Audit of Economic Development Incentive Fund Program, April 2019

13 |  A u d i t o f E c o n o m i c D e v e l o p m e n t I n c e n t i v e F u n d P r o g r a m  A p r i l 2 0 1 9 5. Residency Requirements Observation  Per the Financial Incentive Grant Agreements reviewed, the agreement states that the  "Company shall undertake best efforts to fill not less than fifty (50%) of all New Full Time Jobs  with employees who are residents of Sarasota County so long as Company reasonably  determines that there are properly qualified applicants residing in Sarasota County".   The auditor identified and reviewed five Financial Incentive Grant Agreements that were  entered into after January 1, 2014 and two agreements that exceeded $100,000 for the period  of January 1, 2012 through December 31, 2013. There were a total of 19 payments made  against the agreements, totaling $878,226.  The auditor identified eight instances of non‐compliance related to the residency requirements.  Two job affidavits did not include any county residency information. One job affidavit included  incomplete county residency information. The other five job affidavits indicated that the  percentage of new full‐time employees residing in Sarasota County was 48, 42, 33, 24, and 21  percent respectively. The supporting documentation did not indicate why the entities were  unable to meet the 50 percent threshold.  Recommendation In order to obtain assurance that companies are making best efforts to fill not less than 50% of  all new full time jobs with employees who reside in Sarasota County, the County should ensure  that each job affidavit includes resident information. If the percentage of new full time jobs  created falls below this amount, the company should be requested to provide additional  information as to why they were unable to fill the positions with employees residing within  Sarasota County.