A Message from Commissioner Vana

March 10, 2009

In the three months I have been your County Commissioner for District 3, I have been focusing on developing an in-depth understanding of the activities of the various departments comprising Palm Beach County government.  I believe that by gaining first person experience with government programs and departments, including inputs and outputs, I will be better able to make good budget decisions.  I am dedicated to making sure that your tax dollars are spent wisely and that priority budget items such as safety and security are fully funded.

It will be a challenge to make sure the budget is structured so that we fund those items necessary for the life and safety concerns of community members.  It will be a further challenge to make sure that we continue to build our economic base by continuing to support economic development and to attract those businesses that provide good salaries and benefits.   It will be important to continue these types of programs because they will be the basis of future economic prosperity for our county.  We also will need to attend to the situation in the Western Communities due to the possible sale of land for Everglades Restoration.

Hopefully, provisions in the Economic Stimulus Package will help in funding some of our capital projects, such as road building and water projects.  I also confirmed that repairs for the Herbert Hoover Dike were included in the requests. The bill itself is over 1,000 pages and county staff is working with municipalities to make sure we take advantage of all possible funding opportunities.  More jobs will be created because of funds received, but at this time we are unsure what we will receive and how soon funds will begin to flow.

The bottom line is that we are working hard to make sure your needs are met and that we draw down all possible stimulus dollars to offset budget shortfalls that we expect to exist in the next year.  It will take everyone working together to get through challenging times, however I believe we will persevere!