2020 Budget Workshop on June 10

The proposed county budget for FY 2020 will be presented at the June 10 BCC workshop at 6:00PM.

It is a budget not unlike the last few years, with flat millage (with rising valuations), 3% COLA increases across the board and a tax increase over the previous year about 5.5%.

Total County-wide tax is up $49.1M to $947M, on top of the penny sales tax (infrastructure surcharge) of another $73M.

For some perspective, during the time of flat millage (2012-2020), the ad-valorem tax per capita in Palm Beach County rose from $505 to $652, a 29% increase during a time of 10% inflation.

Some items of interest:

1. Valuations are estimated at about $198 billion, up about 5.3% over  a year ago.
2. With flat millage (4.7815), this valuation will generate $947 Million in ad-valorem taxes, up $49.1M (5.5%) over last year.
3. There will be 170 new BCC funded positions, 32 of them ad-valorem funded.
4. General Fund reserves are being increased to $154M, 10.4% of general fund revenues (was $131M, so up 18% over last year)
5. A 3% COLA for all BCC employees will cost $6.7M.  This is the sixth year in a row – a 19% across-the-board raise over 6 years. During the same period, inflation was just shy of 10%.
6. The Sheriff will see a $38.2M ad-valorem increase, which is a net $47.7M (+4.7%) considering carry-forwards and increased revenue. This includes money for 10 new deputies
7. Library and Fire/Rescue will also see flat millage, yielding increases of $3.0M and $14.8M respectively.
8. Palm Tran is seeing a big boost of $15M (11%), 9.9M of that from ad-valorem.

The BCC priorities were funded, with $52M for Housing/Homelessness, and $2.6M for substance use and behavior disorders.

Last year the supervisor of elections, which has had a flat budget in the $10M range over the 5 years saw a 142% increase to $22M.  This was for equipment upgrades getting ready for the 2020 election, and this year’s budget has been decreased by about $4M to $17M – still high by historical standards.