Palm Beach County voters OK tax cut and millions for parks, libraries
Palm Beach County voters supported a measure Nov. 3 that will slash property taxes while overwhelmingly approving tax increases to fund more than $400 million in l ibrary and park improvements. Amendment 3, the statewide referendum that significantly increases the homestead property tax exemption, passed in Palm Beach County by 20 percentage points. At the same time, county voters approved a $285 million parks bond and a $175 million library bond by nearly 2-to-1 margins. "It is great that voters recognized the need for improvements to our parks and libraries," said County Commissioner Maria Marino. "But now we have to figure out how to keep these buildings open once they are built." John Chrastka, executive director of Chicago-based EveryLibrary, a nonprofit that helped the county library system design a campaign, said the juxtaposition of dual approvals for a property tax cut and a bond is not the contradiction it appears to be. More: Palm Beach County voters could approve $150 million for a new main library “People value what libraries offer and were willing to approve the county bond even though many also voted for Amendment 3,” Chrastka said, noting Amendment 3 passed because of overall distrust of government. “The
Palm Beach County, FL · 3d
