News

COUNTY COMMISSION

Voters to Decide Tax Break Plan

Ballot measure would lower taxes for doing business in "blighted" areas.


By Tom Palmer
THE LEDGER

Published: Wednesday, August 6, 2008 at 12:01 a.m.
Last Modified: Thursday, August 7, 2008 at 12:32 a.m.

BARTOW | County commissioners voted unanimously Wednesday to ask Polk voters in November to approve a proposal to give property tax breaks to businesses locating or expanding in "blighted" areas.

POLK COUNTY COMMISSION
In other action Wednesday, county commissioners:

Approved an agreement with RLF Cypress Land Holdings to share litigation costs as a cost-savings method in a pending lawsuit over the commission's approval of a development east of Lake Wales. RLF Cypress Land Holdings was the developer whose project was approved by commissioners.

Approved a resolution supporting the Lake County Commission's opposition to the St. Johns River Water Management District's planned issuance of a permit allowing Niagra Bottling Co. to withdraw near 500,000 gallons of water a day from the Floridan aquifer.

Approved a $138,000 contract with Moduss Inc. for drainage improvements on Woodland Avenue in the Lakeland area.

Approved a proclamation designating Aug 10-16 as Heather Hurd Traffic Safety Awareness Week on U.S. 27 and Distracted Driving Week.

Approved a $41,784 agreement with CSX Transportation in connection with the planned construction of a sidewalk along Pipkin Road West in the Lakeland area.

Reappointed Kelly Callihan to the Parks MSTU Advisory Committee.

Increased the maximum subsidy for eligible homebuyers from $6,000 to $10,000 from the Community Housing Development Organization.

Related Links:

The details of how the tax breaks would apply would be worked out after voters approve the measure.

Commissioner Bob English proposed the measure, saying it would be the key to revitalizing downtown areas. The proposal comes following recent requests by some Polk cities to offer impact fee exemptions in defined areas.

"It's another tool to revitalize core areas,'' English said. "This will make core areas very attractive to developers.''

Commissioner Jack Myers initially suggested holding a work session to flesh out the details, but dropped the proposal after hearing English's explanation of the plan.

County Attorney Michael Craig said last week that one of the key issues in the discussion will be how "blight" will be defined.

In some parts of Polk County where community redevelopment agencies have been formed, the "'blight'' they are addressing consisted of nothing more than the need to improve the road network to improve development.

In other cases, the term has been applied to older areas in the middle cities where local officials are trying to encourage redevelopment or infill development.

Craig said granting a tax exemption is a detailed process and each application is evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

Another question still to be decided is how generous a tax exemption to grant. The law allows granting up to 100 percent of the value of the improvements to businesses.

English told other commissioners last week that his intent was to propose a 100 percent exemption the first year for any business that is granted the exemption and gradually reduce it to zero over a four-year period.

The exemption would apply only to county taxes. If cities wanted to offer an exemption for the properties, the cities would have to hold separate referendums.

Craig told commissioners Friday that the law requires a fiscal analysis of the impact of the lost revenue.

Also, the authority expires 10 years after approval, but can be renewed for an additional 10 years.

[ Tom Palmer can be reached at tom.palmer@theledger.com or 863-802-7535. His blog on county government is at county.theledger.com. ]


This story appeared in print on page B1

Comments

Only moderator-approved comments are shown on this page. To see all comments, please visit the forum.
    Post a comment | View all comments on this topic.