Page 15 - Talk of Tequesta - August '24

The Talk Of Tequesta, Page 15

Commissioner’s Update

Making Dollars And Cents Of Your Tax Bill

By Vice Mayor Maria G. Marino

It’s that time of year Understanding your tax bill
when the Board of County is important because it helps
Commissioners begins the you know which authority
budgeting process for Fiscal sets the millage and who has
Year (FY) 2025 and sets the jurisdiction over various services.
millage rate for Palm Beach For example, school-related
County. The current county questions should be directed to
millage rate is 4.5, which the school board, while library-
represents the amount of related questions should go to the
tax payable per dollar of the library authority.
assessed value of a property. I often get asked why residents
A mill is derived from the in a municipality still pay taxes
Latin word “millesimum,” meaning thousandth. In property to the county. The answer varies
tax terms, 1 mill equals $1 in property tax levied per $1,000 slightly by municipality, but
of a property’s assessed value. generally, the county provides
To further understand your tax bill, you can visit the many essential services that
property appraiser’s website at https://pbcpao.gov/index. benefit all residents. These
htm. By clicking on the tax link (property tax detail), you services include managing
will see a detailed breakdown of the taxes collected from four airports, a water utilities
various districts that provide services to residents. For department, road and bridge
instance, using the example at right of a homesteaded maintenance, stormwater
house with the taxable value of $351,123 ($376,123 for management, environmental
school district items) and the millage rate of 4.5, you will resources and a parks and
be paying $4.5 per $1,000, totaling $1,580.05. recreation department overseeing
With our example, there are 13 taxing districts under over 110 parks in both municipal
ad valorem taxes for this homesteaded property in Palm and unincorporated areas.
Beach Gardens. Each district sets its own millage rate, So, the next time you receive
and properties in different areas of the county will have your tax bill, remember that I am
a varying number of districts depending on whether they here to be a steward of your tax
are in a municipality or unincorporated areas. Some dollars and a watchdog to ensure
areas, such as Jupiter or Juno, may have an additional that the funds collected are used
line item for fire/rescue services because those services efficiently and effectively.
are provided by the county instead of the municipality.
Non-ad valorem assessments are not based on property
values but are fixed fees per household or business.