Palm Beach County saw record investment income for the second consecutive fiscal year, realized another record year of property tax revenues and had more money coming from tourism dollars in Fiscal Year 2024, according to the latest edition of Checks & Balances: Your Guide to County Finances. 

The award-winning report, produced by the Clerk of the Circuit Court & Comptroller, Palm Beach County, makes it easy for taxpayers to see how their tax dollars and other public money is managed, spent and invested.

Checks & Balances includes important economic indicators to measure Palm Beach County’s financial health, including sales tax revenues, median home prices, unemployment figures and property tax collections. The 20-page report contains easy-to-read charts that outline in plain language how taxpayer money is collected, budgeted and invested until needed to pay County expenses.

Among the highlights from this year’s Checks & Balances:

• Revenue from property taxes reached $1.76 billion, a new record level for Palm Beach County, representing a 9 percent increase from Fiscal Year 2023.
• The Clerk’s office earned a record $230.3 million in investment income in FY 2024 through its management of the County’s investment portfolio. This is a more than 600 percent increase over the $32.6 million earned in Fiscal Year 2022.
• Collections of Tourism Development Tax set a new record in FY 2024, with $86.7 million received, a 2.9 percent increase from FY 2023 and double the amount collected in Fiscal Year 2020.  
• The median sales price for a single-family home in the County continued to grow, reaching $622,500 in 2024. This is 46.6 percent higher than the median sales price of $425,000 in 2020.

Checks & Balances, which is also known as the Popular Annual Financial Report, or PAFR, is available online at mypalmbeachclerk.com/pafr, and can be downloaded and shared by anyone.

This is the 19th consecutive year that the Clerk’s office has released Checks & Balances for the community. 

Most of the information contained in Checks & Balances is a summary of the Clerk’s Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, which includes nearly 300 pages of in-depth data about County finances, revenue and spending.

To download a copy of the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report or to view other financial reports compiled by the Clerk’s office, visit mypalmbeachclerk.com/countyfinances.