New Palm Beach Financial Report Released

According to Lew Crampton, Special Writer for the Palm Beach Daily News and member of the Palm Beach Town Council, the Town’s recent financial report brings good news to residents of Palm Beach.

The recent Dashboard report gives the town’s financial results for October 2017 through September 2018. The intent of the Dashboard reports is to keep Palm Beach residents updated about figures that impact their tax dollars.

These quarterly reports are the result of a promise that Crampton made when running for Palm Beach Town Council in 2018. Crampton said that, if elected, he would make town finances more transparent to residents. After winning the election, Crampton has kept his promise in the form of these reports as well as the creation of the Town’s Finance Department website, as reported by the Palm Beach Daily News.

Last year in Palm Beach, the Town finished with a surplus of over $6 million, resulting in a total of $23 million in unassigned surplus funds. Additionally, property values have increased year-over-year by 7.75 percent to more than $18.2 billion.

New Palm Beach Financial Report Released

In FY 18, the market value of the net assets in the Town of Palm Beach’s pension trust funds were less than $210 million. In FY 18, they increased to $220 million due partly to a pension fund return of 7.5 percent. This return percentage exceeded the Town’s investment return prediction by 0.2 percent.

Government agencies have reportedly approved over $25 million for sand replacement at Midtown [Beach]. These approvals mean that federal and state cost-sharing will cover about half of the cost to to construct both Midtown and Phipps [Ocean Park].

Related >>> Town of Palm Beach Undergrounding Project Update

Palm Beach faces a challenge in the form of the over-budget underground utility project in the Town. The cost has now been increased to $103.5 million, $4.4 million higher than the engineer’s estimate and $13 million higher than the amount approved by voters in 2016.

The Dashboard report is available on the Town’s website. According to Crampton, everyone “in [Palm Beach] Town government believe that the quarterly Dashboard Report constitutes an important initial step in increased transparency and communications about town finances that Palm Beach residents deserve.”