COUNCIL AGENDA ITEM
SUBJECT:
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1st Reading - Ordinance 2024-O-18 Calling for Referendum to be held November 5, 2024 on the question to renew the Economic Development Ad Valorem Tax Exemptions
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DEPARTMENT:
Economic Development
SUMMARY:
Background:
In November 2014, the citizens of Edgewater elected to grant the City the authority to grant economic development ad valorem tax exemptions for those new businesses or expanding businesses that met the criteria for number of jobs, wages, investment and type of industry. The program term is ten (10) years. The program is renewable by voter referendum.
To date, the Northwest Lineman Center was awarded the tax abatement as an incentive to locate in Edgewater in 2017 for adding 22 jobs guaranteed with a cumulative payroll of $4.25 million over four years and an initial investment of $4.85 million dollars on their site. (NLC only received one year of the abatement in the amount of $5,931 due to the fact that the company was acquired by Quanta Services).
Boston Whaler was awarded the program for their second expansion in 2017, an investment of approximately $44 million and adding 125 jobs guaranteed totaling a cumulative payroll of $139.4 million over four years. The actual number of jobs created was 1,000. To date, Boston Whaler received a total of $85,000 tax abatement on city taxes over the last four years.
F.S. Chapter 196, s 196.1995 provides for economic development ad valorem tax exemptions. The law gives the governing authority of any municipality the authority to call a referendum within its jurisdiction to determine whether the city may continue to grant economic development ad valorem tax exemptions under s. 3, Article VII of the State Constitution. The City Council must vote to hold such referendum and the ballot question for the referendum must be in substantially the following form:
Shall the Edgewater City Council be authorized to grant, pursuant to s. 3, Art. VII of the State Constit...
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