Palm Beach County’s penny tax, levied through sales tax on every dollar spent in the county, will end next year after county leaders agreed to let it lapse.
Commissioners and members of the Palm Beach County League of Cities in a joint meeting this week declined to bring to voters the prospect of renewing the tax, which funded infrastructure projects. They favored instead investment in transportation — potentially via another surtax.
The one-cent sales tax, approved by county voters eight years ago, brought in nearly $2.7 billion dollars. It will be allowed to expire in December 2025, as originally planned.
Commissioner Mack Bernard says the measure — combined with rising property taxes and insurance premiums — is not sustainable, saying “there's no real plan in regards to how we're going to use these dollars,” he said.
“A break to our constituents is what we need to do,” county commissioner Maria Marino added.
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Bernard, who is among county commissioners who supports the school district asking voters for a half penny surtax to pay for their infrastructure needs, said the county wants to give taxpayers a break from this specific sunsetting surtax.
“You can’t continue with taxes, and taxes, and taxes,” said Bernard, during an emotional exchange with Belle Glade Mayor Steve Wilson, who among smaller cities showed some support for surtax renewal.
A tax on every dollar spent
The local discretionary sales surtax was levied for a maximum of ten years and raised $400 million last year. It’s a regressive tax on county taxpayers, regardless of income. With a few exemptions, for every dollar spent on taxable items, one cent is added in sales tax. From the total collected, 50% of the surtax was allocated to the school district, 30% to the county and 20% to municipalities.
“At some point, if you say it’s going to be for 10 years, it’s gotta be for 10 years,” Bernard said.
Commissioner Sara Baxter said about 128 [infrastructure] projects out of more than 400 were currently completed. "We are eight years in. I can't see going to the voters really and being able to justify asking them to pay for another penny,” she said.
According to a provision in the current ordinance, the surtax is set to end early if $2.7 billion is collected prior to the 10-year sunset date.
Focus on a transportation surtax
While the consensus at the meeting was to not move forward with the discretionary sales tax, League officials, who represent 39 municipalities in Palm Beach County, underlined that a more comprehensive plan in the future to fund infrastructure projects is needed.
But county leaders expressed a desire to bring in a separate transportation surtax. Broward County voters approved a transportation surtax in 2018.
Commissioner Gregg Weiss, for example, wants to invest more on transportation projects to “absorb the [population] growth” and “economic development that we'd like to continue to have.”
Marci Woodward, who serves on the Palm Beach Transportation Planning Agency and Tri-Rail board, said the county needs to develop efficient ways to get people around. “We're talking about micro-mobility, bike lanes, and a number of different opportunities that this gives us flexibility to pursue,” Woodward said.
Todd Bonlarron, the assistant county administrator, said a transportation surtax would provide more opportunities for extra funding and resources, such as grants.
“Transportation surtaxes, when they're in place, are considered 'dedicated funding sources' for transportation purposes,” Bonlarron said. “Those are recognized by the state and the federal government.”
Leaders in smaller cities feel left out
Meanwhile, Mayor Chelsea Reed of Palm Beach Gardens pleaded with League officials to find ways to help smaller municipalities who often feel left out of infrastructure investment discussions.
"I would task our Palm Beach County League of Cities with making sure we take the time to reach out to the municipalities that are deeply affected by this to assure that we give you the support and information you need to go after grants for septic to sewer [systems] if it was on your list,” Reed said.
County commissioner Marci Woodward said League officials should work on a new comprehensive plan and information campaign in 2026 that addresses roads, bridges, centralized sewer systems as well as other projects for both smaller and large municipalities.
“They [residents] don’t care if it’s a city, county or state road,” Woodward said. "They want it to function. They want it to work. And that’s our responsibility together, to come together to make sure that happens," she said.
