What happened: Palm Beach County residents could see changes in their tax bill after commissioners approved a new plan to fund the sheriff’s growing billion-dollar budget.
Background: During a meeting Tuesday, county commissioners voted 5-2 to adopt a municipal service taxing unit, a way to fund a particular service through taxes. This taxing unit would fund the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office’s services to the unincorporated parts of the county.
“I think the sheriff does a phenomenal job. I think his law enforcement services are top notch, and I think they will continue to be,” Commissioner Gregg Weiss said at Tuesday’s meeting.
“It’s a matter of how it’s funded and is it funded fairly throughout the county.” Currently, all county residents — whether they live in a municipality or not — pay taxes for all of the Sheriff’s Office’s services. Some are countywide, such as court services, the jail and the crime lab, and the Sheriff’s Office may provide backup to cities if needed.
With the new taxing unit, only residents living in unincorporated areas would pay for the law enforcement services the Sheriff’s Office provides to the unincorporated areas. Meanwhile, the services offered countywide by the Sheriff’s Office would remain funded by all residents across the county.
The decision was made as county officials have struggled to keep up with the Sheriff Office’s continual requests for hundred-million-dollar budget increases throughout the past five years, increases for which some commissioners believe lack transparency.
The available details are limited to the information verified at publication time. Readers should expect updates as the matter develops.
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Source: official sources including CBS12 News.
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