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Economic Development Incentives
New legislation enacted during the 2010 Regular Session requires local governments to report economic development incentives granted during the local fiscal year to the Office of Economic and Demographic Research (EDR). Specifically, local governments that have granted economic incentives in excess of $25,000 during the fiscal year must report to EDR by January 15, 2011, and annually thereafter, economic incentives, by class of incentive, given to businesses during the fiscal year. (Municipalities having annual revenues and expenditures less than $250,000 are excluded from this reporting requirement.) Local governments may fulfill their reporting requirement by accessing a survey at the external website provided below, or if the local government wishes to report by hard copy, a pdf file is also provided below. For electronic filers, we recommend you print a copy of the survey to gather important information prior to beginning your survey. EDR will compile the responses and make the results available in February 2012.
- Link to the Economic Development Incentives Survey
- Economic Development Incentives Survey [pdf]
- Prior Years Economic Development Incentives Report [cfm]
- Economic Development Incentives Survey Respondents [pdf]
Also, the new legislation requires that a contract between a local government (or an economic development agency acting on behalf of the local government) and an economic development agency or organization (EDO) must require the EDO to submit a report to the local government detailing how the funds were spent and the results of the agency's efforts. EDR has reviewed the annual reports of several EDO's and has recommended items of interest below that can be included in the EDO's report. This report is due January 15, 2011 and annually thereafter. Once an EDO has submitted a report to their local government, the local government is required to submit the report to EDR and post a copy of the report to the local government's website.
You may mail the report to:
Melissa Hallaian
Office of Economic and Demographic Research (EDR)
111 West Madison Street, Suite 574
Tallahassee, FL 32399-6588
hallaian.melissa@leg.state.fl.us
Are Community Redevelopment Areas (CRAs) incentives required to be included in this survey?
No, the reporting requirements in Sections 125.045 and 166.021, Florida Statutes, specify that a county or a municipality shall report economic incentives the county or municipality granted during the previous fiscal year. As the language specifies that only counties or municipalities must report, CRAs are not required to complete the survey. Economic incentives offered to a business within a CRA from a county or municipality should be included in the county's or municipality's report.
Community Redevelopment Areas are dependent special districts that are financed primarily through tax increment funding. Once approved, ad valorem taxes are calculated for a CRA for a base year and the value of all real property is frozen as of a fixed date. Any tax revenues from increases in real property value after the fixed date are deposited into the Community Redevelopment Agency Trust Fund. The funds through the tax increment financing must be used for specific redevelopment purposes in the CRA.
Last Revised: January 14, 2013
