At the May 1, 2018, Board of County Commissioners meeting, the board took the following action:
 
Ag Reserve – approved an agricultural land management interlocal agreement with the Palm Beach Soil and Water Conservation District (PBSWCD) for a three-year period from July 1, 2018 through June 30, 2021. This will continue PBSWCD’s management of county-owned property within the Ag Reserve that has been leased out for agricultural uses for a fee of $58,951 per year to be paid from funds generated by the lease program.
 
CAFR – received a very positive Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) from the Clerk & Comptroller’s Office for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2017. The combined ending governmental fund balance was $1.152 billion, an increase of $28.2 million (approximately 2.5 percent) from the previous year. Governmental fund revenues stood at $1.96 billion, up $139 million or 8 percent from the previous year. The county’s total net position increased by $91 million: business-type activities increased by $58 million, and governmental activities increased by $33 million. Palm Beach County continues to maintain AAA general obligation bond ratings from the three major rating agencies, and recently had its revenue bond rating upgraded to AAA by Standard & Poor’s.
 
Opioids – approved on preliminary reading and to advertise for public hearing on May 15 an ordinance allowing for opioid cost recovery and declaring the effects of opioid abuse on the county a public nuisance.
 
Community Services – announced the hiring of John Hulick as senior program manager of the opioid/substance abuse prevention program under the Department of Community Services.
 
Fire Rescue – approved an equal employment specialist position (pay grade 40) with the Palm Beach County Fire Rescue Department to ensure the department maintains a fair and equitable workplace.
 
Disparity study – approved a contract with Tydings & Rosenberg, LLP, and more specifically Franklin M. Lee, Esq., a partner in that firm, in an amount not to exceed $55,000, for the period of May 1 through December 31, 2018, to provide consulting services, policy deliberation phase priorities, address disparity study findings, and identify priorities for partial changes to policy and/or administrative practices. A waiver of the competitive solicitation process was approved based on Mr. Lee’s extensive experience in disparity study review and analysis and prior experience with the Palm Beach County Disparity Study RFP.
 
Internal Auditor – approved on preliminary reading and to advertise for public hearing on May 15 a series of revisions to the Internal Audit Committee Charter Ordinance pertaining to attendance, ethics, obsolete language, term limits for the committee chair, and clarification of the duties and responsibilities of the alternate member.
 
Convention Center – approved a series of budget amendments to reallocate unused proceeds from the Convention Center Parking Garage project. Due to the garage having 90 fewer spaces than originally planned, value engineering and sales tax savings, and not having to use as much of the project contingency as anticipated, a savings of $9.3 million is projected. It will be redistributed for Convention Center expansion and renewal/replacement projects and to fund debt service and bond interest expenses.