News

By Dan Moffett
 
    Briny Breezes Town Council members gave preliminary approval to extending an agreement with the city of Boynton Beach for fire-rescue services at the town meeting on June 23.
    The town is in the final year of a fire-rescue contract with Boynton Beach that began in 2004, one of the longest-running arrangements of its kind in Palm Beach County.
    Alderman Bobby Jurovaty says the town has been pleased with the service it has received from Boynton Beach.
    “I think they’ve been doing a good job for us,” Jurovaty said. “I really haven’t heard any complaints. We’re happy.”
    Briny Breezes is a participant in a group of six coastal communities that is considering the possibility of forming a coastal fire district and providing its own fire-rescue services. A consultant study commissioned by the group found that Briny Breezes paid $329,813 to Boynton Beach for services in 2015 and is projected to pay roughly $343,000 this year.
    The study, by the Texas-based Matrix Consulting Group, found that Briny Breezes’ average cost per call was $3,300, the lowest among the six coastal communities. Boynton Beach also has turned in one of the best average response times in the group at 5 minutes, 41 seconds.
    In 2015, Boynton Beach responded to 107 calls from Briny Breezes — 26 for fire-related problems and 81 for emergency medical services.
    In other business, the Town Council voted 4-0 (with Alderman James McCormick absent with notice) to approve keeping the tax rate for the 2016-2017 fiscal year at $10 per $1,000 of taxable property value.
    Briny Breezes’ rate has held steady at the 10 mills since 2009, when the council decided to approve more than tripling the previous rate of $3 per $1,000 to deal with rising operating costs, shrinking reserves and the national economic downturn. The increase followed the failed sale of the mobile home park, which drained the town’s reserves. In 2008, the tax rate in Briny Breezes was $2.76.
    Taxable values for the town have edged higher in recent years, according to the Palm Beach County Property Appraiser’s Office. Briny Breezes’ assessed value for 2015 was $38.56 million and is projected to rise in line with the county’s average increase of roughly 7 percent to $41.38 million in 2016, a 7.3 percent gain.
    The $10 rate is the highest in the county and the highest allowed by state law. The Town Council has scheduled its final budget workshop for Aug. 15 at 10 a.m.