Page 16 - Talk of Tequesta - May '24

Page 16, The Talk Of Tequesta

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Palm Beach County Property Appraiser

Dear Taxpayer: example, one caller asked who owned a commercial property If you have any questions about this process, please
Hello May! because they “really liked” the mannequin in the storefront contact Residential Appraisal Services at (561) 355-2883
My staff is busy completing window and wanted to purchase it. or myhouse@pbcpao.gov.
preparations for the 2024 If you are interested in any special reports or maps, please
estimated taxable property contact Public Services Support at (561) 355-2881 or pa- Office Closed In Honor Of
values, which will be released pubsvc@pbcpao.gov. Fees for reports and programming can
to all Palm Beach County be found at pbcpao.gov. Memorial Day
taxing authorities later this
month. Rising Tax Bills In A The Palm Beach County Property Appraiser’s Office
We provide an estimate (including all of our service centers) will be closed Memorial
to cities and other authorities Flattening Market Day, Monday, May 27. Let us gratefully remember the
who levy taxes because they sacrifice of those who died in military service for our freedom
need them to begin developing their budgets. They review the Florida’s property tax caps (up to 3 percent for homesteaded and prosperity.
property values in their jurisdictions and decide on a proposed properties and 10 percent for nonhomestead properties) can cause
tax rate. The property values multiplied by the tax rate, or assessed values to increase even if market
millage, determines your taxes. values do not. Florida law requires that the
The cities and other taxing authorities then share those assessed value continue to increase by the
proposed tax rates with my office, so that we can notify all maximum cap amount each year until the
property owners of both their home value and proposed tax rate. gap between the assessed value and market
These are revealed in the Notice of Proposed Property Taxes value is “recaptured” or the assessed value
mailed to all property owners in mid-August. equals the market value.
While state law requires my office to value property based on As property values flatten, you may see
the status of the market, your tax rate is set by taxing authorities this happen to your home or business. Even
who answer to you, the voter. If home values increase, tax bills if the market value of a property does not
do not necessarily have to increase as tax rates could be reduced. increase, its assessed value may increase,
Every resident has the right to speak to the elected officials who causing your taxes to rise. This is the action
levy taxes at the public meetings listed in your notice. of Florida law in a softening market that
If you feel that the market value of your property is inaccurate, follows years of rising market values when
you also have the right to file a petition for adjustment with the property tax caps protected property
the Value Adjustment Board through the Clerk of the Circuit owners from significant tax increases.
Court & Comptroller. For more information, visit pbcpao.gov
or contact Residential Appraisal Services at (561) 355-2883 or
myhouse@pbcpao.gov.
In this month’s newsletter, we’re highlighting our Public
Services Support team, who handles most public records
requests for my office. From address labels to complex
customized reports, my staff is helpful, knowledgeable and
ready to serve you.
Respectfully,
Dorothy Jacks, CFA, FIAAO, AAS,
Palm Beach County Property Appraiser
Public Services Support

Department 747-PALM

747-7256
The Public Services Support Department receives and
processes hundreds of public records requests annually. Data
is derived from our Geographical Information System and
appraisal/tax roll systems. We have several standard reports
and are able to create customized, specialized reports and
maps based on the taxpayer’s needs.
Last year, the Public Services Support team, a group of
five, managed:
• 923 Data Run Requests/Variances – This includes address
labels, maps, owner’s lists and variances for when a taxpayer’s
planned use of their property deviates from local zoning.
• 100 Archive Records (down 34 percent from 2022)
– This includes tax rolls and building cards. Some of our
records date back to 1977 and homeowners request these
records for income tax purposes. They usually want to know
the value when the property last changed hands.
• 1,800 Impact Fee Records (up 414 percent from
2022) – This is a request for a building card from builders
or homeowners who are searching to see if a structure ever
existed on a vacant lot, and if so, its square feet, number of
bedrooms, baths, etc. If there was a structure, they can submit
the building card to the Palm Beach County Planning, Zoning
and Building Department for an impact fee credit.
• 116 Custom/Specialized Reports – This could
encompass any number of requests, such as:
◦ Information from the tax roll by assessed value
◦ The number of homestead properties in certain cities
◦ The entire tax roll or appraisal database file for the
current year
◦ Daily/monthly sales updates
◦ Subdivision reports
◦ All vacant properties
◦ Spreadsheets listing information for certain cities
◦ All properties in an estate
◦ All single-family homes or a list by property use code
◦ Certain properties by subdivision or labels for certain areas
◦ Vector and situs files
Our team loves to make our wealth of information more
accessible to the public. While they are asked many different
questions, they still get surprised by interesting queries. For