PBC gives initial OK to $4.5B budget

Most Palm Beach County homeowners will see higher tax bills under a $4.5 billion budget commissioners gave initial approval to Tuesday.

Thespending planwould hold the property tax rate for the operating budget steady at $4.78 per $1,000 of taxable value for the seventh consecutive year, but rising property values will meanthathomeowners will pay more.

Commissioners say the extra revenue is needed to offset an extra tax break for homeowners that could be approved by voters next year and to tackle pressing problems, such as homelessness and the opioid epidemic.

“We here in Palm Beach County have become used to a standard that we want to live by,” Commissioner Paulette Burdick said. “Sometimes you have to pay for things youwant tohave.”

Coupled with increased property values, the rate will generate $867 million in revenue, about $55 million more than the previous year.

Residents also started paying more in sales tax on Jan. 1. Voters approved raising the county’s sales tax rate from 6 cents per dollar to 7 cents, which will generate $2.7 billion over the next decade to repair aging roads, bridges and schools. The county will get 30 percent of those funds, with the school system receiving half and the cities sharing 20 percent.

The budget covers the start of Sheriff Ric Bradshaw’s plan to hire 100 new patrol deputies over the next three years, adding 15 deputies in 2018. In his proposal, Bradshaw said staffing needs to be increased because of population growth.

Commissioners budgeted $2 million to address the mounting opioid death toll, which is in addition to $1 million pulled out of reserves earlier this year. Nearly 600 people died of overdoses in 2016, according to the Palm Beach County medical examiner’s office.

The spending plan adds 50 new positions in engineering, airports, water utilities, fire rescue, the building division, fleet management, libraries and economic sustainability. For the fourth consecutive year, employees will get a 3 percent raise.

Ownersof secondhomes, rentals and commercial properties would see their bills rise the most. For the owner of a $350,000 vacation home that grew in value by the average of 5.71percent, the increase in county property taxes would be about $96, with a bill of $1,769. That does not include taxes paid for school, city and other services.

Residents with a homestead exemption won’t face as much of a jump in bills. Their increase would be capped at 2.1 percent. For the owner of a $350,000 homewith a$50,000homestead exemption, the increase in property taxes would be about $35, with a bill of $1,708.

Maintaining services could become challenging if voters approve an additional $25,000 homestead exemption intheNovember 2018 election, County Administrator Verdenia Baker said. That would mean an average tax break of $275 for homeowners, but the county would be facing a $50 million budget deficit by the 2020 budget year.

That could leave the board with a tough choice of either raising the tax rate or imposing deep cuts, Commissioner Hal Valeche said.