Palm Beach County leaders are considering creating a municipal service taxing unit (MSTU) dedicated to funding law enforcement services that could show up on your tax bill in the future.
The Palm Beach County Commission considered a new ordinance to create the MSTU for its preliminary reading at a meeting Tuesday, July 14. The ordinance would not establish the new MSTU tax rate. Instead, it would create the MSTU and allow commissioners to decide whether to begin funding it during the Fiscal Year 2028 budget process.
If approved, it would apply to all unincorporated areas of Palm Beach County, which primarily receive law enforcement services from the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office (PBSO). Commissioners will levy a yet-to-be-decided millage rate, with all revenue generated from it used to fund those services.
Despite being designed to mainly apply to unincorporated parts of the county, municipalities may also opt into the MSTU.
“Depending on the outcome of the second reading, if it’s in the affirmative, we have a whole year to work with cities and municipalities to get it in line, or if they’re going to come with us in the beginning or not,” County Administrator Joseph Abruzzo said.
Many residents in municipalities and unincorporated areas of the county already pay taxes to an MSTU to fund services provided by Palm Beach County Fire-Rescue. The ordinance will similarly create a taxing unit specifically for county law enforcement.
Currently, several municipalities without their own dedicated law enforcement agencies contract with the PBSO for their services, including Wellington, Royal Palm Beach and Westlake. Loxahatchee Groves is currently fighting with the PBSO over its contract. If municipalities opt into the MSTU, it could replace their existing contracts with the PBSO.
For a municipality to opt into the MSTU, it would need to fit the additional millage rate within the 10-mill state constitutional cap the county can levy. Municipalities where the county’s applicable rates are near the 10-mill constitutional limit may be unable to opt into the law enforcement MSTU unless other county tax rates are reduced.
However, staff added, if implemented, municipalities could see a significant decrease in the general fund millage rate because they would not need to contract with the PBSO anymore.
Commissioner Gregg Weiss supported the ordinance because he believes wealthier municipalities with their own police departments subsidize law enforcement services for unincorporated areas through paying county taxes. He argued that the MSTU should shift the tax burden to people who rely on county law enforcement.
“[The MSTU] makes people, or it requires people, who use a service, to fund that service and not rely on their neighbors,” Weiss said.
Palm Beach County Mayor Sara Baxter and Commissioner Maria Sachs, who represent districts with large unincorporated areas, disagreed. They explained that those residents could see an additional tax on their bills.
Sachs also wanted more details on how municipalities will be impacted by a law enforcement MSTU before approving it.
“I don’t have enough information right now to say, I’m going to vote for this framework, because I know that the consequences of that are going to be taxes to my constituents,” she said. “I don’t know if that’s good or bad.”
The commissioners’ discussion came as uncertainty remained over potential property tax revenue losses. Florida voters will decide whether to pass the “Save Our Homes from Excessive Property Taxes” amendment in November, which could significantly increase homestead exemption rates.
The county heavily relies on property tax revenue to fund law enforcement services. However, the ordinance will give commissioners a new funding source for those services. If commissioners decide to begin funding the MSTU through a millage rate, it will occur when and if the property tax reforms take effect.
With the ordinance mainly creating a framework for the MSTU, it gained the support of commissioners, who want to be prepared if they need to implement it. Others reiterated that approving the ordinance will not begin charging residents yet but will give county leaders the option to fund the MSTU in the future, if needed.
“At the end of the day, we’re not setting a millage rate, we’re just giving ourselves the opportunity to do this,” Commissioner Maria Marino noted. “There’s a big difference. We’re not setting a millage rate, and we’re not setting a fee. We’re just giving ourselves the ability to do this if, in the future, it’s something that we need.”
The commissioners passed a motion to begin advertising the ordinance 5-2, with Baxter and Sachs dissenting. They will discuss the matter again at a meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 15.
