- April 26, 2024
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Flagler County will provide up to $680,160 over 10 years in the form of incentive pay to an as-of-yet-unnamed furniture assembly and distribution company to attract that company to Flagler County.
The money will be paid only after the company pays its taxes each year, and each year's disbursement cannot exceed the value of the company's property tax payment for that year.
County Commissioner Joe Mullins, speaking at a July 15 commission meeting before commissioners voted unanimously to approve the incentive agreement, asked county staff if the arrangement would be analogous to the company giving the county $100 and the county then handing $20 back. Helga van Eckert, executive director of the county's Department of Economic Opportunity, said that it would.
She said the company is more than 20 years old and would be constructing a 250,000-square-foot facility on US 1 and creating 50 jobs, with an average salary of $51,000 per year. That would also lead indirectly to another two dozen jobs, she said.
"This is a great project for our community," she said. "It’s a majoring investment in our county. ... Property taxes that would be generated based on an assessed value of $13 million would be over $200,000 per year, just based on the value of the building."
The land, she said, has been bringing in $116 per year in taxes.
"This is the beginning of what we’ve been working for, bringing the high-paying jobs," Mullins said. "Fifty jobs doesn’t sound like a lot, but it is."
He added that growing the county's commercial tax base will decrease the tax burden on residents.
Commissioner David Sullivan agreed. "I just think it’s what we’re supposed to be doing," he said. "It’s good for the tax situation."
Bunnell's director of community development, Rodney Lucas, said the city supports the project.
Resident Jane Gentile-Youd said commissioners shouldn't be so willing to move forward with a company about which they have limited information.
"You do not sign any project where there’s no name, no address, no proof," she said. "Anybody who votes for this should be removed from office."
Several other community members spoke in favor of the proposed agreement.
Jim Manfre, an attorney and former Flagler County sheriff, called the agreement a "great template for the future."
"Like any business, you have to invest to attract the customers, and this is what the county’s doing — it’s making an investment," he said.
County Chamber of Commerce Chairman Jorge Gutierrez said the money that the company will put into the project will more than cover the amount it will receive from the county.
"I looked at it and from an investor's perspective," Gutierrez said. "For me, it’s a no-brainer."
