Joel Engelhardt | Stet News

Palm Beach County’s unremitting growth and a relentless surge in property values are fueling a $457 million increase in local government tax collections for the upcoming year, data analyzed by Stet News shows.

In a stunning setback after the fiscal year began July 1, the Florida Department of Transportation cut the money it pays to maintain and operate 80 miles of track for Amtrak passenger trains, CSX freight trains and the Tri-Rail South Florida commuter service.

For years, Palm Beach Gardens has stood alone among cities trying to redefine county rules for collecting and spending money from developers to pay for roads. Last month, the city suffered a setback in its four-year legal battle with Palm Beach County. A judge threw out a 2023 challenge that the city had used to justify its refusal to pay the county $3.1 million in fees it collected but didn’t share with the county.

To anyone living in Palm Beach County, it has become clear that rapid growth means more traffic and fewer ways to get around. Growth expected to increase demand for buses and trains; plan to make case for taxpayer support.

The first railroad quiet zone in north county quietly went into effect Thursday in Palm Beach Gardens. After more than two years working to meet stringent federal safety standards at a cost of $125,000, city officials announced July 22 on the city website that the milestone had been achieved.

To anyone living in Palm Beach County, it has become clear that rapid growth means more traffic and fewer ways to get around. Welcome to the countywide transportation master plan.

Palm Beach County’s lawsuit against Palm Beach Gardens over impact fees is in its fifth year and showing no signs of abating.

Larry Robbins doesn’t play goalie but the billionaire hockey fan and philanthropist may have just made his greatest save. Robbins pledged $41.5 million to meet a July 3 deadline to line up the financing and start construction of a two-rink ice complex at Plant Drive Park in Palm Beach Gardens.

The Health Care District of Palm Beach County agreed to pay $16.7 million, 32 percent above appraised value, to build a crisis stabilization center at 100 N. Benoist Farms Road.

As experts predicted, the nearly double-digit increases in the Palm Beach County tax rolls slowed this year after a three-year ride. Property values rose 7.7% countywide, a slower increase than in the past three years.

A task force reduced the field of nearly 100 applicants for Palm Beach County administrator to seven last week, providing a look at the arguments likely to shape the debate over who should get the $400,000-a-year job.

West Palm Beach officials have long argued against the extension — alongside the Ibis Golf and Country Club — on environmental grounds, fearing the four-lane roadway would harm the neighboring Grassy Waters Preserve, a 23-square-mile preserve that holds city drinking water before it is treated.