3/2/1993 - Laserfiche WebLink

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RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends that the Board of County Commissioners: • review the proposed ordinance and provide direction to staff; and • review the attached fact sheet and make any necessary changes; and • authorize staff to mail a copy of the fact sheet to every registered voter household in the County with the cost of the mailing -coming from general fund contingency. Commissioner Tippin commented that the Board was not permitted to take a position on an issue or make recommendations to voters when he served on the Indian River County charter commission. Attorney Vitunac advised that various court cases have changed that. The latest case says that the Board not only has the right to disseminate information in favor of a proposal, they have an obligation to do so if they feel it would be in the best interests of the public. He felt that the proposed fact sheet meets legal requirements. Commissioner Eggert explained that the most important purposes of today's meeting were to determine whether the Board was comfortable with limiting the abatement to six years, and to decide whether to mail the fact sheet to voters. Commissioner Macht felt it was futile to spend $6,500 on a mailing because most people will just throw it away. He thought publishing the information in the newspaper would be sufficient. Commissioner Eggert felt that the Board had a responsibility to the voters to mail a fact sheet because this is the first time the County has ever done a referendum by mail. She emphasized that a newspaper advertisement would get the message to the voters. Commissioner Adams was opposed to the out-of-state sales ratio requirement. Commissioner Macht felt that abatement should not be granted to a company with most of its sales within our own county. Community Development Director Robert Keating explained that the definitions in the proposed ordinance are mandated by state law. Abatement probably could not be granted to a Wal-Mart or similar store because the sales factor ratio requires a facility such as a single Wal-Mart store to generate at least half its total sales outside Florida. Commissioner Macht would have preferred not to have the 10 - employee minimum, because he felt that many desirable businesses employ just 4-5 individuals. He would like to see provisions in 29 MAR - �, �� BOOK 88 NVE ��