Dorothy Jacks was elected as Palm Beach County’s Property Appraiser in 2016 after a distinguished 28-year career serving in positions at every level of the Property Appraiser’s Office.

Expertise

As a Certified Florida Appraiser and Assessment Administration Specialist, Ms. Jacks has the highest professional designation in Florida and one of the highest international designations for someone who holds the office of Property Appraiser.

Excellence

With a strong focus on continuous education, Ms. Jacks has staffed her office with professional and technical experts with the highest industry credentials, making the office a global model of top-tier appraisal and assessment practices. She equips her staff with the knowledge they need to exceed their customers’ expectations. That level of expertise, along with the fact that anyone can reach one of those experts with just one phone call, gives Palm Beach County residents, businesses and other professionals confidence that their Property Appraiser is knowledgeable, trustworthy and always available to listen and help.

In 2021, the office earned the prestigious Certificate of Excellence in Assessment Administration (CEAA) from the International Association of Assessing Officers (IAAO), a 7,000-member worldwide organization of professional assessing and appraising officials. The CEAA is the highest honor for a property appraiser’s office.

Innovation

For more than 30 years, Ms. Jacks has been a champion for modernizing practices and enhancing transparency through the use of innovative technologies that make the appraisal process less subjective, and therefore, fairer and more equitable. Her focus on efficiency and accountability enables her to invest in these technologies. For example, she leveraged savings from a 15 percent staff reduction to invest in new technologies.

Among Ms. Jacks’ most notable accomplishments is the creation of the award-winning Property Appraiser's Public Access (PAPA) website, the go-to tool for business, industry and government to access property data. It’s free and it’s available 24/7, as is PAPA Mobile, the browser-based tool for mobile devices. 

Ms. Jacks is focused every day on making the Property Appraiser’s office better than it was the day before. She will keep up her tradition of constantly moving the office forward with emphasis on continuous improvement, streamlining operations, seeking new ways to make it easier for her customers to interact with her office, developing partnerships with municipalities and other government entities and empowering her customers through education.

Leadership

Unlike many other elected positions, the Property Appraiser job must be filled by a proven industry leader. Ms. Jacks’ expertise in property appraisal, assessment administration, tax law and government jurisdiction operations has earned her regional, national and worldwide recognition in her field. She served as president of IAAO, a 7,000-member worldwide organization of professional assessing and appraising officials in 2018, and president of the Florida Association of Property Appraisers in 2021. She also is a past president of the Florida Chapter of IAAO.

Community Involvement

A long-time West Palm Beach resident, Ms. Jacks is also known for a lifetime of leadership in her community. She is a board member of the Friends of the Mounts Botanical Garden and an active alumnus and former board member of Leadership Palm Beach County. She has served as president of Executive Women of the Palm Beaches and president of the Friends of the Mandel Public Library. She is also a former member of the City of West Palm Beach Zoning Board of Appeals.

Ms. Jacks earned her bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Florida.