Boca Raton? City Of Boca Raton? Unincorporated Delray Beach? Boynton? We Know Where You Live. You Should, Too.
BY: ANDREW COLTON | Editor and Publisher
BOCA RATON, FL (BocaNewsNow.com) (Copyright © 2024 MetroDesk Media, LLC) — You may not live where you think you live. That’s the message local leaders and emergency planners attempt to communicate each year when a major storm is imminent. It turns out many transplants to South Florida have absolutely no idea where their house, apartment, or condo is located. They are lured to the area by builders, country clubs, and gated communities promoting “Boca Raton” and “Delray Beach” addresses, only to find out that they actually live in “Unincorporated Palm Beach County.”
The distinction is important. If you live in the City of Boca Raton, you are serviced by the City of Boca Raton Police Department. Your trash is collected by the City of Boca Raton, and your water is provided by the City of Boca Raton as well. Same story in the City of Delray Beach and the City of Boynton Beach. Just because you have a “Boca,” “Delray,” or “Boynton” address doesn’t mean you actually live in those cities.
Using the map above, you can determine whether you are serviced by a city or by Palm Beach County. If you live in a color, you are serviced by a city. If you live in the white area, you are a resident of Unincorporated Palm Beach County. That means all of your services are provided by Palm Beach County. Your police department is the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office. Your trash is collected by the Palm Beach County Solid Waste Authority. Your water is provided by Palm Beach County Water Services.
It’s important to know the difference when a storm approaches. If you need help, you need to know who to call. If trash or water services are interrupted, you need to know if you are specifically affected. We are constantly amazed at the number of people who believe their Boca Raton address means they live in the City of Boca Raton. It doesn’t. Builders, Realtors, HOA’s and Country Clubs have been very good over the years at using a “Boca Raton” address to lure home buyers to the region — only for those home buyers to find out later that they live several miles from the city they believed they were moving to.
