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Boca Raton council adopts 2026 downtown special assessment equalization
Summary
The Boca Raton City Council unanimously approved Resolution 129-2025 to equalize the 2026 downtown special assessment; the city sets the assessment rate at 0.001, a modest reduction from 2025 driven by rising downtown property values. The measure passed 5-0 with no public objections recorded at the hearing.
The Boca Raton City Council voted unanimously to adopt Resolution 129-2025, equalizing the 2026 downtown special assessment for properties in the Downtown Special Assessment District.
Mr. Brown, the city’s special projects manager in the financial services department, presented the annual assessment calculation and recommended adoption. He described the method as dividing the total required bond payment by the total downtown market value to arrive at the assessment rate and said the 2026 rate is 0.001, "a reduction of a little over 5.5% from 2025," citing higher property values as the principal reason for the decrease.
Why it matters: the special assessment pays debt service and administrative costs on outstanding special assessment revenue bonds that funded downtown infrastructure. Mr. Brown told the council the downtown market value increased about 6.5% year over year and that the aggregate value of benefited properties has passed $3,000,000,000. He also noted that one of the bonds was retired in 2022 and that the remaining bond retires in 2030.
Mr. Brown gave an example for homeowners: for an average downtown property with a market value of $500,000, the assessment figure reported in the presentation would be about $50 for the upcoming period; he compared that to previously cited figures of about $58 in an earlier year and $53 in the most recent prior year. Mr. Brown also stated, "For the sixth year in a row, I believe we received no objection letters." He recommended the council approve the equalization and adoption of the special assessment roll.
The public hearing was opened and no members of the public came forward to speak. Mayor Steven Timberlake asked for and received a motion to adopt the resolution; Mayor Timberlake identified Mister Wachter as the mover and Deputy Mayor Nacklis as the seconder. The clerk called the roll and the motion passed 5-0 (Drucker: yes; Nacklis: yes; Thompson: yes; Wachter: yes; Timberlake: yes).
The resolution language included directions for the city clerk to record assessments in the improvement lien book and provisions addressing lien priority, payment of principal and interest, severability and an effective date; the transcript does not state the specific effective date. The council adjourned the special meeting at 2:09 a.m. and planned to resume for its regular workshop shortly afterward.
