TO: Honorable Mayor & Members of the North Port Commission
FROM: Peter D. Lear, CPA, CGMA, City Manager
TITLE: Discussion of Impact Fees, Deferrals, and Waivers Best Practices and Economic Fiscal Impacts
Recommended Action
Discussion and possible action on Impact Fee Deferral best practices.
Background Information
At the June 11, 2019 Commission meeting, the direction was given to staff to provide a process for impact fee deferrals. The process required the Economic Development Division, the Economic Development Board, and the Chamber of Commerce to discuss and help staff define criteria for deferment of 100% of impact fees.
Staff research highlighted a current practice that is in line with the City of North Port's goals for commercial impact fees. This practice detailed in the attachments, allows for various ranges of deferral reductions depending on multiple variables, which provides for more diversity in the businesses that may qualify for the deferrals.
On October 14, 2019, staff met with the Chamber of Commerce and discussed suggestions for how to design and implement a comprehensive system of commercial impact fee deferrals for future developments within the City. Three benefits to the public were established through this discussion:
1. Economic Impact
2. Workforce Attraction
3. Quality of Life Enhancement
During the November 4, 2019 City Commission Workshop, Commission directed staff, to use Cape Coral (Attachment 1) as a guide for impact fee deferrals and work with the Economic Development Division to bring a list of targeted industries to the Commission.
Planning staff researched economic development in the state of Florida with the assistance of the City's Economic Development Division. Using research done by Enterprise Florida, Inc. (EFI), staff highlighted targeted industries that would be of interest to the City of North Port. The targeted industries were broken down into two main categories: manufacturing, processing, fabrication, etc.; an...
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