The 2026 proposed tax notice for a home in Charleston Court at Abacoa proposes $449.76 for a district most buyers have never heard of. For a home in Tuscany at Abacoa, the same district's proposed charge is $1,349.27. Both notices use the same rate table. The tripled figure doesn't come from a pricier house or a fancier sub-association. It comes from land, and that line on the tax bill is where much of Abacoa's best-known scenery gets paid for.
The district is the Northern Palm Beach County Improvement District, usually just called Northern. In Abacoa it maintains lakes and marshes, Greenway trails, preserves and uplands, observation decks, aerators, culverts and sidewalks. Northern also maintains the liner in Abacoa's lined lakes, along with the preserve greenways, bridges and overlooks. None of that shows up in a monthly HOA figure. It shows up in the non-ad valorem section of the Palm Beach County property tax bill, and the Tax Collector collects it along with everything else.
Three Abacoa addresses, one rate table, three different bills
All three homes below sit in Northern's Unit 9B. The figures come from each parcel's 2026 notice of proposed taxes on the Palm Beach County Property Appraiser's site. These notices are proposals, not final bills.
| Abacoa neighborhood | Northern debt | Northern maintenance | Northern total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Charleston Court, Phase 2 | $209.49 | $240.27 | $449.76 |
| Cambridge at Abacoa | $335.19 | $384.43 | $719.62 |
| Tuscany at Abacoa, Plat 2 | $628.47 | $720.80 | $1,349.27 |
The Tuscany notice also lists solid waste and Jupiter fire protection charges. All told, that one parcel carries $1,659.27 in non-ad valorem assessments before a single dollar of millage. When you compare an Abacoa home with one in a community that pays for its lakes through HOA dues, that is the number to set beside the dues.
Why the bill follows the lot, not the house
Northern's assessment is a special assessment, and in the district's own words, published by the Abacoa Property Owners' Assembly, it "does not take the property value into consideration." Each parcel gets a factor. Northern's FY 2026/27 budget defines it as the lot's actual acreage plus a prorated share of the tax-exempt land created by the same plat, such as roads, common areas and recreation facilities. The factor is then multiplied by a per-acre rate.
Two things follow from that formula. First, a renovated kitchen or a second story doesn't change the Northern line. A bigger lot does, and so does a plat with a larger share of common land. Second, because the factor draws on the plat's common land, homes in different Abacoa neighborhoods can land far apart. The Tuscany parcel's proposed Northern charge is three times the Charleston Court parcel's.
The stadium pays its share through a separate arrangement. Northern has a special agreement with the Jupiter stadium for maintenance on 6.85 acres. The agreement renewed automatically for another five years in 2024, and Northern invoices it directly.
This year, the maintenance side grew faster than the total
Northern's board approved the FY 2026/27 budget, and the transmittal is dated August 26, 2026. The combined residential rate for Units 9, 9A and 9B went from $4,220.01 to $4,497.57 per factor, a 7% increase. The debt portion of the rate fell from $2,445.02 to $2,094.91, while the maintenance portion rose from $1,774.99 to $2,402.66, roughly 35%.
The unit budgets tell the same story. Unit 9A maintenance assessments go from $1,624,117 budgeted for fiscal 2026 to $2,092,769 for fiscal 2027. Unit 9B rises from $1,262,073 to $1,904,777.
The capital list shows where the money is going. For Unit 9A, the budget includes $687,000 for potential lake liner repairs, $85,000 for engineering on Dry Detention Bridge #4 and the lake overlooks, $150,000 for preserve fencing and bridge and overlook replacement, and $78,000 for new aerators. For Unit 9B, it lists $380,000 for Dry Detention Bridge #2 repairs and $300,000 for Bridge #1. At its October 2026 meeting, Northern's board packet recorded a $194,925 purchase order, approved October 6, to renovate and modify Unit 9B's Dry Detention Bridge 1 after routine inspections. The same packet notes that inspections in Unit 9A flagged three lake overlooks and Dry Detention Bridge 4 for replacement in fiscal 2026/27. Northern certified Abacoa's bonded improvements complete in March 2011. Fifteen years later, the bridges and overlooks that make the Greenway pleasant are due for work, and maintenance assessments pay for it.
Frederick Small Road is also a debt line
Northern divides Abacoa into two units. Unit 9A lies roughly south of Frederick Small Road and Unit 9B roughly north, inside a footprint bounded by Indian Creek Parkway, Donald Ross Road, and the Florida East Coast Railroad and Alternate A1A. Each unit pays off its own bonds, and Northern says funds from one unit cannot be spent in another.
The two bond schedules end at different times:
- Unit 9A, Abacoa I: $2,749,478 outstanding on Series 2013 refunding bonds, with a final maturity of August 1, 2027. Northern's budget projects no Unit 9A debt assessment for fiscal 2027/28, down from $2,243,341 this year.
- Unit 9B, Abacoa II: $3,735,000 outstanding on Series 2015 refunding bonds, with payments of about $1.33 million a year through August 1, 2029. The 9B debt fund is budgeted at $1,399,127 for fiscal 2027/28.
For a buyer, this means two Abacoa homes on similar lots, priced alike, can face different carrying costs over the next few years depending on which side of Frederick Small Road they sit. Northern describes this pattern in general terms. Paid-off debts can allow assessment reductions the following year, and reserves above a 25% minimum can offset increases. The fiscal 2027/28 figures are a budget projection, not a bill. In that projection, Unit 9A maintenance assessments ease to $1,944,523, still well above the $1,624,117 budgeted for fiscal 2026, so a south-side owner's debt line may disappear while maintenance stays at its new, higher level.
The master association adds its own charge at closing
Northern is one layer. The Abacoa Property Owners' Assembly is another. Under its recorded declaration, the Assembly levies general assessments for its activities and reserves. The golf course property owner pays 2.1% of the annual budget, and the rest is divided among neighborhoods, residential districts and commercial properties by a formula in the declaration. The Assembly can collect those assessments through each neighborhood association or directly from owners. That is why an Abacoa owner's dues can bundle the master assessment with the neighborhood association's own charges.
At resale, the declaration adds a one-time payment equal to two months of all assessments on the lot at the time the buyer takes title. In its words, these contributions:
are not refundable, are not a prepayment of assessments and are payable by all transferees upon the resale of Lots.
The Assembly's neighborhood pages for Martinique and Mallory Creek also list an Assembly estoppel as part of a sale. Each neighborhood association sets its own dues and services on top of all this.
Reading one parcel before you write an offer
Every figure above can be checked for a specific address in a few minutes:
- Look up the parcel on the Palm Beach County Property Appraiser site and open its 2026 notice of proposed taxes.
- Scroll to the non-ad valorem table and find the lines labeled NPB CO. IMPROV DIST, which show whether the parcel is in Unit 9A or 9B.
- Add the debt and maintenance lines together, then add the neighborhood dues and the Assembly assessment to get a true monthly cost.
- If the parcel is in 9A, keep in mind that the debt line is scheduled to end with the August 2027 bond maturity. In 9B, it runs through 2029.
- Budget for the Assembly's two-month contribution and the estoppel at closing.
Quick answers
When does the Northern charge come due? Northern's assessments appear on the Palm Beach County tax bill mailed around November 1. Owners who pay in November get the 4% early-payment discount, which also applies to the rest of the bill.
Can owners weigh in on Northern's budget? Yes. Northern sends its proposed budget to homeowner and property owner associations, reviews it with the board in May, sets TRIM rates in June, and holds a public hearing in August before final approval.
Is Northern the same as the HOA? No. Northern is a special district whose main job is stormwater control. In Abacoa it also maintains the preserves and trails. The Assembly and each neighborhood association are separate bodies with their own budgets.
This post is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Please confirm the assessments, governing documents and closing costs for your own property with your attorney, title company or tax professional.
If you're weighing homes on both sides of Frederick Small Road, The Ahee Group can pull each parcel's Northern lines, Assembly obligations and neighborhood dues into one side-by-side cost, so the comparison starts with the real monthly number. Request a Concierge Consultation and we'll build that sheet for the addresses on your list.