- April 19, 2024
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Business and political leaders in Flagler County are struggling to make sense of state Rep. Paul Renner’s new bill that proposes to eliminate two state-funded organizations that promote tourism and economic development — organizations Renner says benefit few businesses at the expense of many taxpayers.
Members of the Flagler County Chamber of Commerce Board, as well as county officials, met on Monday morning for a conference call with Renner. He explained that the bill was generated by a state committee of which he is a part, and he was asked to sponsor it. The goal is to remove most of the incentives that “take from the many and give to the few.” Instead, he said, eliminating both programs — Enterprise Florida and Visit Florida — could save millions of tax dollars that could be put to better use on things like infrastructure and tax cuts, which would boost the economy for everyone.
“We’re not talking about anti-economic development,” he said. “We’re talking about getting it right. … Government doesn’t do business very well. Enteprise Florida and its predecessors in economic development have a poor record of picking winners and losers. … For every success story, there’s a horror story right behind it.”
On the other hand, he continued, “If you spent every dollar on economic incentives and instead applied it every business in Flagler County, it is our belief that is a much better return.”
Sara Hale, managing partner of Coastal Cloud, a company that chose Flagler County over other locations in part because of connections with Enterprise Florida, challenged Renner’s logic. She asked him if the conclusions reached by the committee were based on market research. Renner didn’t answer that question but repeated that, philosophically, incentives are a bad idea because they’re “interfering in the market’s process” by lowering the cost of doing business for certain companies.
In turn, Renner challenged the position of gift shop owner Michelle Brown, who said tourism helped her small business succeed. He encouraged her to survey her customers to see how many were there as a direct result of Visit Florida dollars.
Brown, as well as Chamber President Rebecca DeLorenzo, said the state organizations bring much more benefit than dollar incentives; they also bring connections and support that are difficult to quantify.
Helga van Eckert, executive director of Flagler County’s Department of Economic Opportunity, also challenged Renner view that small tax cuts for all would have an impact. Larger incentives, which are always based on performance and therefore aren't very risky, provide a big enough boost to a few businesses that they provide a ripple effect in the economy. Moreover, other states will continue to offer incentives, so the companies that have been lured to Flagler County would simply be lured somewhere else.
“In Flagler County, we benefit so much more than the urban environments because a little change makes a big impact to us,” van Eckert said.
Reforming Enterprise Florida and Visit Florida are welcome. But eliminating them?
“You don’t do scorched earth without a plan to replace,” van Eckert said.
