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South Florida cities just say no to tax cut

In Palm Beach County, eight plan a higher property tax rate than the state mandated.

Associated Press
Published September 17, 2007

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WEST PALM BEACH - Some Palm Beach County cities are avoiding state-ordered budget cuts by not reducing property taxes required by the Legislature.

In all, eight of the county's 37 municipalities have said they are not going to lower their taxes as much as they were instructed, according to state records and an analysis by the Palm Beach Post.

The Legislature approved a $15.6-billion property tax relief package that requires most of the state's 67 counties and municipalities to cut their tax rates to the 2006 level and reduce property tax revenues by up to 9 percent.

However, the mandate allows local elected officials to override the law.

"I personally have been very surprised by how many local governments are overriding the cap," said Kurt Wenner, director of tax policy for Tallahassee-based TaxWatch. "What's more, I'm surprised that there seems to be little, if any, backlash for doing so."

After a first round of budget hearings earlier this month, the cities of Highland Beach, North Palm Beach, Riviera Beach, South Palm Beach, Lake Clarke Shores, Manalapan, Ocean Ridge and Lake Park indicated they plan to approve a higher tax rate than the state allows.

North Palm Beach officials say they may lower the property tax rate, but not as low as the state required.

"I think the unknown is certainly concerning to all of us," said Jimmy Knight, the town's manager.

Manalapan Town Manager Greg Dunham said that because much of the town's revenue depends largely on property taxes, the town can't cut too much.

"We've gone through a list of things that we've delayed or cut out. Next year we won't have those," Dunham said. "As a small city, we see next year as being more of a challenge."

[Last modified September 16, 2007, 22:48:54]

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