INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — Indian River County commissioners have unanimously advanced changes to the county’s job grant program, a move officials say is designed to make the incentive more attractive and accessible to businesses considering locating or expanding in the area.
The revisions come after years of limited use of the program. According to Economic Development Manager Doug Dombroski, only two businesses have utilized the grant over the past decade.
Dombroski told commissioners the program’s structure had discouraged participation and created administrative challenges for applicants.
“The program agreement was difficult for the applicants to understand. The program was overly regulatory and burdensome to meet compliance. The old program had extensive quarterly reporting and the term of the agreement could go out as far as seven to nine years so it had a lengthy term. Finally the program return on investment for the businesses did not outweigh the contract management required for the businesses,” he said.
County officials said the changes are intended to reduce administrative hurdles while making the incentive available to a broader range of employers.
Among the revisions, the county will raise the wage threshold required for participation and shorten the timeline businesses must follow before receiving reimbursement.
“The wage threshold will be changed from 75 percent of the Indian River County wage to 100 percent of the Indian River County wage. It reduces the term of the agreement by eliminating several job creation periods and phases. This agreement will be simplified to really just have a maximum term of a three-year job creation period rather than having to wait three years for the full grant reimbursement,” Dombroski said. “Once they've created that job and it's been verified they can receive their grant.”
The updated program also includes provisions allowing the county to recover funds from businesses that fail to meet their commitments.
“We also included a clawback provision for businesses that do not fulfill their representations,” Dombroski said.
Officials have also increased the maximum amount available through the grant program, although annual payouts will remain capped.
“It went from $500,000 to $1.5 million. However, that grant ceiling, in any budget year, a business cannot receive more than $500,000 in any budget year,” Dombroski said.
The revised structure creates two incentive tiers based on the wages offered by participating businesses.
“So there's two tiers now,” Dombroski said. “The 100 to 149 percent wage category can receive 20 percent of the Indian River County average wage per job. And those businesses that create jobs that are 150 percent or greater of the Indian River County average wage may receive 25 percent of 150 percent of the Indian River County average wage.”
Lance Lunceford, chairman of the county’s Economic Development Council, said the changes would make the program more competitive while maintaining oversight and accountability.
“If approved, this would actually be, we've checked, the most ambitious job grants program in the state. At the same time, it removes the onerous red tape that Administrator Titkanich just spoke about, taking the quarterly requirements away, making it annual. At the same time, increasing the accountability through the clawback provision and also preserving the decision-making process the old program had of it ultimately being this commission's decision subject to available funding,” he said. “So a really well done effort from our standpoint.”
Commissioners voiced support for the revisions. Commissioner Laura Moss said she views the changes as part of a broader economic development strategy.
“I would see step two as targeting specific industries, businesses, and I would see step three as actively pursuing them,” Moss said.
The County Commission voted unanimously to move the changes forward. Commissioner Susan Adams was absent from the vote.