Just because Palm Beach County’s Democratic Party gave its blessing to a 14.9 percent countywide property tax rate hike doesn’t mean all Democratic candidates are on board.

“A 15 percent increase in the tax rate is unconscionable in the kind of economy we’re in right now,” said state Rep. Mary Brandenburg, D-West Palm Beach, who’s running next year for the District 2 commission seat of term-limited Jeff Koons.

Brandenburg said commissioners should have “looked hard” at keeping the rate at this year’s level of $3.78 per $1,000 of appraised value rather than casting a preliminary vote Tuesday to jack it up to $4.34.

The Palm Beach County Democratic Executive Committee passed a resolution supporting the $4.34 rate and Democratic Committeewoman Bunny Steinman spoke in favor of it at Tuesday’s commission hearing. Commissioners voted 5-2 for the rate, with Democrat Shelley Vana and Republican Steven Abrams opposed. Vana and Abrams favored a $4.29 rate.

Brandenburg’s Democratic primary rival, school board member Paulette Burdick, also called the $4.34 rate excessive. She said she would have joined Abrams and Vana in supporting a $4.29 rate instead.

On the school board Wednesday, Burdick was the lone vote against hiking the school tax rate by 10 percent, from $7.25 to $7.98. Burdick said afterward she favored a $7.73 rate.

Elissa Pearl, the Democrat who has opened a campaign for the District 6 commission seat of Jess Santamaria, didn’t embrace the $4.34 rate but stopped short of criticizing it.

“If I were on the commission, I could only imagine what a tough vote this was. By representing District 6, my job will be to represent ALL of my constituents, and as a moderate, pro-business Democrat I would only consider a tax increase as an absolute LAST resort,” Pearl said in an e-mail.

District 6 commissioner Santamaria, a Democrat, hasn’t said whether he’ll run next year. Santamaria was part of the 5-2 majority supporting the 14.9 percent rate hike.

Tags: Bunny Steinman, Elissa Pearl, Jeff Koons, Jess Santamaria, Mary Brandenburg, Paulette Burdick

This entry was posted on Friday, September 11th, 2009 at 1:04 pm and is filed under 2010 campaigns, Democrats, George Bennett, Palm Beach County commission, Property taxes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.