Okaloosa County BOCC — March 1, 2016 — Public Hearing - Adoption of Amended Ordinance for EDATE Project — agenda request

BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS AGENDA REQUEST DATE: March 1, 2016 TO: Honorable Chairman and Members of the Board FROM: Roland Sims Jr. SUBJECT: Public Hearing - Adoption of Amended Ordinance for EDATE Project Veteran’s Pride DEPARTMENT: County Administrator BCC DISTRICT: All STATEMENT OF ISSUE: The Board at its meeting of January 5, 2016, adopted Ordinance 16- 01which granted an Economic Development Ad Valorem Tax Exemption for Project Veteran’s Pride. That Ordinance contemplated that Project Veteran’s Pride would expand a site at 656 Lovejoy Road in the City of Fort Walton Beach. As a result of certain business opportunities, Project Veteran’s Pride has determined that it would be beneficial to locate to another site at 125 Lovejoy Road, Fort Walton Beach, Florida. The business would still qualify for an Economic Development Ad Valorem Tax Exemption but the prior Ordinance would need to be amended and an Amended Performance Agreement would need to be entered into. The Board authorized the advertising and scheduling of the public hearing to consider the proposed amendment at its February 16th meeting. BACKGROUND AND ANALYSIS: Under the Florida Constitution and Florida Statutes, the County has the authority to grant property tax exemptions provided that the voters have authorized those actions. On August 26, 2014, the voters approved that authority to Okaloosa County. Project Veteran’s Pride is an existing operation serving entities in Okaloosa County. Since beginning operations in 2011, the two owners of the company (who are also retiring Air Force Pilots) expanded its footprint by 50% in 2013. The company is ready to expand into the mass production and distribution of craft beverage within the next 1 to 5 years. The company has signed a contract with a major distributor and must increase its production by 2017. The focus of the new facility will be to provide the craft product to distributors for sale in the Southeast United States. Project Veteran’s Pride is considering purchasing equipment, with an estimated value of over $850,376 and newly acquiring an existing building with renovations injecting an additional $835,000 into the economy for a total of $1,685,376 in capital investment. This will allow them to expand their workforce by 11 employees with an average wage of $43,090 (115% of the average wage in Okaloosa County). The Board previously approved the Economic Development Ad Valorem Tax Exemption for Project Veteran’s Pride through the adoption of Ordinance 16-01 at its meeting on January 5, 2016. However since that approval, a new opportunity has arisen to locate the expansion at a different location. This new site is located at 125 Lovejoy Road which is outside of the City of Fort Walton Beach. To continue to grant the Economic Development Ad Valorem Tax Exemption for Project Veteran’s Pride, the Board must amend the previously adopted Ordinance to identify the new site and approve an Amended Economic Development Ad Valorem Tax Exemption Performance Agreement for Project Veteran’s Pride. Staff requests approval of the amendments to Ordinance 16-01 and consider the approval of the Amended Economic Development Ad Valorem Tax Exemption Performance Agreement. OPTIONS: Approve/Disapprove. RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends the approval of the amendment to Ordinance 16-01 for Project Veteran’s Pride and to authorize the Chairman to execute the Amended Economic Development Ad Valorem Tax Exemption Performance Agreement on behalf of the Board. RECOMMENDED BY: APPROVED BY: John Hofstad, County Administrator