St. Johns County advances $23 million incentive deal for unnamed tech firm -- Agreement with yet unnamed company will come back for final vote; details to be released before then (SAR)

Remember when Republicans were fiscal conservatives? Legislators like H.R. Gross (R-Iowa) would criticize wasteful spending. Not any longer. These five Republican County Commissioners "have given our hearts away, a sordid boon," in the words of William WOrdsworth. I spoke in opposition to this giveaway, as did B.J. Kalaidi and Tom Reynolds, Listen to the discussion on agenda item 3 here: here. Read the St. Augustine Record article, quoting me: St. Johns County advances $23 million incentive deal for unnamed tech firm Agreement with yet unnamed company will come back for final vote; details to be released before then (SAR) By Sheldon Gardner St. Augustine Record April 6, 2020 St. Johns County commissioners approved drawing up a more than $23 million economic incentive package for an unnamed tech firm, but the proposal still needs final commission approval. The firm has requested confidentiality, which is allowed under state law, at this stage of negotiations because it is still in the due diligence process. But officials at Tuesday's meeting said that, before the agreement is final, the details will become public. "Before an actual agreement is made, the agreement is at that point not confidential," County Attorney Patrick McCormack said. The applicant is requesting a 30-year economic development incentive agreement with the county "due to the magnitude of the project and to encourage retention and expansion of an existing business with significant economic impact within St. Johns County," according to the backup materials. At the maximum incentive of more than $23.38 million, the county would pay annual installments of $832,019 to the company. The payments are property taxes, impact fees and water/sewer unit connection fees paid back over time. The applicant plans to build 150,000-square-foot building for digital media operations in the information technology field, according to the county. The project is expected to be finished in early 2024. The project is estimated to cost more than $100 million for the land, building and equipment, according to the county, and it's expected to "bring $304 million in direct economic impact per year and $16.7 million in school taxes over 30 years." Commissioner Christian Whitehurst noted, in the form of a question, that the county doesn't often see projects of that value seeking to land in St. Johns County. "Is it safe to say we're not going to see an opportunity like this every year?" he asked Deputy County Administrator Joy Andrews, who agreed. But a few speakers from the public raised concerns about the project, confidentiality and the massive proposed break on tax dollars and fees. "You're giving away our tax base, gentlemen," blogger Ed Slavin said. Attorney Ellen Avery Smith, who represents the applicant, declined to provide further details about the business. In addition to the proposed project, the applicant has requested incentives from the county for an existing building in the county, where 145 jobs will be retained at an average annual salary of $97,000. Details haven't been released about the existing building. As of Tuesday, the applicant hadn't provided the number of jobs that would be created with the new building. The proposal was to have both buildings considered in the same agreement. But commissioners agreed, with Commissioner Henry Dean dissenting, to bring back two options: an incentive agreement with the buildings together, and separate economic incentive agreements for each building. Dean said he supported advancing the agreement with both buildings together. Commissioner Jeb Smith said he's for economic development and understands the purpose of confidentiality for business purposes. He said in this case, it's not as easy to understand the benefit to the taxpayers, while the benefit to the applicant is clearly laid out. He was the commissioner who suggested splitting up the buildings into two separate agreements. Whitehurst said smart growth is about balancing residential growth with commercial growth. He said he was not sure whether he would support the final agreement. "The devil will be in the details," he said. Commission Chair Jeremiah Blocker noted that the board placed economic development as a top priority, and he said job creation is critical and the county needs commercial growth. Voting yes, which he did, meant he was interested in learning more details about the project, he said. "We've had tremendous residential growth," he said. In considering incentive agreements, the county must look at the type of industry, facility size, number of jobs created and wages paid. The incentives are used by the county to draw in new commercial businesses. Typically the county limits its economic incentive agreements to four years, Deputy County Administrator Joy Andrews said. But the county's economic incentive ordinance allows for agreements outside of that range.