Tax-rate puzzle perplexes wary Palm Beach County officials
by Michael C. Bender | July 5th, 2009Under Florida’s Truth in Millage law, a 15 percent property tax-rate hike proposed by Palm Beach County Administrator Bob Weisman for the coming year is not a countywide tax increase. That’s because real estate values have plummeted and the higher rate would leave revenues relatively flat.
Under the laws of political reality, however, bumping the rate from the current $3.78 to Weisman’s $4.34 per $1,000 of appraised value would irk many homesteaders – the county’s core voting bloc – when they see double-digit increases in their tax bills.
That’s why county commissioners seem particularly flummoxed this summer as they try to come up with a taxing and spending plan for the year that begins Oct. 1.
Read the read of George Bennett’s Politics column here.
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July 6th, 2009 at 6:59 am
Gee, I don’t recall them being “flummoxed” at the rising values. I recall their reaction to be “spend faster”! The millage won’t matter after they tax us out of our homes.
July 6th, 2009 at 9:00 am
I say we vote out who we have in now. This is getting ridiculous. Mr. Weisman
needs his head examined. Where do they
think they’ll get people to move into
Palm Beach County with this ludicrous idea? Come on there should be one person
with brains on this committee. They spent money like drunk sailors and now we have to refill their coffers-yeh right!!!
July 6th, 2009 at 11:54 am
What planet gave us Jeff Koons?
A few week ago he said corruption in Palm Beach County is not a problem and that the Board of County Criminals is just fine with the oversight they (don’t) have.
Now of course he is supporting higher taxes when people and businesses are going broke. No surprise – he’s a trust fund baby who has never had to worry about a job or paying taxes.
He is the poster child for term limits. It’s the same old story for the likes of him and Burt Aaronson, Mary McCarty, et al. He spends taxpayer money on projects that benefit targeted voter groups in his district. And his lobbyist buddies give and raise money for his campaigns, so credible candidates are scared away.
We in West Palm Beach had to suffer through this guy as a city commissioner. The highlight of his career was when it was exposed that he belonged to a private club that excluded blacks and Jews. It was also reported in the Palm Beach Post that under oath he said that he used his position as city commissioner to help his father’s buiness. Maybe he’s had ethical lapses as a county commissioner and that is why he is against any form of oversight.
We will finally be rid of him in 2010 unless he tries to run for Mayor. But this time around we will be prepared and his past will haunt him.
July 6th, 2009 at 1:14 pm
From 2002 to 2006 the property values here doubled…new homes were being built at an astronimic pace…the collected concurrency fees on all of these new homes was a staggering amount…the huge increase in tax revenues as a result of the rise in property values was spent like our politicians here were drunken sailors (no insult to sailors intended)! Lets go back to fiscla responsibility…we did just fine in 2002 with the collected revenues-why now the sudden threats of serice cuts, etc.
I say the resolution to the problem is a ONE TERM LIMIT…no more spending tax dollars for pet projects in your district to get continually re-elected…no more spending tax dollars to curry favor with donors. ONE TERM, No lifelong job, no more wasting taxpayers hard earned money.
July 12th, 2009 at 10:13 am
Once again, the County looks to its homeowners to solve its financial difficulties. That would be great if homeowners were the only ones who used the County’s services. If we were the only ones sending our children to Palm Beach County schools, making use of medical and law enforcement services, the courts, and driving on its roads, then by all means, it would only be fair that we should pay accordingly. These services are used by all of the County’s residents, however, and all of the County’s residents must be called upon to share the burden of paying for them. Why are no other options being considered, like sales taxes, which would spread the burden more equitably? I understand that the amount garnered from a sales tax might be unpredictable, but if half of the County’s homeowners are tottering upon the brink of foreclosure, how much money will be realized if these financially stressed people, many of whom are elderly and living on fixed incomes, will be forced to finally abandon their homes? I am not elderly, but I lost my job two years ago; my husband is now our family’s sole source of support. So far we have been hanging on, but we are hanging on by a thread. So far I’ve been able to pay my mortgage and my taxes, but if my property taxes are increased, not to mention my insurance, I may become another one of the legions who abandons their home, creating yet another headache for the County to manage. If the County decides to further increase my financial burden, I will make it my mission in life to see all of them voted out of office. I know a lot of homeowners who feel the same way. So go ahead Commissioners, make our day, increase our property taxes, and experience the unbridled wrath of the voter firsthand. You might be joining the legions of unemployed, financially stressed people forced to abandon your homes.
July 12th, 2009 at 10:32 am
You know, I have been thinking. I am one of those, perhaps, foolish people who give money to the homeless who beg in the intersections, even in my reduced circumstances. Even the homeless can give back, by paying an extra penny when they buy that cup of coffee at the doughnut shop, or sadly when they buy a 5th of alcohol that will send them into delirium. That extra penny will help pay for the salary of the deputy or firefighter who has to respond when that homeless person is in a medical crisis, or commits a petit crime. Or, if a mom (even a poor one) has the financial wherewithal to buy her kids candy and soft drinks, she can certainly afford to pay an extra penny to pay for the gym class her children will be sure to need, to work off the empty calories she permitted them to consume. And apartment dwellers, who can afford to dine out, or who can afford to meet friends for drinks after work, certainly can afford to help pay for the roads that helped convey them to their favorite watering hole.