Press Release: Palm Beach County to Consider Tax Equity Ordinance

West Palm Beach, Florida (GayWebSource.com) —  Palm Beach County Commissioner Mary Lou Berger will soon ask her colleagues on the Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners to enact a Tax Equity Ordinance to provide a reimbursement to eligible County employees whose domestic partners are covered by the County’s health insurance plans. The purpose of the reimbursement is to offset the unequal tax burden imposed by federal law.

Under current IRS regulations, employees with domestic partners   are taxed on the value of the health insurance benefits provided to their domestic partners.  Opposite-sex married couples are not subject to such taxes.

“It is quite significant that Commissioner Berger is raising this issue,” said Rand Hoch, President and Founder of the Palm Beach County Human Rights Council.

The Palm Beach County Human Rights Council is a non-profit organization, which for the last 25 years has been dedicated to ending discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression.

“As a newly elected public official, Commissioner Berger has no voting record on domestic partnership issues,” said Hoch.  “By taking the leadership role on the tax equity ordinance, Commissioner Berger has made it clear that she is fully supportive of equal take-home pay for equal work.”

Based on the make-up of the Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners, Hoch expects the County Commission to enact the tax equity ordinance with bipartisan support later this year.

Throughout their careers, Palm Beach County Vice Mayor Patricia Taylor and Commissioners Paulette Burdick, Jess Santamaria, Hal Valeche and Shelley Vana have all voted in favor of domestic partnership ordinances and policies, according to Hoch.

Palm Beach County Mayor Steven Abrams is the only current County Commissioner who has no voting record on domestic partnership issues.

Prior to serving on the County Commission, Abrams served on the Boca Raton City Council.  He also served two terms as the city’s mayor.

“Despite numerous requests made over the years, the City of Boca Raton has steadfastly refused to formally address domestic partnership benefits,” said Hoch.

However, Hoch is optimistic that Abrams can be persuaded to support the tax equity ordinance.

“It makes no sense for some employees to pay higher taxes than other employees earning the same salary for the identical family health insurance benefits,” Hoch wrote in a letter to Abrams.

“This is not a gay issue,”  Hoch added.  “This is a  pay issue.”

Florida leads the nation in enacting laws and establishing policies to increase employees salaries to help offset the additional federal tax burden on domestic partner health insurance.

Earlier this month, the City of Miami Beach enacted the nation’s most comprehensive tax equity ordinance.  The policy fully reimburses municipal employees for the additional federal taxes.

In May, the City of West Palm Beach enacted a similar — but slightly weaker — tax equity ordinance.

“The Palm Beach County Human Rights Council hopes the the Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners will use the Miami Beach ordinance as a model,” said Hoch.

Other public employers in Florida have addressed the federal tax inequity by paying annual $500 stipends to partially offset the additional federal taxes.  These employers include the City of Hallandale Beach, the Palm Beach County Property Appraiser and the Constitutional Tax Collectors in Palm Beach and Orange County.

Media provided by GayWebSource.com – Gay Media and Press Network.