Call to Order

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ITEM I.A., HOWARD TIPTON, COUNTY MANAGER, REPORT

 

 

Howard Tipton, County Manager, stated he visited the new Disney 'Fantasy' cruise ship and it was amazing; and it is a huge economic engine for Brevard County.  He added, the Disney 'Fantasy' is in port and in business.

 

 

 

Chairman Nelson mentioned the cruise ship industry contributes back to the community; and it has done a variety of things for the Boys and Girls Club in the County.

 

 

 

Mr. Tipton stated Disney presented a check for $250,000 to the Cocoa Boys and Girls Club for the rehabilitation of the building.

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ITEM II., OVERVIEW OF WORKSHOP

 

 

Howard Tipton, County Manager, stated the workshop is going to cover a number of different areas regarding the state of our economy, job location and worker mobility, the use of incentives and why they are key to winning the jobs, the different types of economic development tools local governments have available, and what the County currently does, in terms of supporting economic development, both directly and indirectly, and how it pays for specific incentives.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

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MICHAEL H. SLOTKIN, FLORIDA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

 

 

Dr. Michael Slotkin, PhD, Florida Institute of Technology, presented a PowerPoint presentation, which provided information on objectives utilizing an assortment of economic data, reviewed the causes and consequences of Brevard's economic winter; briefly discussed where Brevard is headed; and highlighted the implications of the economic trends with respect to the County's budgetary position.

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ITEM III.B., PRESENTATION BY LISA RICE, BREVARD WORKFORCE

 

 

Lisa Rice, President of Brevard Workforce, stated Brevard Workforce is the County's designated provider of workforce services; its main goal is to help businesses find employees, helping job seekers find jobs, upgrade their skills and start new careers, and there are a variety of tools for both, which can be found at www.brevardworkforce.com.  She added, right now it has a lot of funding that can help businesses with on the job training; and asked if someone has a business and is considering hiring someone, please talk to Brevard Workforce before they hire the person.  She explained, if the business has a training plan, Brevard Workforce can probably help with on the job training, which is a subsidized wage of 50 to 90 percent of the wage for up to three months; and that is money in a businesses pocket.  She presented a PowerPoint presentation defining the areas of Brevard County; South Brevard is U.S.192 south to County line; Central Brevard is U.S.192 to S.R. 520; and North Brevard is S.R. 520 to the County line.  She went on to explain in South Brevard there are 75,724 people who are working; of that, 37,813 actually live and work there; and there are almost 38,000 people coming in from somewhere else to fill the jobs.  She noted, the total number of people living in South Brevard who are working is over 88,000, and that leaves 50,000 people that have to head outside of the defined area.  She stated in Central Brevard 91,178 people are working in the area, but only 33,000 actually live and work in the area, and that leaves 57,000 people coming in from somewhere else.  She went on to explain in North Brevard 22,056 people actually live and work in the area, and that leaves 32,737 to fill the rest of the jobs.  She noted, there are jobs that people go to everywhere, and it does not matter where the job is, if it is a good job and someone is qualified for it, they will go to it.  She stated Brevard Workforce works very closely with the Economic Development Commission (EDC) and they are very collaborative on incentives; and incentives available are based on the funding it has available.  

 

 

 

Chairman Nelson inquired where the funding comes from.  Ms. Rice stated all the funds are federal except for one small portion it has right now, federal funds flow from federal to the State on a formulary, and then down to Brevard Workforce on a formulary.     

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ITEM III.C., PRESENTATIONS BY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION

 

 

Bob Whelen, Corporate Vice President - Real Estate and Environmental, Health & Safety with Harris Corporation, presented a PowerPoint presentation on the business of economic development and the impact of incentives of the economy. 

 

 

 

Lynda Weatherman, President and CEO of EDC of Florida's Space Coast, talked about site location and weighted factors for where one might choose a site.  She explained the top ten manufacturing site location factors, which are highway accessibility, labor costs, tax exemptions, occupancy or construction costs, State and local incentives, corporate tax rate, availability of skilled labor, inbound/outbound shipping costs, energy availability and costs, and availability of buildings.   She explained the types of incentives considered most important when making a location decision, which are cash grants, tax incentives, bonds, loans, worker training incentives, land, utility-rate subsidies, and infrastructure support.  She went on to say companies are looking for quality of life factors, such as rating of public schools, low crime rate, housing costs, colleges and universities in the area, healthcare facilities, housing availability, cultural opportunities, climate, and recreational opportunities. 

 

 

 

Marty Wilson, Vice President, Competitive Programs and Policies of Enterprise Florida, stated it is the official economic development organization for the State of Florida.  She added, she works with 67 counties across Florida, and also the State's Department of Economic Opportunity.  She talked about top site selection factors, which are highway accessibility, labor costs, availability of skilled labor, corporate tax rate, occupancy or construction costs, State and local incentives, energy availability and costs, tax exemptions, proximity to major markets, and low union profile.   

 

 

 

The following individuals spoke on economic development in Brevard County:  Adrian Laffitte, Director, Florida Government Relations, Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company; Jason Rinsky, Senior Vice President, Corporate Taxation DRS Technologies; and Richard Ennis, Executive Director of Melbourne International Airport.

 

 

 

The Board recessed at 11:05 a.m. and reconvened at 11:20 a.m.

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ITEM III.D., PRESENTATION BY JOHN TITKANICH

 

 

John Titkanich, City of Cocoa Community Development Director, presented a PowerPoint presentation on redevelopment agencies, which create sustainable reuse and urban infill, infrastructure investment and enhancement, historic preservation, business retention and attraction, preservation and creation of workforce housing, crime prevention, and creation of open/green space.  He presented a PowerPoint presentation on Brownfields Redevelopment; and explained a Brownfields site means real property, the expansion, redevelopment or reuse of which may be complicated by actual or perceived environmental contamination.

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ITEM III.E., PRESENTATION, RE:  THE NORTH BREVARD ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ZONE (NBEDZ) BY DISTRICT BOARD MEMBER

 

 

Robert Jordan, North Brevard Economic Development Zone board member, stated there have been a lot of projections regarding the fate of the City of Titusville, the North Brevard area, and Brevard County with the retirement of the Shuttle program.  He read aloud a July 4, 2011, Orlando Sentinel article on the future of Titusville and North Brevard "Raised with NASA and the Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Titusville and North Brevard County have boomed with Apollo, busted in the lean, SkyLab-oriented 1970s, boomed with the Space Shuttle program, and are about to bust again, with the International Space Station-oriented 2010s." He stated what a disastrous forecast for Titusville and North Brevard area which have some unique characteristics and challenges unlike any other area in Brevard County, and perhaps in the State and Country.  He added, with each job loss KSC has had a rippled effect into the community which is an additional 1.8 jobs; more than 50 percent of the land in North Brevard is exempt for property taxes, with such a large percentage of exempt lands, key commercial areas are tax-exempt, and as a result it has approximately 20 percent of the population, but only one-tenth of the County's taxable value.  He went on to say in effort to not have history repeat itself, and to take every proactive step to effect Brevard's future, a majority of members of the Commission officially created the North Brevard Economic Development Zone (NBEDZ), and he applauds everyone for this courageous step.  He stated the purpose of NBEDZ and the District Board is to develop, approve, and recommend to the County Commission for formal adoption the Economic Development Plan designed to create, provide and retain jobs, and businesses or industrial development opportunities, or initiatives within the boundaries of the District.  He noted, that purpose statement comes directly from the originating ordinance.  He presented a PowerPoint presentation on the progress of the North Brevard Economic Development Zone, which included the development of the plan since its appointment by the County Commission and City of Titusville City Council; since the first meeting in January, NBEDZ has met approximately every two weeks; it is the goal of the District Board to present the Board of County Commissioners, and the City Council, with the plan at their meeting in early May; and the District Board voted to ask for approval to expand the boundaries of the District to include Exploration Park.  He further went on to say it is important to note that based on North Brevard's plight, it has a very good reason for expanding the NBEDZ to include Exploration Park, additionally, NBEDZ is asking to allow the expansion to provide resources to the Exploration Park, and would not be asking to derive any revenues to the Exploration Park.  He stated it understands this requires adoption of an amendment to the ordinance, which will be presented to the Board prior to the concurrence with the request to approve the plan.  He requested feedback from the Commission on expanding to Exploration Park.  

 

 

 

Chairman Nelson stated he thinks it is a logical expansion, because it is an economic incentive opportunity; and he sees it as a very positive step.  Commissioner Fisher agreed that there will be some great opportunities at Exploration Park in the future and it would be a shame that there might be opportunity there, and the NBEDZ could help create jobs, which would be good for all of Brevard.  Commissioner Bolin Lewis concurred it was favorable.  Commissioner Infantini suggested if it is good for District 1, and Exploration Park, why is it not good for all of Brevard County, and then let all of Brevard County benefit from the construction of the FPL plant, and the $75 million it can bond out.  Mr. Jordon explained that 90 precent of the new businesses growth presented today was done in the south area, it was not done in the north area.  Mr. Jordan presented the accountability measures and the NBEDZ plan focus areas to the Board.

 

 

 

Commissioner Infantini stated she thinks the Board needs to offer this to the entire County; it is going to be $75 million plus, and so far in the last 15 years, all of Brevard County has received about $44 million; and it is talking about putting $75 million in just one District.  She added, that is twice as much as all of Brevard County has received in the last 15 years, and she thinks it should be spread across the entire County. 

 

 

 

Mr. Jordan stated he has always said that no matter what is going on in south, central, or north is good for Brevard County, and North Brevard needs help right now, and this is a good way to help.

 

 

 

Commissioner Fisher stated unlike other CRA's, the General Fund will benefit from the FPL plant.  He added, he originally did not support the St. Johns Heritage Parkway, but the majority of the Board said the Parkway was something that it needed to do, and for the last year and a half he has supported it; and unfortunately, the NBEDZ is not getting the same courtesy.      

 

 

 

Chairman Nelson stated he does not agree with Commissioner Infantini's number of $75 million, he hopes she is right because that would mean North Brevard would have been wildly successful; and pointed out one cannot look back and say it gave $44 million over the last 15 years, because that was then; and stated the Board needs to look forward.  He noted, the reality is people move around to where the jobs are.  He stated the key is the Board of County Commissioners creates NBEDZ, it can do away with it; and the NBEDZ budget has to come before the Board of County Commissioners.  He added, when the ordinance comes before the Board there will be some discussion about the limits and Board approval to bond beyond certain numbers.  He stated the Board of County Commissioners and the City of Titusville control the NBEDZ, because in the end, they have the ultimate say whether of not it continues.  He went on to say it is a viable opportunity for Brevard County as a community to create jobs, and it will be beneficial to all of the County; and stated he does not see this as being a North Brevard South Brevard issue, he sees it as being a job issue.     

 

 

 

Commissioner Infantini referred to one saying the Board created the NBEDZ and it could shut it down; it could no more shut down the NBEDZ than it could the Palm Bay CRA, because once the NBEDZ gets bonded out, it will not be able to shut it down and will have to continue to be funded; and there will be no escape clause.  She asked at what point will the NBEDZ be closed down.  Commissioner Fisher stated his vote would be to not stop funding until it replaces the 26,000 jobs that were lost.  Commissioner Infantini stated it is not just 26,000 in North Brevard, it is 26,000 all over Brevard County.  Commissioner Fisher reminded everyone that he met with Harris Corporation to fight and make sure they did not move their $200 million new expansion to Virginia; and that effort was not because he was from District 5 or 3, he did it because it was good for all of Brevard County.  He stated he is working just as hard for jobs in Palm Bay as he does for jobs in Titusville, because every job is important.  Commissioner Infantini stated taxpayers in South Brevard County can not afford it, they have already had tax rate increases of 30 percent in the last two years; and if the Board is going to keep taxing the unincorporated an extra 15 percent they are not going to be able to afford it, they will just move out and one will not have to worry about getting them a job.

 

 

 

Chairman Nelson reminded everyone the success of Embraer, which was not a popular vote years ago; and it started with over 200 jobs, now there is a showroom and 200 more jobs.  Commissioner Bolin agreed it was the best thing for Brevard County, it was not in their Districts, but reiterated it was the best for Brevard County, as is the NBEDZ.  Chairman Nelson stated it does not matter where the jobs are, as long as they are in the County; and the Board has created a mechanism that is going to focus on an effort area that is the hardest hit; and that sounds like solid planning.  Commissioner Anderson concurred the people will drive to North Brevard for a job; and stated he has no issue including Exploration Park.    

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ITEM IV., REVIEW OF COUNTY INVESTMENTS FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

 

 

Howard Tipton, County Manager, recapped Brevard County investments for economic development including Economic Development Commission (EDC), Community Redevelopment Areas (CRA's), incentives, tax abatements, and community building.  He stated tax increment is the increase in revenues that come through improvements and increase evaluations; annually, the County pays out $4.1 million; and the PowerPoint slide is showing breakdowns of each District's dollar and percentage.  He stated data for Tax Increment Funding (TIF) has been in existence for about 15 years; and slides shown are each District's spread throughout existence totaling $44.5 million, along with percentages for each.  He stated cash incentives for five of the seven projects have been in the last two years with Lockheed Martin at $300,000, Embraer at $1.8 million, Project Rocket at $190,600, Professional Aircraft Accessories (PAA) at $125,000, Boeing Project at $660,000, Project Fates $242,650, and Project Redline at $120,000; and explained those cash incentives are shown in breakdowns of dollars and percentages on the following slide shown for each District.  He stated data for Tax Abatements are a voter approved program, where a government agency basically foregoes a percentage of tax revenues up to 100 percent for a period of time, which reduces the out-of-pocket expenses for a business for a period of six to 10 years; and abatement dollars are also used to leverage State dollars.  He stated recently, Central Florida communities have moved to adopt Tax Abatement Programs; Tax Abatements currently are $178,000; the cumulative total is just under $4 million; and each District is broken down by dollars and percentages.  He added, there are some Tax Abatements in the pipeline that the Board recently approved; and projections over the next 10 years will be a little bit different with involvement from Harris Corporation.  He went on to say community building and economic development starts with Brevard County's Vision Statement being a community which excels and is recognized for building a diverse, strong economic base with needed infrastructure to support a quality lifestyle; he stated the County looks at where it makes its economic development investments directly mentioning EDC, cash incentives, tax abatements, Transportation Impact Fee Moratorium, Agricultural Extension Services, Commerce Park, and Tourism with world-wide marketing, beach renourishment, baseball spring training, Brevard Zoo, I-95 Welcome Center, and event sponsorship.  He stated where the County makes it economic development investments indirectly are highway access and mobility with the Pineda Interchange and Extension, Intelligent Transportation Systems, St. Johns Heritage Parkway, and road repaving; Space Coast Area Transit (SCAT) is approaching two million annual fixed route trips a year, it is a 14.5 percent increase over that last four years, 44 percent are for work purposes, and 17 percent of trips are for shopping purposes; and 133,736 commuter vanpools, plus $225,000 in ad sales for local business development.  He highlighted the four qualify of life rankings being low crime rate, with 50 percent of property taxes and general revenues going to public safety, housing costs, and cultural and recreational opportunities; the 2010 Tax Watch Ranking of Brevard County's tax burden ranked Brevard County 57th out of 67 counties; the Simplified Nimble Accelerated Permitting (SNAP)certification was added, along with cultural and recreational opportunities, with Parks, Environmentally Endangered Lands (EEL), Natural Resources, libraries, and arts and culture.

 

 

 

Commissioner Fisher clarified there are 57 places that are more expensive than Brevard County; out of 67 counties there are 57 counties paying higher taxes than Brevard County; and the 10 counties are not paying higher taxes because they are in rural areas.  Mr. Tipton responded affirmatively, and stated the remaining 10 are smaller counties, but when job competition is talked about, Brevard County is typically competing with nine of the largest counties in the State; and stated Brevard County is a good deal in terms of affordability and impacts on housing.

 

 

 

Commissioner Bolin Lewis added, she thinks it explains why people live in Brevard County and drive to Jacksonville for employment because it is a better deal.  Commissioner Infantini mentioned the tax rate is about two-tenths of a percent less than Jacksonville; Brevard County is higher than Indian River, Osceola, and Polk Counties; and Volusia is the highest County.  Mr. Tipton clarified it is not the tax rate; this study takes into account all of the taxes; all of those counties have a Public Service Tax and many have a Sales Tax; and there are other things that the Tax Watch Group took into account.

 

 

 

Mr. Tipton stated the County helped in development; it is proud of its designation from the EDC for the SNAP Award, which is an award recognizing that Brevard County has an excellent Permitting, Planning and Development Program in place, where it is not wasting time in the development community, it understands time is money, and having decisions made in a very timely manner; and Brevard County is taking the lead in taking this discussion regionally because so many of its business partners not only work in Brevard County, but work throughout the Central Florida Region, and Brevard County will be taking the lead on seeing if it can come up with a regional permitting solution that is common throughout Central Florida.  He added, how to impact some of the housing and neighborhood areas are with the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) dollars; CDBG dollars are traditionally used for infrastructure, such as sewer water lines, sidewalks, and drainages; and the Shimburg Center for Housing Studies at University of Florida (UF) states for every dollar associated with State Housing Initiative Partnership (SHIP), there is a $7.66 return to the economic activity of that community.  He stated historical funding for economic development uses reserves for cash incentives, tax abatements for State matches, and CRA's are funded through tax increments; the current operating reserves are $14 million, with a goal of 10 percent, and currently at 8.1 percent; and the current restricted reserves have about $3.3 million.  He added, funding incentives for reserves has been a short-term tactic, but it is not a sustainable strategy for the long-term; in light of the slowing recovery of property tax revenues, and with the knowledge of the growing gap in the ability to maintain the current infrastructure, other solutions need to be discussed; and it not only is the County's responsibility, but its municipal partners.  He stated potential funding sources for cash incentives are with Infrastructure Sales Tax, Public Services Tax, ans Referendums; and the NBEDZ is an exciting development for Brevard County because it will take cash incentives to bring some deals to closure.  He stated the local government infrastructure sales surtax authorized through Florida Statutes Sections 212.054 and 212.055, applies to all transactions subject to the State tax imposed on sales, use, service, rentals, admissions, and other authorized transactions allowing local government to address infrastructure issues; and there is about one-half billion dollars worth of infrastructure issues sitting out there, that has been heard in budget presentations, but it allows up to 15 percent of those dollars to be used for economic development.  He talked about the approval authority required for such a sales surtax to be implemented, is through voter referendum, and the ballot statement must include the intention to allocate some of that for economic development; it can be Sunset; it is up to the Board how the referendum is written, as to what the length of time of that is; and advised the revenues for a one-half cent of a sales surtax would be about $17.1 million, and for a full cent it would be about $34.1 million.  He explained Public Service Tax is a tax authorized by Florida Statutes 166.231 through 166.235, authorizing to levy by ordinance a Public Service Tax on the purchase of electricity, metered natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas, manufactured gas, and water service; and authorizing uses can be considered general revenue for the municipality or charter county, and approved by the Board, with a simple-majority vote being imposed by ordinance.  He stated there can be Sunset provisions determined as part of the final adoption of the ordinance, and anticipated gross revenue of $12 million collected only in the unincorporated areas and incorporated entities within Brevard County already apply a Public Service Tax, with surrounding counties having their Public Service Tax already in place.  He reiterated the options mentioned are the challenges being faced; a decision is not being sought after today; but he does think from staff's perspective, there will need to be further discussions on this topic as it moves forward.  He expressed his appreciation to all who spoke today; he hopes it was an instructional discussion; and he is available for any questions.                           

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ITEM VI., PUBLIC COMMENTS

 

 

Randal Agostini stated he has a graph to show the Board how Brevard County compares to other taxing districts in Florida; the graph illustrates what the government is doing compared to what the people are doing; a gap can be seen between the income levels of the people and the government, the income for males in Brevard County is $44,000 a year, and for females it is $27,000; the main income for a person working for Brevard County is $77,000; and stated the two lines are widening and the disparity is growing.  He mentioned all presentations given today stressed the importance of government incentives, and all being at the taxpayers expense.  He stated existing businesses in Brevard County that actually pay their taxes have important needs; a typical small business is able to retain only three to five percent of gross revenues in pre-tax profit, meaning that a property tax of $5,000 requires sales to be $100,000 if the business uses every dollar for fees such as, permits, licenses, compliance costs, impact fees, or taxes will cost about $20 of sales just to feed the regulatory machinery.  He stated the Board does not have business owners coming before it requesting an economic zone or a handout of subsidy; the business owners just want to be left alone to run their business, have a lower tax bill, and more reasonable and business-friendly relations; and he thinks what is being created is a tiered society in Brevard County, with the poor paying for the rich.  He went on to say Dr. Slotkin did not have a graph for the median household income compared to the median County household tax; and he thinks before the Board goes into the budget meetings it should have that comparison.  He stated he wants the Board to not forget about the small businesses and the over 100,000 retirees who exist on fixed incomes.

 

 

 

Peter Fusscas expressed his thanks to the Board for having a workshop; he is very impressed by all the presentations given; and it affirms Brevard County is a very business-friendly community.  He stated he is present today to read a letter aloud from Marty Adams, "Hello Commissioners.  Not being able to attend this workshop, I wanted you to consider the following input:  As a business broker and former business owner in Brevard for more than 20 years, I taught business owners and worked with them, that is what I do.  I have never heard any business owner tell me I need an economic zone or I need help from local government.  Not many forums have I heard business owners asking for any handouts or subsidies or special treatment, they just want to be left alone, and run their business.  I do hear them say, I need a lighter tax load, or a more reasonably implemented, regulatory climate.  That is what I hear and I hear that very often.  People who are not business owners may not know how difficult it is to generate pre-tax profit.  On average, the average small business is able to retain only three to five percent of the gross revenues, as pre-tax profit.  This means the property tax bill of $5,000 requires sales of $100,000 and that is if your business is performing at the five percent net-profit level.  Think of it, for a typical small business $100,000 of sales might mean one or possibly two months of profitless work, just to pay a $5,000 property tax bill.  Every dollar of fees, compliance costs, impact fees, taxes, etcetera-etcetera requiring about $20 dollars of sales, that's a 20:1 ratio, it’s the profit list to the owner, and that's the fee of regulatory machinery.  I hear this from every sector of contracting services, sales, and all types in our County.  There is a better way, and this Commission should and could lead it.  The better way is to totally restructure the regulatory system, not a temporary situation, but a permanent change, and such a change would send out a clear signal, in addition to your very business-friendly workshop that Brevard welcomes small businesses.  Think of the transformational power that message sends".  Mr. Fusscas added, he enjoys listening to the Board; he admires Commissioner Infantini for defending her District; and he thinks Chairman Nelson has a very astute understanding of the bureaucracy.  He talked about writing in Florida TODAY; he recommends the economic development job creating ability should be transferred to the White House; President Barack Obama needs some help; and he thinks Commissioner Fisher would be an excellent addition to President Obama's Economic Development Team.  Commissioner Fisher expressed his appreciation for the compliment.  Mr. Fusscas went on to say economic development and job growth is not just a regional issue, it is a countywide issue; people move around the County approaching economic development from a regional point of view; and should be approaching it as a countywide view, as Commissioner Infantini suggests.

 

 

 

Dave Pasley stated he applauds the efforts; what he does not applaud is the fact that there are 23 Community Redevelopment Agencies (CRA's), 53 Special Districts, and 77 Agencies all taking money from taxpayers; and he inquired at what point is it enough and is the North Brevard Economic Development Zone (NBEDZ) a CRA.  He stated there are Statutes referring to conflict of interest; it needs resolving because if it is a CRA there are some issues, and it does not fit the mold; and need, slum, and blight have not been discussed.  He inquired at what point will the Tax Increment Financing (TIF) be based on the cost of the value of the Florida Power & Light plant prior to its destruction or the vacant land there now, plus the transmission lines, or is it going to be based on the cost of the value of the plant when it goes back in operation.  Chairman Nelson responded it is the value of the zone, not of the individual parcel; the parcel adds to that zone when the zone was created; the zone has a 14 percent decrease; and the TIF piece of that went backwards, it actually has no money, and will have to recapture value to finally get to the point where it does have money.  Mr. Pasley inquired once the TIF has been established what happens if the property price goes down, and who makes up the difference.  Chairman Nelson responded nobody; and stated all CRA's have seen that happen and reduced the amount of money they receive.  Commissioner Fisher replied it is just less money.  Mr. Pasley inquired if bonding is the case and revenues are still coming in will the bonds be paid.  Chairman Nelson responded absolutely; and he stated just like in Palm Bay with those bonds, the City will be paying those bonds.  Commissioner Fisher added the Board has made no decisions on the bonds.  Mr. Pasley stated he is looking forward to seeing the plan and wants to review it; and stated he has reservations about how the plan is being directed, but the bottom line is something needs to be done about economic development.

 

 

 

Joe Hill stated he is a Space Coast Technical Network Member; he is present today to voice his support of the NBEDZ; North Brevard was the hardest hit area from the reductions made at Kennedy Space Center; and the area is needing some help.

 

 

 

Dale Young inquired who is the registered agent for NBEDZ, in accordance to Statute 189.  Stockton Whitten, Assistant County Manager, responded it is a Special District, not a zone; and advised Howard Tipton, County Manager, is the registered agent for purposes of receiving information, and filling the annual report.  Mr. Young stated Brevard County will have some budget challenges this year; it has 57 Special Districts and 23 CRA's all sharing property taxes to some extent; every one of them drive off of the General Fund; he does not understand how this is not costing anyone any money; and he wonders how future increases will pay for pensions, raises, and the added County facilities that are intended to be built.  He went on to say these 57 Special Districts and 23 CRA's are going to eat up every cent the County gets; and he thinks Brevard County is headed for Stockton, California.  He stated Florida Statute 189 states it is the intent to have one centralized location for all legislation government Special Districts; CRA's do not apply; having specifically used Florida Statute 189 in an Ordinance is something the County is stuck with; and it implies that it was not used and all appointments will be made by a single county or city.  He mentioned it is intended for one single entity to do the appointments, which has not been done yet; and he inquired why this was not done under Statute 189.405 and hold elections for those positions.  He stated Florida Supreme Court did not change the Constitution and made a decision that is in direct conflict with the Florida Constitution; and he predicts the way to resolve it is to go back to the Constitution.  He stated he is totally against the NBEDZ; he advised the Board to use caution; and he thinks the Board will not be able to use General Fund Ad Valorem taxes to bond out.

 

 

 

Glenn Andersen, Space Coast Technical Network (SCTN) Executive Director, stated Titusville is the hub of where many members of SCTN meet; they are the faces of the bullet-points made in the EDC presentation; and noted SCTN is ranked number one in the communities of Florida for engineers, and is ranked fifth in the nation for engineers.  He mentioned he took a job with a defense contractor in Washington, D.C. who is very flexible about his time off; and he will continue working on SCTN as well.  He stated SCTN is working on re-employment training and helping individuals transition from Kennedy Space Center by working with Brevard Workforce to work at places like Embraer.  He stated he and SCTN supports the NBEDZ 100 percent, plus he attends every meeting; he applauded the EDC for bringing employment places into Brevard County; and SCTN is helping to make more jobs happen and getting people back to work.  He added, his friend Terry White, who filled out a speaker card had to leave, but when Mr. White was escorting President Barack Obama around KSC, he was being told there would be a manned space program as long as President Obama was in office; and it was two-months later when the announcement was made there would no longer be a manned space program.

 

 

 

Ron Caswell stated the north end of the County is at the detriment of the rest of the County; and expressed his thanks to the Board for helping sort things out for the community.            

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ITEM VII., BOARD DISCUSSION

 

 

Chairman Nelson expressed his appreciation for all efforts being made from the business community; stated the funding mechanisms voiced are interesting to him; the Board will continue staying on its course; and he is comfortable the Board is on the right track and he thinks the more positive the Board is about this the more successful it will be.

 

 

 

Commissioner Fisher expressed his thanks for all who were present today.  

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Upon Board consensus, the meeting adjourned at 1:31 p.m.

 

 

 

 

 

 

ATTEST:                                                          __________________________________

                                                                         CHUCK NELSON, CHAIRMAN

                                                                         BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

_________________________                 BREVARD COUNTY, FLORIDA

MITCH NEEDELMAN, CLERK