Property Tax & Assessment Update: October 2026

This is the October 2026 edition of my monthly Property Tax & Assessment Update for Palm Beach and Broward County homeowners, published October 15, 2026. Here is where the property tax calendar stands right now: the 2026 TRIM notice appeal windows are closed, the Palm Beach County Property Appraiser is certifying the 2026 tax roll this month, 2026 tax bills go out in November in both counties, and the 2027 homestead exemption filing window is open through March 1, 2027. Everything in this update is drawn from the official county property appraiser and tax collector offices and is date-stamped so you know what to act on this month. This is general homeowner education, not tax advice, so please confirm anything that applies to your home with your county's property appraiser or a tax professional.

If you own a home or are about to buy one in Delray Beach, Boca Raton, Boynton Beach, Highland Beach, Gulf Stream, Deerfield Beach, Lighthouse Point, or anywhere else in these two counties, these are the dates and rules that actually hit your mailbox and your budget. Let's walk through them one at a time.

What's happening this month: October 2026

Two county-specific things are moving right now. In Palm Beach County, the Property Appraiser's Office certifies the 2026 ad valorem tax roll to the Tax Collector in October, which is the step that sets the tax bills in motion; once certified, the Tax Collector mails 2026 property tax bills starting in November (Palm Beach County Property Appraiser's Office, October 2026). The office also published its October 2026 eNewsletter this month. For context on the scale of the roll, the office's 2026 preliminary tax roll covered 662,126 real-property parcels with a total real-property market value of about $535.1 billion (Palm Beach County Property Appraiser's Office, 2026 preliminary tax roll).

In Broward County, the 2027 Homestead Exemption timely filing window is open now and runs through March 1, 2027. The Property Appraiser's Office also held in-person exemption filing assistance events on October 13, 2026, at ArtServe Fort Lauderdale and the Dania Beach Library, part of its ongoing outreach to help owners file (Broward County Property Appraiser's Office, October 2026).

TRIM notices: mailed in August, and this year's appeal windows are closed

If you own property, you should have received your 2026 TRIM notice (Truth in Millage, the "Notice of Proposed Property Taxes") back in August. It is not a bill; it is the Property Appraiser's estimate of your proposed assessment, the proposed millage rates, and your estimated taxes. The Palm Beach County Property Appraiser's Office mailed the 2026 TRIM notices on August 20, 2026, and the deadline to file a petition with the Value Adjustment Board (VAB) was September 14, 2026, set by Florida law as the 25th day after the notices were mailed (Florida Statutes, section 194.011; Palm Beach County Property Appraiser's Office, 2026). Broward County mailed its 2026 TRIM notices around mid-August, with the VAB petition deadline roughly late September (Broward County Property Appraiser's Office, 2026).

Both of those 2026 appeal windows have now closed, so if you were considering challenging your 2026 assessment, that specific window has passed for this year. If you want to understand how the process works so you are ready for the next cycle, or if you recently received a notice tied to a 2027 assessment, my step-by-step guide to appealing a Florida property tax assessment explains the free informal review and the VAB petition process. The single most useful thing to remember: the TRIM notice is an estimate, not the bill. The bill comes next.

Tax bills: when they arrive and how the early-payment discounts work

This is the big one for October and November. In both Palm Beach and Broward counties, 2026 property tax bills are mailed in November and become payable November 1, 2026. They must be paid in full by March 31, 2027, and they become delinquent on April 1, 2027 (Palm Beach County Tax Collector; Broward County Tax Collector, 2026).

Sources: Palm Beach County Tax Collector (pbctax.gov) and Broward County Tax Collector (browardtax.org), 2026 tax year payment schedules.

If you have a mortgage with an escrow account, your lender may pay the bill for you out of escrow, so the practical date you care about is the one on the bill or on your escrow statement. If you pay directly, the November 4% discount is a real saving, and every month you wait costs you 1 point of that discount. For a $4,000 bill, paying in November saves about $160 versus paying in March. The exact numbers depend on your own bill.

Homestead exemption: the 2027 window is open now

If you own the home you live in, the 2027 homestead exemption filing window is open in both counties, and the timely filing deadline is March 1, 2027. You must own the property and make it your permanent residence as of January 1, 2027 to qualify. In Palm Beach County you can apply online at pbcpao.gov, and in Broward County you can file online at bcpa.net (Palm Beach County and Broward County Property Appraiser's Offices, 2026).

For reference, the 2026 homestead exemption is up to $51,411 in assessed value: a base $25,000 exemption that applies to all property taxes, plus an inflation-adjusted additional $26,411 that applies to non-school taxes (Florida Department of Revenue, 2026). The exemption applies to assessed value, not to your purchase price, and the actual dollar savings depends on the millage rates where you live. For the full walkthrough, including the proof of residency the appraiser looks for, see the Florida Homestead Exemption guide.

Portability: three tax years to move your benefit

If you sell your homesteaded home and buy another Florida home that becomes your primary residence, portability lets you transfer up to $500,000 of your accumulated Save Our Homes benefit to the new home. You file for it with your county property appraiser using Form DR-501T, together with your new homestead exemption application, by the March 1 deadline of the tax year you are claiming (Florida Department of Revenue; Palm Beach County Property Appraiser's Office, 2026).

You have three tax years to make the transfer, counted from January 1 of the year you abandoned your old homestead. As a practical example, if you sold your homestead at any point in 2026, you have until January 1, 2029 to establish a new Florida homestead and port the benefit. The window was expanded from two years to three by a constitutional amendment that took effect January 1, 2021 (Florida Department of Revenue, 2026). This matters most for people downsizing or relocating within Florida, which is exactly the situation a lot of South Florida sellers are in right now.

Save Our Homes: the 2.7% cap for 2026, explained

Once a home has a homestead exemption, Save Our Homes caps the annual increase in assessed value at the lower of 3% or the Consumer Price Index. For the 2026 tax year, the cap is 2.7%, because that is where the year-over-year CPI change landed (Florida Department of Revenue, 2026). The practical effect is simple: when market values jump, a homesteaded owner's assessed value, and therefore their tax bill, can only creep up slowly, which is why long-time owners are protected from assessment spikes that hit non-homesteaded or investment properties. It is one of the biggest reasons Florida homeowners who have owned for years pay far less in property tax than a recent buyer on the same street.

Your October property tax checklist

• Watch your mailbox in November. Your 2026 tax bill from the county tax collector is on the way. It becomes payable November 1, 2026.
• Decide on the early-payment discount. Pay in November for 4% off, or take the 3% in December, 2% in January, or 1% in February. Full payment is due by March 31, 2027.
• Check your escrow. If you have a mortgage, confirm with your lender whether your taxes are paid from escrow, so there are no surprises when the bill arrives.
• Mark March 1, 2027 for homestead. The 2027 homestead exemption window is open now in both counties. File online at pbcpao.gov or bcpa.net before the deadline.
• Think portability if you are moving within Florida. You have three tax years to transfer up to $500,000 of Save Our Homes benefit to a new Florida homestead using Form DR-501T.

Quick answers for Palm Beach and Broward owners

One thing I want to be clear about: this update is general homeowner education, not tax advice. Your specific bill depends on your property, your millage rates, your exemptions, and your situation, so please confirm the details with your county property appraiser or a tax professional before you make a decision based on anything here.