Lake Worth OKs Compass LGBTQ center lease before anti-DEI law starts
By Chris Persaud, Palm Beach Post USA Today Network via Reuters Connect Updated October 29, 2026 9:54 AM
As Florida cities face budget cuts and a new anti-diversity state law looms, the Palm Beach County city that is home to one of Florida's biggest LGBTQ nonprofits will approve a new long-term lease with it.
The Lake Worth Beach City Commission voted 4-1 on Tuesday, Oct. 27, to approve a new 20-year lease with Compass Community Center at its home since 2007, a 12,000 square-foot city-owned building at Dixie Highway and Second Avenue North. City Commissioner Anthony Segrich opposed the deal.
The new lease, starting Dec. 1, amounts to more than $31,500 a year that Compass will pay the city, about a $1,000 increase from what it pays now. The cost of rent will increase by $1,440 each year afterward.
Amendment 3 concerns led one commissioner to oppose Compass lease-- Segrich opposed the lease because the rent amounted to what he called a subsidy of Compass and a loss for taxpayers, especially as voters statewide are casting ballots on Amendment 3, which would raise homestead exemptions and cut property taxes, cities' main revenue source. He also posited that the city may be in danger of breaking a state law that takes effect Jan. 1 that cracks down on "diversity, equity and inclusion" policies.
When Segrich said he feared the city could be sued over the lease, potentially in violation of Florida's new anti-DEI law, City Attorney Glen Torcivia and Mayor Resch, who is also a lawyer, said that law could not apply to city contracts signed before it goes into effect.
Supporters lauded the nonprofit's decades of service, not just for LGBTQ people and people with HIV or AIDS, but also for the public at large. "I believe that building is probably close to a $100,000 loss a year for the city, and it shouldn't be that way," Segrich, a realtor, said Oct. 23 during a meeting to plan the Oct. 27 City Commission meeting.
The rent will not even cover repairs and maintenance, he said. Lake Worth Beach stands to lose an estimated $3.5 million in 2027, and nearly $4.8 million in 2028, if voters statewide pass Amendment 3 and the homestead exemptions rise to $150,000 and then to $250,000. Segrich's fiscal concerns did not sway his fellow commissioners.
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The new lease, starting Dec. 1, amounts to more than $31,500 a year that Compass will pay the city, about a $1,000 increase from what it pays now. The cost of rent will increase by $1,440 each year afterward.
Amendment 3 concerns led one commissioner to oppose Compass lease-- Segrich opposed the lease because the rent amounted to what he called a subsidy of Compass and a loss for taxpayers, especially as voters statewide are casting ballots on Amendment 3, which would raise homestead exemptions and cut property taxes, cities' main revenue source. He also posited that the city may be in danger of breaking a state law that takes effect Jan. 1 that cracks down on "diversity, equity and inclusion" policies.
When Segrich said he feared the city could be sued over the lease, potentially in violation of Florida's new anti-DEI law, City Attorney Glen Torcivia and Mayor Resch, who is also a lawyer, said that law could not apply to city contracts signed before it goes into effect.
Supporters lauded the nonprofit's decades of service, not just for LGBTQ people and people with HIV or AIDS, but also for the public at large. "I believe that building is probably close to a $100,000 loss a year for the city, and it shouldn't be that way," Segrich, a realtor, said Oct. 23 during a meeting to plan the Oct. 27 City Commission meeting.
The rent will not even cover repairs and maintenance, he said. Lake Worth Beach stands to lose an estimated $3.5 million in 2027, and nearly $4.8 million in 2028, if voters statewide pass Amendment 3 and the homestead exemptions rise to $150,000 and then to $250,000. Segrich's fiscal concerns did not sway his fellow commissioners.
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