Stet NewsGood morning, Stet readers. How do today’s stories add up? More residents, more tax money, fewer voters and less music.
Shrinking voter rolls
The number of registered voters in Florida has gone up every four years since 1980.
That pattern is ending in 2024.
Even as the state’s population rose by 5 percent since 2020, the number of active registered voters in the state has declined by nearly 10 percent since the last presidential election, state voter registration data shows.
Zoom in: Palm Beach County surpassed 1 million registered voters for the 2020 presidential election. It is heading into the Aug. 20 primary and the Nov. 5 election with 854,000 registered voters.
Why it’s important: The reductions follow a Republican-led crackdown to stop ineligible voters from casting ballots. New laws enacted in recent years sped up deadlines for removing inactive voters — those who have moved or died.
If you haven’t voted since before the 2020 presidential election you have 30 days to respond to a letter from the local supervisor of elections or be moved to “inactive status.”
In Democratic-leaning Palm Beach County, it has meant a drop since last July in the percentage of voters who are Democrats, from 38.6% to 37.5%. Republicans rose from 29.6% to 31.7%.
More data: Since July 2023, 110,000 county voters were declared inactive, data posted by the county elections supervisor shows. About 40% were Democrats and 22% were Republicans. The rest were no-party affiliation or belonged to minor parties.
Republican growth: Registered Republicans surpassed registered Democrats in Florida in November 2021 by a small margin, a gap that has grown to nearly 1 million since.Subscribe
Flashback: In 1980, Democrats surpassed Republicans in Florida by 1.6 million.
On the plus side: There’s still time to register. Deadline for the Aug. 20 primary is July 22. Deadline for the Nov. 5 presidential election is Oct. 7.
Palm Beach County residents can register to vote here, check their voting status here and update their address or political party here.
More reading
Florida Bulldog, “Election integrity or voter suppression? Florida has 1 million fewer voters in 2023,” here.
South Florida Sun-Sentinel ($$$), “What happened to thousands of voters? Registrations suddenly drop in Broward, Palm Beach counties,” here.
PolitiFact and WLRN, “TikTok video falsely links removal of Florida voters and abortion amendment,” here.
💰 Proposed county budget
Palm Beach County commissioners ushered in the budget season July 2 by setting the county’s maximum tax rate at the same level as last year, $4.50 per $1,000 of taxable value.
Why that’s important: It means most property owners would pay more in taxes. Commissioners can still lower the rate but have little power to raise it.
At $4.50, the county would raise $1.4 billion in property taxes, $125 million more than last year, a 9.5 percent hike.
If the county rolled back its tax rate to be revenue neutral, as defined in state law, the rate would be $4.16 and bring in $106.8 million less.
Zoom in: The owner of a homesteaded $201,500 home, the countywide median assessed value, would pay $27 more in county property taxes next year if the rate remains unchanged, the county said.
The tax rate would support adding 33 employees to bring the county workforce to 3,642, including 11 new positions in facilities, six in parks and four in public safety. It also covers the sheriff’s $952 million budget, which adds 16 positions to total 4,505.
Details of the county’s $8.99 billion proposed budget can be found here.
Booming values: Property values rose 10 percent countywide, meaning most property owners will pay more, even if the tax rate remains unchanged. County Administrator Verdenia Baker warns that cutting the rate too much now could endanger the county when the housing boom subsides.
Of note: Commissioners approved a revenue-neutral reduction in the tax rate for the Jupiter Fire-Rescue taxing district. The town cited rising taxes last year when it decided to pull out of the district in three years and start its own fire department.
Other agencies, such as the school district and city governments, contribute to the total tax bill. They’ll be setting maximum rates this month as well.
What they’re saying: Vice Mayor Maria Marino, who championed a 5 percent rate cut last year, noted that the commission can still reduce the rate before September budget hearings.
🪴 How we are growing
Five interesting things we found in the U.S. Census 2023 population estimate released in the spring:
- Palm Beach County grew by nearly 1 percent or almost 14,000 people from July 2022 to July 2023. Since 2020, we’re up about 2.5 percent.
- If you are asked to recite the county’s population, you can confidently estimate it at 1.53 million.
- PBC’s newest city, Westlake, is the county’s fastest-growing by percentage, with a population of 5,999 in 2023, up more than 40% from the year before. Westlake is a Minto housing development expected to top out at 11,000 exurbanites.
- Among larger Palm Beach County municipalities, West Palm Beach saw the most growth, clocking in at 124,130 residents, with 3,198 new neighbors putting out welcome mats since the previous year.
- West Palm Beach’s population has increased more than 5 percent since 2020, most notably downtown, where former Downtown Development Authority Executive Director Raphael Clemente estimates the population has ballooned from 2,500 city dwellers to 10,000.
- Context: The Orchid City doesn’t crack the top 15 most populous cities in Florida.
🕰️ Flashback: As Stet News reported in March, Palm Beach County’s population slipped to No. 4 in Florida behind Miami-Dade, Broward and Hillsborough counties.
➡️ What we’re watching: Riviera Beach. The coastal city added an estimated 1,000 residents since 2020, putting it at 38,663 — No. 11 and just behind Royal Palm Beach.
🍊 The juice
🛣️ Stet News told you in March about the clash between cities and counties over road impact fees, a fee charged to developers for new construction. A compromise bill passed in early March. It became law June 27, when Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the committee substitute for HB 479. Now, cities and counties must negotiate on how to spend the money, a decision that previously had been solely the county’s.
🚛 Santa Rosa County commissioners approved the sale of 50 acres for $1,000 to Riviera Beach-based food distributor Cheney Bros. A 350,000-square-foot manufacturing and distribution hub is planned. (Florida Trend and Pensacola News Journal)
🛢️ The fake oilman who won friends at the National Croquet Club. (A long read in The New Yorker)
🍦A visit to Florida’s only free-standing Carvel Ice Cream Shop. (Palm Beach Illustrated)
🐶 Jupiter’s dog beach is No. 1 in a reader poll of the best dog-friendly beaches in the United States. (USA Today)
🎻 561 insider: Why you should take in some classical music this month
For decades, the Palm Beach Chamber Music Festival enlivened four of the dullest weekends of summer with masterful performances of classical works.
Why it’s important: The festival is winding down this month.
- The COVID-19 pandemic and the associated loss of revenue, as well as the grind of producing four July weekends of concerts, drove the decision, Palm Beach ArtsPaper’s Greg Stepanich reported last week.
What makes the festival special: It’s run by the musicians. They choose the works, and the players rehearse and perform without a conductor.
What they’re saying: “It worked to the degree it worked because the emphasis was on the music,” clarinetist Michael Forte told Stet News. He founded the festival in 1992 with flutist Karen Fuller and bassoonist Michael Ellert. “It was a nice opportunity to do everything in a democratic way.”
- “As Greg wrote, ‘It’s not just another gig.’”
The final programs will be July 19 at Lakeside Presbyterian Church in West Palm Beach; July 20 at First Presbyterian Church in North Palm Beach; and July 21 at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Delray Beach.
Ticket information is here.
Read The ArtsPaper’s interview with the co-founders here.
