31 Jan $150M referendum for environmental projects inches ahead
County voters may vote on a 20-year bond this year
By Hannah Morse
Courtesy of the Palm Beach Post
Come August, or maybe November, Palm Beach County voters may be asked to decide on a 20-year, $150-million bond to support environmental projects.
County commissioners on Tuesday nudged the needle forward on the proposal made by Mayor Dave Kerner in November. But a final decision, such as when the bond would appear on a ballot, has yet to be made.
If approved, taxpayers would shell out $4.84 per year on $100,000 of taxable property, or $12.10 per year for $250,000 of taxable property.
Palm Beach County residents are currently paying five “general obligation” bonds for projects such as library and cultural facilities. One of those bonds, for purchasing environmentally sensitive lands, costs taxpayers $3.96 per year on $100,000 of taxable property but will conclude in June.
A list of potential projects presented to commissioners for a new bond issue covered four areas: restoration of critical waterways like the Lake Worth Lagoon and Loxahatchee River; water supply storage; water quality improvement; and public access. But Deborah Drum, director of Palm Beach County Environmental Resources Management, cautioned that commissioners that “some may or may not be able to come to fruition.”
“In reality, we probably could have identified many hundreds of millions of dollars more,” Drum said. “These were the most critical projects we thought we were facing right now.”
The bond proposal received praise from the Everglades Law Center and Drew Bartlett, executive director of the South Florida Water Management District, who said the list included “meaningful projects.”
“Having clean and healthy water is critical to our economy in Palm Beach County,” said Lisa Interlandi, executive director of the law center.
But the workshop hit snags when Commissioner Mack Bernard said he was concerned that creating an environmental bond referendum would give the appearance that Palm Beach County puts more emphasis on the environment over other issues like housing and homelessness.
“I feel like this is basically changing that discussion (of priorities), to say that this is going to be our first priority and to not address our other major needs of this county,” he said.
He also expressed frustration that cities in his district, as well as members of the business community and minority groups, weren’t consulted in this process and slammed the lack of diversity among those involved in these discussions.
“If it’s going to be a tax on the taxpayers of this county, everybody needs to buy in,” Bernard said.
Drum said Sustainable Palm Beach County — a nonprofit led by Karen Marcus, a former term-limited county commissioner who is currently running for her old seat — was an “integral” part of the process in developing the bond, and that other environmental groups were consulted.
Chip Block, vice-mayor of Jupiter Inlet Colony and vice president of Sustainable Palm Beach County, said it wouldn’t make sense to reach out to chambers of commerce this early in the process.
“The process here was for the water nerds to put something together that made some kind of sense that established some sort of priority,” Block said, adding that “the time will come” to reach out to other non-environmental organizations.
Glades community advocate Tammy Jackson-Moore disagreed.
“$150 million is a lot of money when we have a myriad of issues that the residents in this county are dealing with on a daily basis,” she said. “We cannot afford to exclude stakeholder groups from this conversation.”
Kerner responded by apologizing to the groups and individuals who felt left out of the process, and said he didn’t think that having an environmental bond would “negate the concern … and passion” to address other pertinent county issues.
“I’m unwilling to just sit by and not engage on the issue of the environment because I believe we’re running out of time,” he said.