Escambia County voters approved a 10-year EDATE exemption that will allow county officials to continue to offer tax breaks to encourage economic development projects.
County voters approved the measure Tuesday with 58,322 votes or 54.66% in support and 48,375 votes or 45.34% opposed with all precincts reporting.
EDATEs, or Economic Development Ad Valorem Tax Exemptions, were created by a 1992 state law that allows county commissions to grant tax exemptions if a business project meets specific economic development criteria.
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However, the power to grant the exemptions must be renewed by county voters every 10 years. The exemptions also do not apply to property taxes for the local school district.
Escambia County’s current EDATE power would have ended at the end of the year had voters not passed the referendum that extends the EDATE ordinance for another 10 years.
The EDATE was pushed heavily by the business community, who saw them as crucial to competing with other communities for big projects. In August, several business leaders came together to form Elevate Escambia, a political committee that advocated for the passage of the EDATE referendum.
The political committee received more than 45 contributions from local businesses raising $95,300 for its campaign, according to contribution reports filed with the Escambia County Supervisor of Elections.
Bruce Vredenburg, market president for Hancock Whitney Bank and chairman of Elevate Escambia, said the committee sent out mailers and bought billboards and advertisements to get the word out about the referendum.
Vredenburg said Escambia County is in direct competition with the state of Alabama for economic development projects.
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In September, Baldwin County, Alabama, announced it would be providing $123 million in tax abatements on top of $135 million in tax breaks from the state for a new $2.5 billion Novelis aluminum plant in Bay Minette that is expected to bring 1,000 jobs to that community.
Vredenburg said Escambia County might never be able to compete with those types of economic incentive packages, but it has to be able to offer some type of package when competing with states like Alabama and Mississippi that are willing to shell out millions.
“You’ve got to carry a gun to a gunfight,” Vredenburg said. “You’ve got to have something.”
According to the Escambia County Property Appraisers Office, Escambia County currently has seven active EDATES for three companies, Ascend Performance Materials, Navy Federal Credit Union, and Southtowne Apartments, totaling $2.9 million annually. The city of Pensacola also has an EDATE for Southtowne Apartments totaling $235,492.
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Southtowne was only eligible for an EDATE because it was a major construction project located in a Florida Enterprise Zone, which was a state program meant to boost economic activity in economically depressed areas. The law surrounding EDATES and Enterprise Zones has changed, and Southtowne just made the cutoff to qualify for the EDATE.
Elevate Escambia sent out a press release in October telling voters that future EDATES may also be eligible to be reimbursed by oil spill funds through Triumph Gulf Coast.
“We’ve always known that the jobs and investments from EDATE have far outweighed the tax rate reductions, and this is another strong reason to support this important economic development program. All those dollars can be recovered,” Vredenburg said.
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Elevate Escambia says these EDATEs have been responsible for more than $1.2 billion in investment in Escambia County and created more than 5,400 jobs.
No organized opposition to the EDATE referendum came together, and Escambia County Commissioner Doug Underhill was the lone official to oppose the renewal.
Underhill sent out an email to District 2 supporters as recently as Monday urging them to vote against the measure.
“Regardless of where you are on the spectrum of politics, you should recognize that EDATEs should be a problem for you,” Underhill said in April. “If you are a liberal Democrat you expect everyone to pay their fair share of taxes. … If you are a conservative Republican, you believe that the government should not be putting its finger on the scale, that government should not be trying to choose winners and losers, then you too should be opposed to EDATEs.”
