Page 8 - PGA Comminty News - April '24

Page 8, PGA C.A.N.! BW April 2024
April 2024
Tax Talk

Dear Friends: The Reviews Are In…. on our Google My Business page by visiting www.pbctax.
Growing up in Ohio, I com/locations/, selecting the location where you received
remember this time of year What a pleasure it is service from our team and then clicking on the Google My
meant “April showers bring to share the latest wave of Business link.
May flowers,” marking the positive reviews we have
beginning of the gardening received over the past year Hello … This Is The Tax
season. Here in Florida, on our Google My Business
and due to our climate, we (GMB) pages! We have Collector
have a different gardening six GMB pages, one for
timeline and right now it is each of our service centers and these pages offer you the When you contact
harvesting time for many opportunity to tell us about your experience at a particular our office by phone or
backyard gardeners. service center location. email, our Client Care and
Recently, my gardening It is always valuable to hear from our clients and to share Research Center (CCRC)
prowess paid off as I picked the feedback with our team. This allows us to celebrate the team provides exceptional
my first heads of broccoli and fantastic reviews and to also learn how we can improve our service to respond to your
cauliflower! There is nothing service. Over the past two years, and across our six locations, inquiries. In Fiscal Year
better than homegrown we have received well over 400 GMB reviews ranging 2022/23, our team of 28
vegetables. So, this month, from an average of 2.6 stars to 4.0 stars! We appreciate the client care representatives
which is National Garden valuable feedback we have received, highlighting not just the handled more than 237,000 phone calls and more than 45,000
Month, and for all you home quality of our service but also the exceptional experiences emails. They answer questions about all the services the tax
gardeners, celebrate your our clients have had with our team. One reviewer applauded collector’s office provides, including property taxes, driver’s
harvesting success and enjoy our excellent service, stating, “Had the best experience in any licenses, motor vehicle/vessel registrations and titles, local
the fruits (and vegetables) of DMV I had been to, and excellent service given.” Hearing business tax, and more. This dedicated team continually
your labor … I know I will! such feedback is an affirmation that our focus on exceptional strives to improve its response time, and last year, the team
Anne M. Gannon, service is working but we must continue to raise the bar and reduced the average call wait time by nearly five minutes and
Constitutional Tax Collector, Serving Palm Beach County work hard to exceed our clients’ expectations. responded to email inquiries within three days! If you have a
To read more about our awesome GMB reviews, I question or need assistance from our office, our CCRC team
Open! Open! Open! encourage you to check out our 2022/23 annual report which can be reached via email at ClientAdvocate@pbctax.com or
can be found on our website at www.pbctax.com/annual- by phone at (561) 355-2264.
Our newest service report/. Don’t forget to share a review of your experience
center in North Palm Beach
County is now open!
Located at 3185 PGA
Blvd., the new facility is
built on the grounds where
once stood the old State
Division of Driver’s Licenses building that served generations
of Palm Beach County drivers. This new service center is a
welcome change from that outdated, small office. The new
state-of-the-art service center is 23,735 square feet with a
bright and spacious interior to enhance the client experience.
Other client-focused features include additional client service
windows, ample parking, and a self-contained road test area.
Another feature of our new service center is the
continuation of our commitment to providing art in public
places. Our lobby features a fountain created from volcanic Financial Focus ®
basalt formed millions of years ago in the northeastern part of
the United States. The new facility also features artwork by
participants of Gulfstream Goodwill’s Reimagined initiative What Should You Know If you have considerable financial resources, you might
and coming soon will be a vibrant exterior mural painted by find self-insuring to be attractive, rather than choosing
local artist, Benjamin Heller. About Long-Term Care? insurance and paying policy premiums. You may wish to keep
Now that the new building is open, the previous office an emergency savings or investment account that’s earmarked
location in the North County Government Center is closed. By Sally Sima Stahl exclusively for long-term care to help avoid relying on your
The new service center in the City of Palm Beach Gardens is We all hope to remain other retirement accounts. But self-insuring has two main
the third facility built by the agency to meet demand spurred healthy and independent drawbacks. First, because long-term care can be costly, you
by the population growth of Palm Beach County. throughout our lives – but life might need to plan for a significant amount. And second, it
can be unpredictable. If you will be quite hard to predict exactly how much money you’ll
Editorial copy appearing herewith is not necessarily the viewpoint of were ever to need some type need, because so many variables are involved – your age when
Seabreeze Publications of Central Florida. Most editorial copy is created by of long-term care, would you you start needing care, interest rates or inflation, the cost of
the homeowners and is edited by their appointed editor. be financially prepared? care in your area, the type of care you’ll require, the length
Long-term care of time you’ll need care, and so on.
encompasses everything As an alternative to self-insuring, you could purchase
from the services of a home long-term care insurance, which can provide benefits
health aide to a stay in an for home health care, adult day care and assisted living
assisted living facility to a long residence in a nursing and nursing home facilities. However, you will need to
home. You may never need any of these kinds of care, but consider the issues attached to long-term care insurance.
Seabreeze Publications the odds aren’t necessarily in your favor: Someone turning For one thing, it can be expensive, though the younger
age 65 today has almost a 70 percent chance of needing you are when you buy your policy, the more affordable it
Publisher some type of long-term care services and support in their may be. Also, long-term care policies typically require you
M. Sean Reid remaining years, according to the U.S. Department of to wait a certain amount of time before benefits are paid.
J. Reid Health and Human Services. But policies vary greatly in what they offer, so, if you are
And all types of long-term care can involve considerable thinking of buying this insurance, you’ll want to review
Sales financial expense. The median annual cost for a home options and compare benefits and costs.
Tom English, Laura Berrio, Bret McCormick health aide’s services is more than $60,000 per year, and it’s In any case, by being aware of the potential need for
more than $100,000 per year for a private room in a nursing long-term care, its cost and the ways of paying for it, you’ll
Production Manager Lee Nostrant home, according to Genworth, an insurance company. be able to make the appropriate decisions for your financial
Furthermore, contrary to many people’s expectations, situation, your needs and your loved ones.
Production Department Medicare usually pays very little of these costs. This article was written by Edward Jones for use by your local
Elaine Donholt • Ruth Nekoranec • Katie Heystek Of course, some people expect their family will be able Edward Jones Financial Advisor, Edward Jones, Member SIPC.
Sherry Whalon • Dianne Strout • Karen Kalisz to take care of their long-term care needs. But this may not Edward Jones is a licensed insurance producer in all states
be a viable strategy. For one thing, your family members and Washington, D.C., through Edward D. Jones & Co., L.P.,
All rights reserved. Reproduction or utilization of these contents in any
form by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, including xerography and simply may not have the skills needed to give you the type and in California, New Mexico and Massachusetts through
photocopying is forbidden without the written permission of the Publisher. of care you may require. Also, by the time you might need Edward Jones Insurance Agency of California, L.L.C.; Edward
The Publisher is not responsible or liable for misinformation or misprints help, your grown children or other family members might Jones Insurance Agency of New Mexico, L.L.C.; and Edward
herein contained and reserves the right to accept or reject all copy deemed not live in your area. Jones Insurance Agency of Massachusetts, L.L.C.
unsuitable for publication.
So, you may need to protect yourself and your loved Edward Jones, its employees and financial advisors cannot
www.seabreezepublications.com ones from the potential costs of long-term care. Basically, provide tax advice. You should consult your qualified tax
1102 W. Indiantown Rd., Suite 5, Jupiter, FL 33458 you’ve got two main choices: You could self-insure or you advisor regarding your situation.
(561) 746-3244 could transfer the risk by purchasing some type of long- Contact us at (561) 748-7600, Sally Sima Stahl, AAMS,
term care insurance.
1851 W. Indiantown Road, Ste. 106, Jupiter, FL 33458.
FAX (561) 746-2509 Paid Advertisement