% vs 0.98% state average
- Average tax payment: $2,712 vs $1,752 state average
In breaking down those two numbers you see that any way you look at it we’re paying well more than most. Palm Beach County’s effective property tax rate is 14% higher than the state average. That’s the number that’s completely controllable at the local level, independent of the average cost of property. But then there’s obviously that piece as well. The average Palm Beach County property tax bill is now 55% higher than the average within the state of Florida. The difference between the two is the premium people pay to live in Palm Beach County due to higher property values. But that also helps illustrate another point.
The cost of living, excluding housing, is 8% higher than the national average and 5% higher than Florida’s average. That does necessarily mean Palm Beach County needs to collect more revenue to operate the same level of services as other places. However, when you compare apples to apples, Palm Beach County on a rate basis adjusted for our higher cost of living and operating is still charging 9% higher property taxes than needed for the average other like government in Florida. And the revenue derived from property taxes specifically is a full 50% higher on an adjusted basis than the average other county across Florida. It’s frankly outrageous. Especially as the county will acknowledge housing affordability issues – hence the “affordable housing” slush fund referendum they pushed and PBC residents mistakenly passed last fall.
Hopefully this exercise has helped illustrate the difference between property tax rates in comparison to assessed values while also illustrating how much of what we’ve been taxed is controllable at the local level while still being able to operate comparatively. Now of course this isn’t all a story of what’s imposed at the county level either. There are over 100 special taxing districts within Palm Beach County with the authority to levy taxes and assessments. This is why I always encourage you to review all of the lines on your proposed property tax assessments annually. Unincorporated areas of the county have lower assessed property taxes without municipal taxes being imposed and some municipalities are more fiscally responsible than others so it’s worth taking a deeper look into to your own situation based on where you live to see comparatively how much you’re paying, but the one commonality all county residents share is an especially high county-imposed property tax rate that’s unjustifiably high.