State Rep. Anne Gerwig (R-District 93) presented the Royal Palm Beach Village Council with a legislative update at a meeting Thursday, July 16. Gerwig, who is wrapping up her first term in Tallahassee, sponsored and helped pass several bills.
During the last legislative session, many of Gerwig’s bills addressed affordability and safety. These included ones to make it easier and less expensive for former certified teachers to return to the classroom, align state standards for clinical laboratory workers with federal standards, standardize Palm Beach County at-home childcare regulations and shift the back-to-school sales tax holiday to run from July 20 through Aug. 20 to give parents more time to shop before school starts.
State lawmakers also considered e-bike safety legislation. Many local governments are looking to create regulations for e-bikes because of safety concerns among children. A bill made it past both chambers of the State Legislature but was vetoed by the governor.
Gerwig believes that the issue will be revisited next year and is hoping lawmakers will be able to create rules that could be implemented statewide.
“This needs a lot more regulation than what we have, and I think the state is the best place to do it, so that we don’t create little pockets of disregard for things,” she said.
Council members questioned Gerwig about what state lawmakers are doing about affordability and property tax reforms. She explained that while there are several factors that are contributing to higher costs, the “Save Our Homes from Excessive Property Taxes” amendment headed to voters in November is intended to give residents some relief.
“The affordability issue is across the board here,” Gerwig said. “It’s not just gas in our car; it’s not just food in the stores. It’s everything has become unaffordable.”
However, if at least 60 percent of voters support the amendment in November — the minimum necessary for it to pass — it will significantly increase homestead exemptions and, therefore, substantially reduce tax revenue that local governments can collect.
Ultimately, this will mean that many municipalities will have to find areas to cut costs and reduce services if they cannot replace the lost revenue. State lawmakers did propose increasing the state’s sales taxes to help governments fund services, but these plans did not make it to the final version of the amendment. Local governments could increase service charges or taxes in other areas, but that could lead to costs rising in other areas.
Gerwig was concerned about the implications of the amendment, but she reiterated that voters will have to decide whether they believe it is the right choice.
“I’m asking residents to really dig into this and take a look at it and make their decision,” Gerwig said. “We can deal with it. If you really need to be made whole, if you read it, it says you can still charge that money in a different way.”
