To My Fellow Palm Beach Countians

From the desk of Commissioner Abrams

Palm Beach County’s budget of over $3.9 billion was recently approved and included a tax increase that I did not vote for.   As your county commissioner, I remain committed to finding ongoing measures to reduce future spending.  It is my belief that more money in the pockets of our residents will help alleviate our economic condition.   

During the next year, I will work diligently on addressing various options that could streamline government services while reducing spending.  One recommendation that has proven successful in reducing expenditures is outsourcing.  The county recently outsourced workers’ compensation administrative functions, which will initially generate an estimated savings of approximately $400,000 annually. 

Another option is to outsource social services to local not-for-profit agencies.  These agencies run on shoestring budgets and are much more efficient in delivering certain critical services. 

At the same time, the current recession has increased the demand for numerous county services.    Currently, we require more law enforcement to deal with the increase in crime, and more code enforcement as abandoned properties go into disrepair.  The county’s social service agencies are also reporting a significant rise in the number of people seeking shelter, food and health care.

Another example is the county library system which recently reported a 49% increase in new cardholders.  Consequently, libraries are experiencing unprecedented usage of free services including rental items such as DVDs, CDs, books  and use of computers and internet/wi-fi access. 

In these challenging times, nearly every household, business and community in our country has had difficult decisions to make.  As I remain aware of the surrounding conditions that affect us, I welcome your comments and suggestions as we face future challenges together.