From left: County Commissioner Shelley Vana and County Commission Chairwoman Karen MarcusRather than raise property taxes for a third straight year, Palm Beach County is considering joining the likes of Boca Raton, Delray Beach and other communities and charging beach parking fees to boost revenues.

The Sun-Sentinel reported that County Commissioner Shelley Vana is calling for legislators to consider charging for parking. The county estimates that a $1.50 per hour fee could rase $2.5 million a year. The county faces a $50 million budget shortfall, partly because property tax revenue has collapsed with the housing market. [more]

Palm Beach County commissioners decided yesterday to build a waste-to-energy plant which will eliminate the need for a new western landfill, though the Solid Waste Authority has already sold $70 million in bonds to buy land and build a new landfill. Plans to purchase space west of 20-Mile Bend for a new landfill were abandoned last month, and commissioners had been considering swapping land the county already owns for another plot that was slated for use in Everglades restoration. County Commissioner Karen Marcus said while she hopes to acquire the land for a mass-burn facility, there is no longer a pressing need to finalize the deal, since plans for the new plant, which will cost between $600 million and $700 million, will buy time. [Sun-Sentinel]