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Boor, 98 �¢�; r 57 The table above also illustrates another way that the proposed incentives will provide a positive fiscal impact. Because most of the county's industrially designated land is currently used for citrus production or pasture, this land currently has an agricultural exemption and pays a low amount of property tax. As shown in the above table, the agricultural exemption results in a tax liability of only 10 percent of the amount of tax that wouldbe. due without the agricultural exemption. To the extent that the proposed incentives result in agriculturally exempted, industrially designated land being developed, revenues will increase not only because of improvements to the property, but also because of the loss of the agricultural exemption. PROPOSED PROGRAM The ability of the county to offer a local jobs grant program to clean, industrial businesses wanting to relocate to, or expand in, Indian River County would provide Indian River County the opportunity to compete for economic development projects on the level that neighboring counties do. In structuring such a program, several issues must be addressed. These include: the amount of the grant, the types of businesses that qualify, the minimum number of jobs that must be created, and the minimum wages that must be paid. Both the St. Lucie and Palm Beach jobs grant programs provide good models for structuring an Indian River County program. Each of these counties provides a maximum grant of $2, 000 per job, with the amount per job dependant on the total number of jobs created. Both limit eligible, businesses, and both require wages to be at or above their respective county's minimum. The programs differ in the minimum number of jobs to be created, with St. Lucie at 20 and Palm - Beach at 25. Since Indian River County's objectives are similar to both St. Lucie's and Palm Beach's, an Indian River County program should probably incorporate criteria comparable to the St. Lucie and Palm Beach programs. With that in mind, it would be appropriate to structure an Indian River County jobs grant program to apply only to businesses having a two -digit Standard Industrial Code classification between 20-39 and those businesses on the county's target industry list. With an Indian River County jobs grant program, the amount of the total grant would be based on the number of jobs created, the types of jobs that are created, and proposed wages for those jobs. The proposed program would have the following criteria: • The applicants must submit their application to the Community Development Department. The Community Development Department shall submit all eligible applications to the Board of County Commissioners. The Board of County Commissioners shall review all applications submitted and at their sole discretion may approve any application that seems beneficial to the county's overall economy. When considering -the issue of whether or not an applicant is eligible to receive a jobs grant, the Board shall consider the anticipated number of employees, average wage, type of businesses, environmental impacts, volume of business or production, and any other information relating to the issue of whether the proposed development would significantly improve economic development in Indian River County. Special emphasis shall be given to 52 May 14, 1996