By Steve Plunkett
While some joggers, bicyclists and people walking along State Road A1A may want to be able to take a bathroom break at Ocean Strand Park, they're going to have to keep taking care of business elsewhere.
The Greater Boca Raton Beach and Park District considered including money in its FY 2025 budget for restrooms at the park, which lies between other plumbing facilities at Spanish River Park and Gumbo Limbo Nature Center, but informally decided at its July 1 board meeting that such an addition wasn't a priority.
During her presentation, the district's executive director, Briann Harms, suggested an ADA accessible restroom trailer could be placed at the park similar to what has been done at Gumbo Limbo. But District Chair Erin Wright said she didn't think bathrooms at Ocean Strand were needed at all and said the park should be kept in as natural of a state as possible.
Also proposed is $6 million for building pickleball courts at Patch Reef Park, $3.5 million to build an accessible playground there, and $14 million to turn North Park — formerly known as the Ocean Breeze property — into a “major recreational hub” with new walking trails and bike paths.
The final list of projects will be decided at budget hearings in September.
Tax rate stays the same
Commissioners on July 15 tentatively adopted the same tax rate as this year, $1.08 per $1,000 of taxable value, for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1. That rate would generate $45.3 million in tax revenue, up $3.5 million from the current year, Harms projected.
Under the tentative rate, the owner of a home with a taxable value of $1 million would pay $1,080 in taxes to the Beach and Park District. Property values in the district, which includes residences west of the city limits, rose 8.5% over the previous year. The taxable value of a homesteaded property rose up to 3%.
The rollback rate, which would have brought in the same amount of taxes as the previous year, not counting new construction, was $1.01 per $1,000.
The district will also give the city $2.7 million as its share of Community Redevelopment Agency tax increment funding.
Partly in return, and for the first time, residents of the district who live west of the city limits will get free Boca Raton library cards and will get to pay resident rates at the city’s Tennis Center and Community Center, both in the CRA, starting Oct. 1. They currently pay nonresident rates.
City Manager George Brown assured the City Council on July 23 that the additional users would have a “minimal impact” on city finances and “little to no” impact on rental facilities.
“We would probably, perhaps lose a potential revenue amount of $14,500, which is not significant,” Brown said.
Correction: An earlier online version of this story, as well as the version that appeared in the August 2024 print edition of The Coastal Star, incorrectly reported the status of restrooms proposed for Ocean Strand Park. District commissioners reviewed “proposed projects” including temporary restrooms at their July 1 meeting, but took no action to include them in the district's proposed budget, which will be finalized during September budget hearings.
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