Estimates of the new bills will be mailed to all Palm Beach taxpayers, based on preliminary taxable property values topping $34 billion.
Palm Beach real estate owners — not to mention their accountants and financial planners — will soon get an idea of what they might owe in 2025 property taxes.
And tax bills are no small thing in this ultra-wealthy town, where 104 property owners were billed $500,000 or more each in annual property taxes, according to a 2023 analysis by the Palm Beach Daily News. That analysis showed Palm Beach properties associated with President Donald Trump alone generated tax bills totaling $1.25 million, including those for The Mar-a-Lago Club and three adjacent private houses. In 2024, the same Trump-related properties were billed $1.43 million.
On Aug. 21, the Palm Beach County Property Appraiser’s office is expected to mail preliminary tax-bill estimates to all Palm Beach taxpayers — and to their counterparts across the county.
The notices will reflect Property Appraiser Dorothy Jacks’ best guess at this point about tax bills, based on the estimated assessed values her staff has assigned to every taxable property in the county, and factoring in any exemptions or caps on those assessments.
“We are always available to help you make sense of this notice and property appraisals, exemptions, and assessment caps,” Jacks wrote in an August newsletter posted on her office’s website about the soon-to-be-mailed notices .
The amount Palm Beach property owners will actually pay could change, once the town, the county, the school board and other taxing authorities finalize their rates in time for final tax bills to be mailed by Nov. 1. Those rates are typically adopted by the end of September.
Here are a few things to know about the so-called “Truth in Millage,” or TRIM, notices set to arrive in mailboxes shortly.
Palm Beach property values are up — but by how much?
Palm Beach’s estimated taxable property values have jumped to $34.57 billion for the 2025 tax year, up from an estimated $32.15 billion at this time last year. As is typical, the 2024 estimates were actually higher than the actual values finalized last November, when the town’s taxable values clocked in at $32.04 million.
Jacks’ latest figures were based on “market conditions” as of Jan. 1, according to a statement that accompanied the property-value estimates finalized in late June.
In the latest estimates from Jacks’ office, taxable values countywide total $342.95 billion.
How does a property’s total market value fit into the tax picture?
Before the appraiser’s office figures a property’s taxable value, it assigns a total market value to the property. That value is the starting point before any homestead exemptions, tax caps and other discounts get figured in to determine the final taxable value.
In Palm Beach, the estimated “total market value” of the town’s mansions, houses, condominiums and other residential buildings — along with commercial properties — saw a 2.56% annual increase to about $56.08 billion, according to Jacks’ office.
Countywide, the combined estimated market value of properties stands at about $528.78 billion, according to estimates released in late June.
What about tax exemptions?
For residential property owners who take a homestead exemption — and thus declare their homes to be their primary residences — the annual increase in their property’s assessed value will be capped this year by state law at 3%, according to a statement on the property appraiser’s website.
That so-called “value cap” limits the jump in assessed value to 10% for non-homesteaded residential properties.
The notices to be mailed Aug. 21 also will include preliminary tax rates from the county, municipalities and other agencies with taxing authority.
The rates are only estimates that can, and often are, altered at public hearings.
The notices also will include a list of the local taxing authorities for each homeowner “as well information about each authority’s budget hearing, so that you are empowered to participate in the process of setting your tax rates,” Jacks wrote in her newsletter.
She added: “Every resident has the right to speak to the elected officials who levy taxes at the public meetings listed in your Notice.”
Palm Beach’s budget and tax rate will be considered at a public meeting Sept. 8 before the final adoption, which is expected at another meeting Sept. 18.
What if a property owner doesn’t agree with a valuation?
The notices give taxpayers a chance to review the values assigned to their properties for accuracy.
In her newsletter, Jacks urged homeowners who believe the notice’s market value of their property is inaccurate or is missing an exemption to call her office to speak with an appraiser.
Alternatively, property owners have until Sept. 15 to file a petition of objection with the state-authorized Value Adjustment Board.
How do taxing authorities use the estimates from Jacks’ office?
The taxable-value estimates are used by Palm Beach officials and those at other entities — including the County Commission and the school board — to help figure their budgets and set final property tax rates for the coming fiscal year.
The Palm Beach Town Council, for instance, held a budget workshop in mid-July at Town Hall. At that meeting, officials unanimously agreed to a tentative tax rate that would slightly raise property taxes for homesteaded Palm Beach residents for the coming fiscal year.
The proposed municipal tax rate of $2.61 per $1,000 of taxable value would result in homesteaded property owners seeing an increase on their tax bills of $79 for every $1 million of taxable value. Non-homesteaded property owners would pay $206 more per $1 million of taxable value.
The taxes will help fund the town’s proposed $127.3 million budget for the new fiscal year.
The town typically gets to keep a little less than 20% of the total tax revenue generated by its properties. The rest goes to other taxing authorities.
Staff writer Jodie Wagner contributed to this story.
Darrell Hofheinz is a USA TODAY Network of Florida journalist who writes about Palm Beach real estate in his weekly “Beyond the Hedges” column. He welcomes tips about real estate news on the island. Email dhofheinz@pbdailynews.com, call 561-820-3831 or send him a message on X @PBDN_Hofheinz. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.
