Boca Raton Tax Rate to Fall in 2026, But Costs Rise As Values Jump

Boca Raton City Flag (Photo: Boca Daily News)

Though expenses for a number of items have risen over the past year, Boca Raton taxpayers will see a reduction of their tax rate for the 2025-26 fiscal year, thanks to rising property values and new development that has expanded the ratable base.

The city council on Thursday night passed its annual budget with a unanimous vote, adopting the proposed $247,425,400 spending plan that had been introduced earlier this month. Under the plan, the millage rate – the amount by which property value is taxed – will fall slightly, by 0.197 percent. Last year’s rate of 3.6548 per $1,000 of assessed value, will fall to 3.6476 this year. The cost of debt service for residents will fall by 6.989 percent.

For a home valued at the city’s average, a resident will pay $1,641 this year, a slight drop from $1,644 last year. Debt service payments will fall from $8.37 to $7.79.

“This will be the eighth year in a row that Boca Raton continues to have the lowest tax rate of any full-service city in Florida,” said Mayor Scott Singer.

While increasing property values, revised assessments due to home sales and new construction have generated more revenue for the city, costs are still increasing in Boca Raton, as in most cities, officials said. The general fund’s proposed operating revenue budget is estimated to increase by $7,425,900, or 3.01 percent, from the previous year. Pensions, wages and inflation accounted for the bulk of the increases to the operating budget, said Deputy City Manager James Zervis. With that in mind, city officials also cut a number of budget line items to balance the spending plan.

“We cut about $9.5 million out of the general fund budget in order to reduce the burden on the taxpayer and be able to decrease the millage rate,” said Zervis, with overall operating expenses decreasing by about $2 million.

Property values increased 7.51 percent in the city over the past year, according to a presentation from city officials. The net increase is composed of a 5.56 percent increase from reassessments of existing properties and an increase of 1.95 percent from new construction. Boca Raton continues to hold the highest total property valuation of any city in Palm Beach County.

“Over the past few years, the city has experienced regular increases in property values, continuing a trend that has been observed over the past several years,” City Manager George S. Brown wrote in a memorandum to the city council. “The taxable property values for the city have increased 48.38 percent in five years. This positive growth reflects the robust demand for real estate, driven by factors such as economic development, population growth, and infrastructure improvements.”

Responding to a question from a resident, Zervis said the budget does not contemplate any expenditures that would be attributed to the proposed city campus redevelopment plan, which is likely to become the subject of a public referendum in 2026.

“There are no funds budgeted for the campus redevelopment project in this budget, because we don’t have a final redevelopment agreement that would generate budget activity,” said Zervis.

The city is predicting a $85.63 million surplus, of which $25.49 million is designated as a hurricane or natural disaster emergency reserve, given Boca Raton’s coastal location.

The city is also adding 16 employees for the coming year, four of whom will be paid from the general fund and another 12 from other funds, such as the Community Redevelopment Agency, Water & Sewer utility, and through grants.

“The sustained increase in property values presents both opportunities and challenges for our city,” Brown wrote in his memorandum. “On the positive side, higher property values contribute to a stronger tax base, enabling the city to fund essential services and invest in further development projects. However, we must also be mindful of the potential for affordability issues. Rising property values can lead to increased living costs, which may affect our residents, particularly those on fixed incomes or lower-wage jobs.”

The budget will enable to city to maintain a triple-A bond rating, with an allocation of 8 percent of property tax revenue to funding capital improvements.