Riviera Beach is planning to slightly reduce its property tax rate to account for what city officials expect will be higher resident costs associated with building a new police department headquarters, a new fire station and new recreational facilities.
In March, residents approved a trio of ballot measures that authorized the city to raise as much as $115 million through bond sales for the police, fire and recreational projects. Anticipating higher debt service costs, Riviera Beach staff members are crafting a $111.4 million general fund budget that reduces the tax rate of 8.35 per $1,000 of assessed property value to just under 8.29 per $1,000 of assessed property value.
Rising property tax values in Riviera Beach means the city will still take in more property tax revenue — $69.78 million in fiscal year 2025 versus the $61.85 million its bringing in this fiscal year. And residents will still see a slightly higher tax bill.
Some seniors in Riviera Beach are eligible for an additional homestead exemption, which would reduce their property tax bills.
The average home value in Riviera Beach is $403,176 and rose by 2.3% over the past year, according to figures from Zillow.
Based on those figures, and again assuming a homestead exemption of $50,000, the owner of a home worth $403,176 in Riviera Beach can expect to pay at least $2,926 in property taxes, about $54 more than the year before. Those figures do not include assessments for debt or public safety service.
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Riviera Beach will hold its first budget hearing on Sept. 5, with a second public hearing set for Sept. 18. The fiscal year 2025 budget goes into effect on Oct. 1.
With rising costs for such budget items as insurance, wages and benefits as well as equipment and materials, cities often look to hold property tax rates steady and collect the additional revenue from rising property tax values.
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Riviera Beach, however, is opting to reduce its property tax rate.
“The purpose of the reduction staff brought forward in this budget document was that we anticipate in the future moving forward with some of the increases associated with the bonds that were successfully passed by our community,” Riviera Beach City Manager Jonathan Evans said. “We wanted to provide some relief as part of this budget process.”
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Wayne Washington is a journalist covering West Palm Beach, Riviera Beach and race relations for The Palm Beach Post. You can reach him at wwashington@pbpost.com. Help support our work; subscribe today.
