Chairman Delivers State of the County Address

January 23, 2009

	The address touched on a broad range of legislative and funding issues and topics. « Previous | Next »

On January 22, BCC Chairman Jeff Koons delivered the 2009 State of the County Address at the quarterly luncheon of the Business Development Board in Boca Raton. “Guardedly optimistic” might be the best way to describe the tone as Commissioner Koons spoke for about 20 minutes, covering a broad range of funding issues, planned county projects and upcoming legislation.

Economic topics included job creation, transportation funding, regional strategies for increasing our influence in Tallahassee, biotech development, urban redevelopment and infill, the inland port, and ways of making it easier to do business in Palm Beach County.

On the environment, Commissioner Koons said the county has made significant strides with the going green initiative, such as water re-use systems, using biodiesel fuel in buses and developing biowaste streams for industry. He praised the county’s natural lands acquisition program and the Loxahatchee River and Lake Worth Lagoon initiatives.

Commissioner Koons said it will be another very tight budget year, with property tax revenues and road impact fees expected to remain well below that of recent years. He called on business leaders to demand a return of the locally collected gasoline tax dollars that are spent on transportation projects elsewhere in the state. He also urged support for a dedicated funding source for Tri-Rail, and he said lawmakers need to adopt more legislation that increases and enhances workforce development and job retraining programs.

Several hundred business, education and municipal leaders attended the luncheon at the Boca Raton Resort and Club.