Palm Beach County's proposed budget aims to avoid tax increase - Sun-Sentinel
The County Commission, in a 4-3 vote, gave initial approval to a property tax rate increase of just under 1 percent. But commissioners also called for deeper cuts and shuffling money, hoping to avoid an increase at the final budget vote on Sept. 27.
Using reserves to cover expenses, shelving road projects and leaving more county jobs vacant are among the ways commissioners propose to save that $13 million. Otherwise, the possibility of a property tax rate increase re-emerges.
"There are still some things that we could cut … things we still don't absolutely need," Commissioner Shelley Vana said. "I think we can get there."
Back-to-back years of property tax rate increases still left Palm Beach County facing a $40 million budget shortfall for the $4 billion spending plan that kicks in Oct. 1.
The shortfall comes from past county government spending along with continued declines in property tax revenue due to home prices sliding amid the struggling economy.
The county's original budget proposal called for about $20 million in budget cutbacks that included more than 30 layoffs and reduced spending on everything from parks to road repairs. It also called for $5 million in cuts from the Sheriff's Office.
Sheriff Ric Bradshaw's more than $400 million budget accounts for more than half of the county's operating expenses, which County Administrator Robert Weisman has said is why Bradshaw should share in county spending cuts.
But prior to Tuesday's County Commission meeting, Bradshaw said he was "done" cutting even though the county's budget proposal was $5 million less than he requested.
If the County Commission and Bradshaw can't agree on a budget total, the sheriff can appeal to the Florida Cabinet, which can require the county to pay. On Tuesday, a majority of commissioners weren't willing to support cutting the sheriff's budget.
That came after sheriff's officials had alerted neighborhood groups that $5 million more in spending cuts could mean closing a substation west of Boynton Beach. Neighborhood groups objected to the prospect of losing the facility and its 170 deputies.
Public backlash also stopped proposed cuts that included: reducing beach lifeguard patrols; closing three nature centers, including Green Cay Nature Center west of Boynton Beach; closing two county pools, Santaluces and Aquacrest; doing away with four county victim advocate positions and increasing Palm Tran bus far rates 33 percent.
Raising the costs of public transportation makes it harder for low-income residents and the handicapped to get to work and the doctor's office, Palm Tran supporters warned county commissioners Tuesday.
"Please do not raise the fares," David Evans, who is blind, told county commissioners. "We have a lot of people right now where transportation is their life."
Commissioners Paulette Burdick, Karen Marcus and Steven Abrams cast the only three votes against the budget proposal, instead preferring to commit Tuesday to the existing tax rate.
The current tax rate for the county's operating budget is about $4.75 per $1,000 of taxable value.
For a home valued at $230,000 and eligible for a $50,000 homestead exemption, that generates about $855 in county property taxes — not including taxes for schools, libraries, cities and other taxes.
The new tax rate approved Tuesday would be $4.79 per $1,000 of taxable value, though that could go down to the old rate if commissioners find $13 million in cuts.
A tea party-offshoot called the Palm Beach County Taxpayer Action Board, or TAB, proposed the county maintain the current tax rate by cutting the Sheriff's Office budget, selling unused county property and tapping into reserve funds to cover any remaining budget shortfall.
abreid@tribune.com, 561-228-5504
14 Sep, 2011--
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