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Wellington says sales surtax has reached cap; village plans to use final collections to offset Aquatic Center costs
Summary
Village staff reported the sales surtax has reached its referendum cap and will end this year; officials said roughly $5.8 million in surtax receipts remain undesignated and will be used to offset general-fund dollars advanced for the new Aquatic Center.
Wellington staff told the council on Nov. 19 that the penny sales surtax has reached the referendum-specified cap and will end in the near term, and that the village plans to apply remaining surtax receipts to offset general-fund spending on the new Aquatic Center.
"As of 11/19/2025, we have collected $5,670,165 in surtax revenues on a $5,000,000 revised budget," Speaker 4 said, and added, "Since inception, Wellington has collected $45,153,668 in surtax revenues." Staff told the council this will be the final year of collections because the referendum's target amount for Palm Beach County has been reached.
Speaker 4 also described roughly $5,800,000 in general sales surtax funds that have not yet been designated and explained the village used general-fund dollars "to fully fund" the Aquatic Center construction up front. "We used general fund dollars to fully fund it and would use this to offset when collected," Speaker 4 said, describing plans to reconcile the funding once final collections are tallied in the coming months.
Council members asked whether a new referendum to extend surtax collections had been pursued. "There was some discussion of that last year. It did not go anywhere with Palm Beach County," Speaker 4 said, noting the school district had pursued its own continuation but broader countywide coordination had not advanced. Speaker 3 had asked directly, "Is there anything being done, to promote a new referendum to have funds extended into the future?"
The presentation prompted procedural questions from members about what authority exists to request countywide action; Speaker 4 suggested cities could coordinate through the League of Cities if they chose to revisit an extension. No formal motion on a referendum was introduced at the meeting.
Meeting action: the council approved the meeting minutes at the outset after Speaker 3 moved to approve and Speaker 1 seconded; Speaker 1 announced "hearing no objections, it'll pass." The meeting adjourned by motion later in the session.
