Audit of Economic Development Incentive Fund Program, April 2019

4 |  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 On April 14, 2009, the BCC, in recognition of the need to focus County efforts on economic  development, created the Economic Development Fund with $2 Million of escheated lots  revenue. This fund is to be devoted to providing economic development incentives to entities  that are considering relocating to Sarasota County, expanding their business, or planning to  assist other government agencies and non‐profits with their economic development activities.  The BCC has approved a total of $16,676,000 to be committed to economic development  projects since the start of the fund. As of September 19, 2018, the fund has an available balance  of $6,829,291, which includes interest earnings.  Since the inception of the economic development incentive program the BCC has considered,  awarded and subsequently entered into incentive agreements with 36 businesses, eight non‐ profit organizations and two local municipalities. With each of these awards, the entities have  committed to providing an economic stimulus to the community as part of their overall plans  for growth. In particular, with respect to the private businesses, each one represented that it  would create a specific number of local jobs and some represented that they would also invest  a substantial amount of capital into the County.  In order for an entity to obtain grant funding from the County, they are required to create new  full‐time permanent jobs over the course of a year (the job creation period). At the end of the  job creation period, the company is then required to submit a Job Creation/Retention Affidavit  (the job affidavit) and provide corresponding state Employer's Quarterly Reports  (RT‐6, formerly  UCT‐6) to support the job affidavit. Information to be included in the job affidavit includes the  employee names, employee identification numbers, county residence, job classification or title,  job creation date, salary, and the type of position created (new, relocated, or replacement). The  County reviews the information submitted, determines the net jobs created during the job  creation period, and ensures that the entity met the requirements in order to receive grant  funding. If the entity meets the requirements, the Office of Government Relations prepares a  payment request, provides it to the Office of Financial Management (OFM) for review, and once  approved, the Finance department issues a check to the entity.