Time to Get Serious With the Palm Beach County Budget

County commission candidate suggests serious cuts in county budget and a cut in commissioner salaries

Boca Raton, FL – Palm Beach County commission candidate, Karl Dickey has been pressing the Board of Commissioners to heed a more conservative fiscal budget for years. Unfortunately the commissioners continue to have trouble saying “NO” to those coming before the commission with their hand out.

      Mr. Dickey said this morning, “Our county administrator, Bob Weisman, has been trying for the last four years to get the commission to cut the budget. You really have to have sympathy for Mr. Weisman. He has literally begged commissioners during public meetings to reduce the county budget, however we continually see people and special interests lined  up asking for money and shockingly, the commissioners dole it out. It is time each and every department, including the Sherriff’s office, participate in the needed cuts for the 2011 budget. It will not be pleasant or easy, but it must be done. I have not been overly impressed with recent budget workshops and strongly feel they should be held in the evening so the public can have greater participation.”

      Karl Dickey suggests selling off the North County and the Pahokee airports, reduce the Sherriff’s office budget by $25M in 2011, reduce the community services budget by $10M, end new jail expansion, reduce commissioner salaries to $60k, close the lobbying office, and many more.

      To attract more business and increase jobs, the county government should adopt more libertarian principles, thereby reducing the “red tape” many businesses face when setting up shop. The county could easily become a haven for those individuals and businesses seeking a place to live and operate where the taxes are low and the government is not all-encompassing.

      During the “good times” Palm Beach County commissioners forced taxpayers into a situation where multi-year obligations must be met making it difficult to cut the budget substantially, however it is not impossible. The multi-year obligations are for projects that produce nothing and often cost taxpayers either directly or via lost opportunities. Mr. Dickey has outlined a few improvements for the 2011 budget here and will offer more substantial budget recommendations in the future.

      The county government should not have created the boondoggles such as Mecca Farms and the endless tax subsidies doled out to large businesses and organizations.

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paid for and approved by karl dickey, libertarian for palm beach county commission, district 4