Boca Raton council transmits amended downtown P3 ballot question after independent fiscal review and hours of public comment

Mayor Scott Singer opened the Boca Raton City Council meeting Dec. 2 to hear an independent fiscal review of the proposed downtown government‑campus public‑private partnership and to consider Resolution 180‑2025, which would transmit a referendum question to the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections for the March 10, 2026 uniform municipal election.

Jim Zervis, the city’s chief financial officer and deputy city manager, introduced PFM Group, the city’s independent fiscal consultant, and summarized the engagement: PFM ran scenario analyses, fiscal modeling and preliminary financing options to evaluate the Terra/Frisbie proposal and to meet requirements under Florida Statute section 255 for P3 transactions.

“I’m Jim Zervis. I’m your chief financial officer and a deputy city manager,” Zervis told the council before turning the presentation over to PFM. PFM’s director, Kevin Peltzler, summarized the firm’s scenario work and its approach to discounting and stress testing. Peltzler said the firm estimated an internal rate of return to the developer of roughly 20% and, after its review and stress tests, “it did not appear that there was really a public subsidy of private profit in this case.” PFM reported that over a 99‑year horizon the project generates substantial taxable…