Stet NewsIt’s beginning to feel a bit less like summer. For you today: Local governments commit to tax rates, Riviera Beach commits to drinkable water, FoundCare commits to expansion, transportation consultants commit to listening and Rodney Mayo commits to Indian food. Plus, abundant Juice.
💰Countywide property tax bill: $6.5 billion
Local governments in Palm Beach County are poised to collect $6.5 billion in property taxes next year, data analyzed by Stet News shows.
- That’s nearly a half-billion more than this year.
Why it matters: Municipalities are wary of cutting tax rates during good times, fearing it will be hard to raise them when times are bad. But they face pressure this year from Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has suggested eliminating property taxes and has created a team of state auditors who have been reviewing local spending under the Florida DOGE initiative.
- The Republican Party of Florida has put out a website urging towns to go to “#RollbackNOW” to “provide immediate property tax relief to hardworking Floridians.”
Catch up quick: If governments “go to rollback,” they’ll be lowering the tax rate to raise the same amount next year as this year. In Palm Beach County, just two municipalities are going to rollback, South Palm Beach and Palm Springs.
The tax rate will remain flat for the county, the school district and most cities. But property owners will pay more because values are rising. The local governments also benefit from an upsurge in new construction.
- Eighty percent of the county’s new construction, $4.4 billion, is residential. A third of those 3,401 homes are valued at more than $1 million, property appraiser figures show.
- The new construction propelled the county’s taxable value to $342 billion. That’s 63% higher than 2020.
- In Palm Beach Gardens, 571 new homes worth a combined $620 million went on the tax rolls this year, an average of more than $1 million per home.
- Westlake had 557 new homes, none worth more than $1 million. Still, they brought $270 million in new value to the county’s newest city, $485,000 on average per home.
Zoom out: Most local governments are proposing a tax rate that is, on average, 7% above rollback.
- Palm Beach County plans to collect $1.5 billion in property taxes with another $612 million coming in from special taxing districts for fire-rescue and libraries in select areas.
- Cities that would see the greatest increase in tax collections over the previous year are West Palm Beach ($17.8 million increase), Delray Beach ($14.3 million), Boca Raton ($9.9 million), Palm Beach Gardens ($9.6 million), Palm Beach ($6.6 million), Riviera Beach ($5.9 million), Boynton Beach ($5.1 million), Jupiter ($2.9 million), Wellington ($2.2 million) and North Palm Beach ($1.7 million).
What’s next: Municipalities will vote on tax rates twice at public hearings in September. They are blocked by state law from raising the rate beyond the number sent to property owners in TRIM notices last month but they can still lower it.
Read more: See how much cities and special districts expect to get from property taxes at StetNews.org.
— Joel Engelhardt
🚀 Riviera Beach launches $400 million water plant
Riviera Beach leaders took a major step last month to launch construction of a $400 million water plant and to shore up its faltering drinking water system.
Why it matters: Last year, the city was fined more than $1.2 million for violating Florida Department of Health water standards.
Driving the news: At an Aug. 20 meeting, City Council members serving as the Utility District Board approved spending:
- $28.4 million for the drilling of a deep-injection well to serve the new plant to be built at Blue Heron Boulevard and Avenue L.
- $4 million for New Port Richey-based consultant U.S. Water Services, which had been running the city’s 1958 water plant, to complete repairs and maintenance work.
What they’re saying: “What the board did tonight was pretty monumental for this city,” Council Member Glen Spiritis said after the votes.
In the wake of last year’s water troubles, the city has hired a utility director, Joshua Niemann.
- Niemann joined the city in June from Deerfield Beach, where he was assistant director of environmental services.
His challenges include:
- Keeping the aging lime-softening water plant running until the completion of a new plant.
- Reducing sediment in city drinking water.
- Getting most of the city’s drinking water wells in working order.
- Rebuilding community trust damaged after the departure of his predecessor and top staffers in light of last year’s water-testing scandal.
Keep reading to learnwhat the city is doing to rebuild that trust at StetNews.org.
— Carolyn DiPaolo
🏥 FoundCare expands medical services in West Palm and Riviera
It’s been a busy summer at FoundCare, the nonprofit health center devoted to providing medical services to people in need.
Last month, FoundCare and The Promise Fund opened an expanded women’s health program at the Yolette Bonnet Center on Okeechobee Boulevard in West Palm Beach.
This initiative provides mammography and diagnostic imaging, building on the success of FoundCare’s Palm Springs program, which the center’s leaders say has served more than 10,000 women since 2020.
In June, FoundCare and the city of Riviera Beach celebrated the opening of a 20,000-square-foot health center at 3501 Broadway.
Riviera Beach donated 2.5 acres for the new building, which has space set aside for small businesses.The $11.2 million health center provides medical, dental, vision and behavioral health care.
Why it matters: At the ribbon-cutting, CEO Christopher Irizarry told WPTV that FoundCare learned the life expectancy in Riviera Beach ZIP codes is 69 years compared to 82 years in the rest of the county.
Before the opening, about 6,000 people who live in Riviera Beach traveled to other FoundCare locations for care.
In West Palm Beach, The Yolette Bonnet Center is scheduling appointments and expects to serve seven to 10 patients each day during its first weeks of operation.
Medical providers will follow a model developed by The Promise Fund that tracks a patient from screening to follow-up care.
Catch up quick: The Promise Fund was founded by former U.S. diplomat Nancy Brinker. She is also the founder of the well-known Susan G. Komen foundation and Race for the Cure in honor of her sister, who died of breast cancer at age 36.
Brinker launched The Promise Fund to help all women have access to life-saving care.
Flashback: FoundCare traces its origins to a grant in 1985 from what was then the Community Foundation of Palm Beach County to launch an AIDS information hotline under the auspices of Hospice of Palm Beach County.
The following year, the organization became the Comprehensive AIDS Program of Palm Beach County or CAP to serve AIDS patients.The organization has evolved into a federally qualified health center. FoundCare accepts insurance and offers care to patients without insurance on a sliding scale based on family size and income.
Call 561-432-5849 or visit foundcare.org to schedule an appointment at a FoundCare clinic.
Share this story here.
— Carolyn DiPaolo
📣 Listening tour: Sound off about transportation
Consultants hired to write a transportation master plan for Palm Beach County want to know what you think.
They are inviting residents to sound off about traffic and other transportation needs with eight public sessions over the next weeks.
Why it’s important: The county has never had a transportation master plan. Facing huge expenses for roads and mass transit, including a coastal commuter train, county commissioners engaged with the county’s 39 cities and selected the international engineering and planning conglomerate WSP to write the plan.
They’ve created a website at PBCMoves.com.
Find a meeting to attend:
Wednesday, Sept. 10
- Noon to 2 pm: Palm Beach Gardens Branch Library, 11303 Campus Drive, Palm Beach Gardens.
- 6 to 8 pm: Palm Beach State College, Loxahatchee Campus, 15845 Southern Blvd., Loxahatchee.
Thursday, Sept. 11
- Noon to 2 pm: Palm Beach County Main Library, 3650 Summit Blvd., West Palm Beach.
- 5 to 7 pm: Arts Garage, 94 NE Second Ave., Delray Beach.
Wednesday, Sept. 17
- 1 to 3 pm: Canyon Branch Library, 8915 Senator Joe Abruzzo Ave., Boynton Beach.
- 6 to 8 pm: Government Center Chambers, 301 N. Olive Ave., West Palm Beach.
Thursday, Sept. 18
- 2 to 4 pm: Riviera Beach CRA Community Center Clean and Safe Office, 1229 E. Blue Heron Blvd., Riviera Beach.
- 6 to 8 pm: Palm Beach County Vista Center offices, Hearing Room 47, 2300 N. Jog Road, West Palm Beach.
Residents can submit their comments online as well at the PBCMoves website.
Share this story at StetNews.org.
— Joel Engelhardt
🍊 The Juice
📝 “Nobody on their deathbed ever said they wished they had spent more time at the office,” Frank Cerabino writes in his farewell column. As Stet News reported Aug. 15, Cerabino at age 70 is among a handful of veteran local staffers who took a buyout from The Palm Beach Post’s corporate parent, Gannett, effective this month. (The Palm Beach Post $$$)
🗣️ Lake Worth Beach Mayor Betty Resch found that City Commissioner Chris McVoy “crossed a line” last month when he made a “pay to play” remark that she and other commissioners interpreted as a “direct accusation” that they were “taking bribes from developers.’’ (Lake Worth Beach Independent $$$)
Daphne Taylor, a Riviera Beach native and longtime South Florida journalist, is remembered for her ability to get “the story behind the story” and as “a giant in this community.” She died Sept. 1 at 63. (WPBF Channel 25)
📈 Nearly 50 people with connections to Florida Power & Light Co. testified in support of rate hikes at 10 hearings across the state. They are from foundations, charities, chambers of commerce and other organizations that have been the beneficiary of support from FPL. (Tampa Bay Times $$$)
⚾️ West Palm Beach resident Drew Feltwell ended up in a viral video Friday when the Philadelphia Phillies fan came out of a crowd in the left-field stands at the Marlins ballpark with a home-run ball and handed it to his 10-year-old son, Lincoln. A woman emerged from the scrum and demanded the ball. Drew took it from his son and handed it to her, prompting outrage when the video went viral. (NBCPhiladelphia.com)
🚫 Delray Beach raised parking fees in downtown city garages in part to push back against people living out of their cars there. (The Coastal Star)
⚖️ U.S. Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick filed a $1 million defamation lawsuit against her 26-year-old challenger for the Democratic nomination in Congressional District 20, Elijah Manley. (Sun-Sentinel)
🎙️West Palm Beach invites comments at two virtual public meetings next week as part of a study to determine whether minority-owned and women-owned businesses have equitable access to city contracts. The meetings, coming at a time when such studies are attracting federal and state criticism, are 6 pm Tuesday, Sept. 16, and noon Thursday, Sept. 18. Register here.
- The city is also accepting answers to a survey here. (Office of the mayor)
👋 New Clerk and Comptroller Mike Caruso, Sheriff Ric Bradshaw, State Attorney Alexcia Cox and Public Defender Daniel Eisinger will be at the Boynton Beach City Hall for a meet and greet with the public from 10 to 11:30 am Saturday, Sept. 20. (Clerk’s office)
🎧 “Top of Mind Florida,” the podcast by Michael Williams and Brian Crowley, talks about immigration and deportation with longtime Florida agriculture champion, Glades advocate and conservative voice, David Goodlett. (Listen here; watch after 4 pm Wednesday)
561NSIDER 🥣 New downtown: Chhauka owner wants to go beyond the typical Indian menu
The Southern-inspired Sassafras in downtown West Palm Beach will soon become the regional-Indian Chhauka.
What’s happening: Rodney Mayo, head of Subculture Group, has joined with Miami restaurateur Pravin Mascarenhas to bring Indian cuisine to 105 S. Narcissus Ave.
- Mascarenhas will be the owner-operator of Chhauka Modern Indian Kitchen and Bar, and he has tapped a former partner and eight-time Michelin chef, Hemant Mathur, to create the menu that will represent several lesser-known regions of India.
Who’s who: Mathur, the first Indian chef awarded the Michelin star in North America, is most known in Florida for the popular Masca in North Miami. His base is New York City, where he runs a successful catering company as well as Saar Indian Cuisine and Bar, and the now-closed Devi, where the Jaipur native won his first star. He’s won seven times since.
The intrigue: Chhauka loosely translates from Hindi to “seasoning” or “spicing up,” Mascarenhas said. “It is a word you use in the household kitchen: Indian mothers, tempering or seasoning the food. They say, ‘Shall I chhauka the dish?’”
Diners can expect Coorgi pork, an aromatic, slow-cooked pork curry; fish pulimunchi, a spicy curry; and sukka mutton, a dry curry with onions. “From Goa, we would introduce dishes like Chorizo Pau, recheado fish fry and Xacuti chicken.”
Mascarenhas mentions a popular fun dish on the menu at Masca he will bring to West Palm — pani puri shots.
- “It’s a whole wheat puffed crisp, served with a flavored water. We will serve three different waters — tamarind, mango and a cilantro-garlic.”
Dishes will be shareable, but small plates and larger entrees will be presented as well.
What’s next: The restaurant is expected to open mid to late October for dinner, and expand service soon after.
Keep reading to learn about events planned at the restaurant at StetNews.org.
— Jan Norris
Your Stet News had a good night during the weekend at the Florida Society for Professional Journalism Sunshine State Awards.
- First place in community news for Joel Engelhardt’s Juno Beach coverage.
- Finalist for best news website — independent.
- Finalist for best digital newsletter.
Here’s a list of all the winners. And thank you for supporting local journalism.
And thanks to an old photo recently rediscovered, Joel recalls that yesterday marked the 50th anniversary of the day he carried the golf bag for 18 holes of golf for Chicago Cubs legendary first baseman Ernie Banks. Needless to say, Ernie was ready to go another 18!
