Pay up
Thanks for joining us. For you today: What's not in the sheriff's budget, connecting I-95 to Florida's Turnpike, opioid settlement talk and help for senior caregivers.
🚨 No new cars in sheriff’s budget
In what would be a record-setting budget, Palm Beach Sheriff Ric Bradshaw is planning to spend $952 million next year — a $75 million one-year increase — as he campaigns for an unprecedented sixth term.
The big picture: Even as it nears $1 billion, the proposed budget is notable for what it doesn’t include. For the second year in a row, Bradshaw said he won’t spend any money to replace aging patrol cars, boats, laptops or the department’s antiquated two-way radio system — key tools relied upon by his 1,700 deputies.
Instead, those purchases would be delayed until 2026 when Bradshaw estimated the agency would need $83.8 million — some three times what he estimates he would need in subsequent years — to buy needed equipment. That would push his spending to more than $1 billion next year, after November’s election.
New cars alone would cost $58.9 million in 2026 and then drop to $19.9 million in 2027, he said in the proposal submitted this month to Palm Beach County commissioners.
So what’s going on? Bradshaw, through a spokesperson, declined to explain why he was delaying the purchases.
“The sheriff sits down with each commissioner separately to answer any questions they may have about the budget,” sheriff’s spokesperson Teri Barbera said in an email.
There’s more to this story. Read it here.
— Jane Musgrave
🛣️ A seamless link
Congestion relief for Indiantown Road could come from a proposal to build a direct connection between Interstate 95 and Florida’s Turnpike in Martin County.
That’s the word from Florida’s Turnpike Enterprise, which is in the second year of a study to determine the interchange’s location and design.
Why it’s important: At Indiantown Road, drivers can switch between the free interstate and the for-pay turnpike but they must exit one highway to enter the other. The new interchange would reduce traffic on Indiantown and be the first in the state to offer a seamless connection between the two roads, project manager Jazlyn Heywood told the Palm Beach Transportation Planning Agency on Thursday.
A site has been selected, she said. It’s just south of Bridge Road in Martin County, about 9 miles north of Indiantown Road.
The site takes advantage of a space between the two highways, which otherwise are adjacent at that point.
The exact alignment is down to two alternatives, which will be presented at a public hearing in July.
It is expected to reduce by about a third the number of vehicles entering the turnpike at Indiantown Road. It also would reduce by about 16 percent traffic entering I-95.
Both roads ultimately are expected to be widened to eight lanes.
The design study, by Chicago-based Lochner, started in February 2023 and is expected to cost $1.2 million. The study is expected to be done in the third quarter of 2025.
The overall project could cost between $156 million and $231 million.
More information: The project website is here.
— Joel Engelhardt
➡️ How to spend $148 million
Palm Beach County commissioners will have their first look this morning at a plan on how to spend $148 million in opioid settlement dollars over 20 years.
As reported Monday by Stet News, the plan comes from a little-known advisory committee combining the recovery industry and family members of those who have lost loved ones with several agencies providing services, from the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office to the Palm Beach County Health Care District.
The plan offers commissioners a broad range of guidelines but no strict cost allocation, except that 90 percent of the money go toward the so-called “social determinants of health,” such as housing, recovery support, job training, youth assistance and prevention. The rest could pay for acute care.
Why it’s important: Palm Beach County long has been the center for addiction recovery services, many taking advantage of patients to steal insurance money. Relapse leads often to street crimes and homelessness.
See Stet’s full story on the proposal here.
Before commissioners will hear the recommendations, they’ll have presentations on two other topics: hurricane readiness and an overview of county construction oversight, stemming from cost issues raised by commissioners at a November meeting.
The meeting starts at 9:30 am and can be viewed online here.
— Joel Engelhardt
🎺 The juice
🚪 The forced resignation of West Palm Beach Deputy Police Chief Rick Morris came last December after he posted a photo of himself on Facebook with his arm around Deborah Adeimy, one of the Republicans running to challenge Democrat Lois Frankel for a seat in Congress. Mayor Keith James, a close ally of Frankel’s, texted Morris the next day, calling the picture “unbelievably tone deaf.” (WPBF)
💵 The money behind a PAC that helped elect two Lake Worth Beach city commissioners didn’t become public until after the election. Prosper Lake Worth Beach raised $37,085 from 42 donors in eight states. (ByJoeCapozzi.com)
🏠 Developers recorded one of the highest prices for a single-family home in Florida history last week after the mansion at 10 Tarpon Isle in Palm Beach sold for $152 million. Developers were Todd Michael Glaser, Jim Randall, Scott Robins and Jonathan Fryd; buyer was unknown. (Palm Beach Daily News and The Real Deal)
✅ The West Palm Beach City Commission is considering raising commissioner pay by about 32% to $46,112 and the mayor's pay by the same percentage to $197,625. It would be their first raises since 2016. (The Palm Beach Post)
📞 561 insider: Stuck in a rocky rehab? Help is available
When a brief hospital stay for Rhoda Schwartz turned into a trip to a Palm Beach County rehab center, her daughter-in-law couldn’t just stop by.
Tammy Glenn lives in Southern California and manages her 90-year-old mother-in-law’s care from afar.
It’s worked for years, but this time communication challenges and questions about Schwartz’s healing worried Glenn.
She writes:
The phone in Mom’s room rang six times before disconnecting, not long enough for her to answer it given her limited mobility.
When I did reach her, she reported that she wasn’t receiving certain pain medication even though her doctor prescribed it.
Looking for help here on the ground, Glenn called the Florida office of the Long-Term Care Ombudsman. After that, things happened quickly.
— Carolyn DiPaolo
🌱 Help us grow by sharing this newsletter.
📪 Do you have a story or tip about something we should know? Hit reply to this email.