Page 8 - Boca Club News - February '21

Page 8, Boca Club News
Memo from County Tax Collector Anne M. Gannon:

Following Safety Guidelines for Your Protection!

By Anne M. Gannon, Constitutional public. Beginning in March 2020, new processes and safety What We Continue to Do:
Tax Collector serving Palm Beach measures were implemented in every office, often ahead of — Limit our services to Palm Beach County residents
County. You can reach her office county executive orders. These proactive measures were and new residents only.
by Email: ClientAdvocate@ put in place to ensure this agency could continue to provide — Require an appointment for in-person service.
taxcollectorpbc.com. Phone: (561) essential services in the safest manner possible. — Promote contactless payment methods in our offices.
355-4271. What We’ve Done: — Provide staff with cloth face coverings, plastic gloves,
As the pandemic continues — Required face masks or cloth face coverings of hand sanitizer and disinfecting wipes.
to affect nearly every aspect of anyone entering our offices. — Require daily temperature and blood oxygen level
our daily lives, I am taking this — Installed protective barriers at all front counters. checks of all employees.
opportunity to share information about important safety — Placed social distance signage and markers in all — Initiate periodic deep cleaning at all locations.
measures implemented in our offices. I put these measures offices. With every decision I make, I strive to balance our most
in place at the beginning of the pandemic and will continue — Installed air purification systems in every office. urgent mission to provide essential services while protecting
to refine them as needed. — Conducted mandatory onsite COVID-19 education the health of our staff and clients. Over these past several
Even with these safety measures, we find ourselves and testing for all employees. months, we quickly learned we must remain flexible to adapt
periodically understaffed due to COVID-19. In these to new ways of working. Transforming how we serve you
instances, wait times may be longer than normal, even is part of my commitment to continuous improvement.
with an appointment. If you arrive for your scheduled Important Dates and Deadlines:
appointment and find there is a long wait time, please February 15th - Presidents’ Day ‒ Offices closed
consider rescheduling your appointment for a later date February 28th - Last day
or different location. I know this can be inconvenient and to receive 1% property
thank you in advance for your patience. tax discount
A quick reminder... our offices are closed Monday, Do you have an
February 15th for Presidents’ Day, but we are always open April birthday? Your
to serve you online at www.pbctax.com. registration expires
Last Chance to Get a Property Tax Discount. Pay real at midnight on your
estate and tangible personal property tax in February to birthday. You can renew
receive the 1% discount on your 2020 property taxes. There your registration up to 90
is no discount available in March. Pay smart, pay online at days in advance at www.pbctax.com.
www.pbctax.com today!
delinquent business tax notice? Don’t wait! An additional From the Desk of Palm Beach County
Delinquent Business Tax Notices. Have you received a

$250 fine is applied on February 1st pursuant to Florida
com today to avoid further penalties. You can also pay by Vice Mayor Robert S. Weinroth:
Statute 205.053. Pay smart, pay online at www.pbctax.
mail or drop your payment in one of our secure drop boxes
Steps We Are Taking to Protect the Health of our Vaccine Update.
located in our office lobbies during regular business hours.

Employees and Clients. As this agency and our country
continues to deal with the spread of COVID-19, I remain Robert Weinroth, a former member Authorization four weeks ago. It is unrealistic to expect
focused on protecting the health of our employees and the of the Boca Raton City Council, was 1.5 million county residents to be able to receive their
elected as a Palm Beach County vaccinations in a week or a month. I’m an optimist. I choose
Commissioner to replace Steven to recognize this as but a bump in the road.
Abrams, who retired due to term As adequate supplies of vaccine are received, a system
limits requirements. for equitable distribution will materialize. Remember: We
No doubt about it: The rollout of are dealing with a global pandemic, unprecedented in the
the COVID-19 vaccines has been modern age. Help is coming; again, I ask for your continued
a frustrating source of anxiety for patience. Please remain vigilant while we continue to
everyone. However, we must continue to remain patient as the mitigate the virus’s spread within our community. And
Florida Department of Health and Healthcare District of Palm please adhere to the recommendations of the medical
Beach County address the issues that have plagued process. professionals:
Unfortunately, the FDOH has advised it will likely take several • Avoid the three Cs: crowded places, close-contact
months before all of our seniors can make appointments and settings and confined/enclosed places;
get their vaccinations due to an imbalance between supply (not • Continue frequent handwashing;
enough) and demand (growing by the day)! • Continue to wear facial coverings where social
With 1.5 million county residents (including over distancing is not possible.
400,000 seniors), the logistical challenges of the rollout Together, we will move past these challenges.
have been daunting. Notwithstanding the issues we have Volunteer physicians needed. Are you a retired doctor
been forced to confront, I am encouraged by positive or a doctor with some extra time to spare? The Palm Beach
developments. President Biden has ordered federal County Medical Society is working with the FDOH to
agencies to tap the Defense Production Act to accelerate support the distribution of vaccines through a network of
the production of vaccine and streamline the nationwide volunteer physicians when the additional supplies of the
vaccination program. The 67 Publix pharmacies in Palm vaccine become available. Retired physicians or physicians
Beach County have already begun giving shots, which will willing to volunteer with the local vaccination rollout are
help to alleviate the long waits being experienced by many asked to contact John James, the Society’s director of
of our residents. Public Health and Disaster Services, at johnj@pbcms.
Palm Beach County is by far the most populous org or (772) 284.2069. Physicians are asked to complete a
county participating in the supermarket’s vaccination Medical Reserve Corps application and will need a recent
program. County staff is working closely with FDOH and background check to be eligible to volunteer.
the Health Care District to coordinate the strategies for Fraud Alert. The COVID-19 vaccine is free to the
equitable distribution of the vaccine in accordance with public and only a $15 administrative fee can be charged.
the Governor’s priorities. Once sufficient doses of the Unfortunately, demand for the vaccine has made it ripe for
vaccine are available, county staff will support the state abuse by scam artists.
distribution efforts by establishing fixed regionally located The FBI reports that scammers purporting to sell the
vaccination centers, Point of Distribution sites (PODS), vaccine are trying to mislead people to give money and
clinical operations and pop-up community sites. personal information such as Social Security numbers.
Progress is being made. Palm Beach County has Palm Beach County State Attorney Dave Aronberg says
vaccinated a higher percentage of its seniors than Broward there have been no reported cases in Palm Beach County,
and Miami-Dade counties. Another bright note is our county’s but he has been working closely with law enforcement to
positivity rate, which had hovered at around 10 percent earlier crack down on potential scams affecting local residents. If
this month has dipped to 7.3 percent as of January 21st. you suspect COVID-19 health care fraud, call your local
More than 150,000 people in Palm Beach County have been law enforcement agency.
vaccinated. Statewide, more than 1 million Floridians have Please stay safe! And as always, feel free to contact my
been vaccinated! Admittedly, this is a “work in progress,” office if you require assistance at rweinroth@pbcgov.org
but I urge you to take a moment to reflect on how successful or call (561) 355-2204.
we have been. The vaccine only received Emergency Use