​County Libertarians Support Saving Residents Tax Money
VOTE NO on County Questions 1 and 2

The Libertarian Party of Palm Beach County (LP Palm Beach) supports saving Palm Beach County residents and tourists tax money they pay and suggests all registered voters vote “NO” on questions 1 and 2 in the general election on November 8, 2022. Both questions will affect how much county residents pay in taxes and voting “NO” will help to decrease the amount of taxes residents and tourists pay, keeping more money in their pocket to spend or save as they see fit. Higher taxes and more government spending will not make housing more affordable.

Question 1 on the ballot for Palm Beach County residents would cause $200,000,000 in new debt for the county government to construct “workforce housing.” A far better solution would be to have a Workforce Housing Tax Credit (WHTC) for the property taxes of low-income homeowners. “There is no need for the county government to obligate county taxpayers to the tune of $200 million in debt on this temporary problem,” said Karl Dickey, Chair of LP Palm Beach. “The county government needs to reduce county spending, reduce taxes, and reduce regulations to make housing more affordable. Instead, they are doing the complete opposite of what they should be doing. Having the county government step in will do nothing but muck up the problem further.” There are other methods to help low-income residents purchase and maintain their homes with existing state and federal incentives; however, that is outside the scope of what will be on the ballot for county residents this general election. 

Question 2 will be on the ballot for Palm Beach County residents to increase the millage on property taxes by 1 mill of ad valorem. One mil equals $1 for every $1,000 of taxable property value. The county is already collecting an extra 1% sales tax, which doesn’t roll off until 2026 for similar expenses, half of which goes to the county school system. This increase will adversely affect the poorest among us with this extra property tax, as renters are not as well protected as homeowners with homesteading protections. 
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The Palm Beach County School system has enough funds from federal, state, and county sources to pay for school safety, teachers, and operational needs. We look forward to 2026 when the county returns to a 6% sales tax as the 7% sales tax as the 1% surtax rolls off, as  the extra sales tax adversely hurts the poorest among us. We do not need to continue paying more taxes when the county coffers are full of adequate reserves.

Press Release: September 26, 2022