WEST PALM BEACH — With the REAL ID deadline just one year away, Constitutional Tax Collector Anne M. Gannon urges Palm Beach County residents who still need a REAL ID driver license or state ID card to make an appointment now.

“Clients cannot get their REAL ID driver license or state ID card online,” Gannon said. “They must make an appointment to visit our office with all required documentation.”

Appointments are required for in-person service at all Palm Beach County Tax Collector Offices. Driver license appointments can be scheduled up to 90 days in advance. In most cases, the transaction takes less than 15 minutes to complete.

Starting Oct. 1, 2021, every U.S. resident must present a REAL ID-compliant driver license or state ID card to board a commercial flight or enter a federal building. Residents who do not have a REAL ID will have to present an alternate acceptable form of identification, such as a valid U.S. passport, to be allowed through security. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security extended the REAL ID deadline to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Gannon’s office has been issuing REAL ID driver licenses and state ID cards since 2010. According to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, as of September 2020, Palm Beach County’s REAL ID compliance rate is 93.5%. Approximately 80,000 Palm Beach County residents do not have a REAL ID.

For more information on REAL ID including a checklist of required documentation, please visit www.pbctax.com/driver-license/real-id/.