Two Avenir Homes, Two Very Different Tax Bills: How the CDD Assigns Its Assessments

When a Palm Beach County property tax bill arrives, the second half holds the non-ad-valorem assessments. These are charges set by the agency that levies them, and they are not based on a home's assessed value. In Avenir, one of those lines belongs to the Avenir Community Development District. Its official site explains that the District levies yearly operations and maintenance and debt-service assessments and collects them through the Palm Beach County Tax Collector. According to the Palm Beach County Tax Collector, those charges are added to the millage-based taxes on the same bill, which is payable November 1 through March 31.

That line changes a lot from one pod to the next. In the CDD's final budget for fiscal year 2026/27, which covers October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027, the projected gross annual assessment is $3,310.99 for a 50-foot Regency lot and $9,333.69 for a 175-foot Panther National lot. Both homes are in the same master-planned community. The difference comes from which bond series paid for a parcel's roads and pipes, and from the lot width the debt was spread across. In the newer phases, that number has changed after closing.

Three Charges, Only One of Them Shared

For FY2026/27, an Avenir assessment is built from up to three kinds of charges:

1. Operations and maintenance. This is one shared figure, which the budget lists as $1,422.69 per unit after spreading $6,650,878 in gross O&M expenses across 4,675 units.
2. Clubhouse. Clubhouse operations add $1,431.20 per eligible unit, plus a $742 debt line for the clubhouse under the 2018-3 bonds. The budget notes that Parcel A-5, Economic Development, the Town Center and all of Phase 3 are not assessed for clubhouse operations because they receive no special benefit from it.
3. Infrastructure debt. This charge is set by parcel and often by lot width. It is tied to a specific bond series: 2018, 2019, 2021, 2023, 2024, 2025 or 2026.

The posted gross figures also include a 4% discount for early payment, plus 1% fees each for the County Tax Collector and the Property Appraiser. Every home pays the O&M charge. The clubhouse charges depend on the phase, and the debt charge depends on the pod. Most of the spread between bills comes from that third charge.

Lot Width and Pod Set the Number

Here is a sample of FY2026/27 projected gross assessments from the CDD budget:

Look at Regency and Windgate. Both pay the same $1,888.30 in 2018-1 debt. Windgate's total is about $2,170 higher because its parcel pays the clubhouse operations charge and the clubhouse debt, and Regency's does not. Regency and Apex sit in different phases and carry different bond series, yet their totals land within a dollar of each other.

Within one parcel, lot width adds more debt. In Panther National, the 175-foot lots carry $7,911 a year in debt, compared with $6,259 for the 125-foot lots. Esprit follows the same pattern across its 50-, 60- and 75-foot lots. Home price does not appear anywhere in this formula. A buyer comparing two listings by price per square foot is skipping a cost that can differ by thousands of dollars a year.

The Year Longview's Bill Changed

In the first two phases, the debt lines have stayed the same for years. Watermark's 2018-1 charge was $2,077.13 in FY2023/24, and it is still $2,077.13 in FY2026/27. The 2019 charge for Avondale's Parcel A-6 has held at $2,322 over the same stretch.

Phase 3 has been different. Longview, Parcel A-10, went from a total of $4,313.14 in FY2025/26 to $7,051.69 in FY2026/27. Its 2021 debt line rose from $2,845 to $3,521.58, and a new 2026 debt line of $2,107.42 appeared. The CDD's supplemental assessment methodology, dated May 5, 2026, says the Series 2026A and 2026B bonds finance the Parcel A-10 project. It also confines the bonds' security to an area of about 108 acres planned for 230 single-family homes. The project scope covers roads, drainage, water and wastewater, open space, landscaping, irrigation and entry features. The methodology estimates its cost at about $42.21 million and says any portion not covered by bonds is payable by the landowner. The District's FY2025 audit filed with the Florida Auditor General records $5.68 million in Series 2026A bonds, $33.295 million in Series 2026B and $4.66 million in taxable Series 2026B.

Longview is not the only Phase 3 parcel whose bill moved. Here is what changed elsewhere, according to the same budget comparison:

• Stonegate, A-11. Its 2018 debt line fell from $3,176 to $776.52, and a new 2025 debt line of $3,709.82 was added. The total rose from $4,644.14 to $5,909.03.
• Orchid Isles, A-18. The total went from $3,293.45 in FY2024/25 to $5,714.60 in FY2025/26 after a 2021 A-2 debt line of $2,038.46 was added.
• Lake Ridge, A-21. Its 2021 A-2 line fell to $1,279.03 in FY2025/26 when a 2025 line of $2,575.75 began.
• Esprit, A-16. The 50-foot debt line went down, from $5,670 in FY2023/24 to $3,457 the following year.

The budget documents do not explain how each new figure was calculated. In Phase 3, debt lines have moved both up and down as new series were issued and allocated.

The O&M Charge Moves Too

The shared O&M figure has changed as well. It was $843.90 in FY2023/24, $1,085.45 in FY2024/25, $1,468.14 in FY2025/26 and $1,422.69 in FY2026/27. The board sets it each year from the District's operating budget. Florida's CDD statute describes these assessments as set annually and additional to all other taxes and assessments.

The debt charge lasts much longer. According to the FY2026/27 budget, the 2018-1 and 2018-3 bonds mature in May 2049. Series 2019 matures in May 2050, Series 2021 A-1 and A-2 in May 2052, and Series 2023 and the Town Center bonds in May 2054. The 2024 bonds mature in May 2055, and the 2026 bonds in May 2056. A resale buyer takes over whatever years remain on the series tied to that lot. Because maturity dates vary by pod, a home in Watermark and a home in Longview come with debt schedules about seven years apart.

Where This Comes Up in a Purchase

Florida Statute 190.048 requires a specific CDD disclosure in every contract for the initial sale of property in a district. It must appear just above the buyer's signature area, in bold, conspicuous type larger than the rest of the contract. That rule covers the builder's first sale. In a resale, the figure usually comes from the tax bill and from the CDD itself. The District's site offers a "Request CDD Debt and Assessment Information" link.

Payoff rules differ by series. The 2024 bond offering for Parcel A-18 states that the Series 2024A bonds can be redeemed early at the District's option and the Series 2024B bonds cannot. The same document says the developer was to prepay the 2024B assessments as homes closed, while the 2024A and 2021A-2 debt were expected to stay outstanding. That explains why Orchid Isles shows a 2024B line of zero dollars. Payoff terms that apply to one series may not apply to another, so the District's debt and assessment request is the place to start. Our Palm Beach Gardens closing costs guide covers how prorated items show up at settlement.

The Last Pods Carry Some of the Highest Debt

Avenir is close to fully planned out. The Palm Beach Post reported on June 11, 2026 that the final 293 planned homes had received an initial round of city approvals, and that the community would total about 4,050 homes when finished. The CDD budget counts 4,005 residential units for assessment purposes, so the two figures do not match exactly. The City Council's June 4 agenda listed Pod 17 as a 144-lot subdivision and Pod 19 as a 149-lot subdivision. On June 25, the CDD board approved both plats for recording. The CDD budget lists Parcels A-17 and A-19 with exactly 144 and 149 lots. Each carries a $7,373 Series 2023 debt line and an FY2026/27 projected total of $8,795.69.

Daily convenience in Avenir improved in 2026. According to the Palm Beach Post, the 48,388-square-foot Avenir Town Center Publix opened May 21 at 12535 Northlake Boulevard. The Town Center has its own bond series, a $15 million 2023 issue maturing in May 2054. Its FY2026/27 assessment is billed to the commercial parcel, not to homes.

FAQ

Is the CDD assessment the same as HOA dues? No. The CDD collects its assessments through the Tax Collector, and they appear as a non-ad-valorem line on the county tax bill. HOA dues are a separate charge set by the homeowners association.

Do Phase 3 homes pay for the clubhouse? Under the FY2026/27 budget, Phase 3 parcels are not assessed for clubhouse operations. Parcel A-5, Regency, is excluded as well.

Are the FY2026/27 figures final? The CDD posts them as its final budget, and each line is labeled a projected gross assessment. The District's debt and assessment information request on its website is the place to confirm the figure for a specific home.

If you're weighing homes in different Avenir pods, or comparing Avenir with other Palm Beach Gardens communities, George M Richetelli can pull each parcel's CDD line and bond series before you make an offer. Schedule a consultation, and we'll put the assessments side by side next to the list prices.

This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.