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County Attorney Alan S. Polackwich, Sr. reminded the Assembly that at the November 2, <br />2010 General Election, there would be a referendum on whether to authorize the Board to grant <br />ad valorem tax exemptions for economic development. He recalled that on June 22, 2010, the <br />Board had adopted Ordinance 2010-014, the Economic Development Ad Valorem Tax <br />Exemption Ordinance, which sets forth the County's program for the ad valorem tax exemptions <br />and which becomes effective if passed by the referendum. Attorney Polackwich explained that <br />on August 17, 2010, he presented proposed documents pertaining to the tax exemption, and that <br />he was returning with revisions to two of the documents, the Revised Draft Report Tax <br />Abatement Application form and the Revised Draft Property Tax Abatement Scoring Matrix. <br />Vice Chairman Solari felt that in order for the tax abatement program to be a success, <br />smaller companies should benefit by receiving the same number of points for the Level of Local <br />Capital Investment as the larger businesses. He felt that the statutory regulations governing the <br />percentage of New Full Time Jobs Created in order to receive the abatement, needed be amended <br />to fit our small County, and proposed that the County approach the State to request a small <br />County amendment to the Statute. <br />Commissioner Davis agreed with making the tax abatement policies as user friendly as <br />possible, but wondered how much could be done without changing the Statute. Additionally, he <br />inquired whether, if the Statute was changed, the item would have to be approved by referendum. <br />Attorney Polackwich affirmed that the point system for New Full Time Jobs Created <br />must follow statutory guidelines; however, if the statutes were changed, the Board could amend <br />the Ordinance without a referendum. <br />Vice Chairman Solari pointed out that the Level of Local Capital Investment, which was <br />not established by Statute, could be amended at this time. <br />Chairman O'Bryan was in favor of keeping the Level of Local Capital Investment as <br />presented on the scoring matrix, noting that the scoring system was modeled after St. Lucie <br />18 <br />September 14, 2010 <br />