On Tuesday, Escambia County voters approved the renewal of the Economic Development Ad Valorem Tax Exemption (EDATE) program, 55%-45%. The EDATE program allows the county commission to grant a property tax exemption for up to 10 years when businesses expand or create jobs.
Navy Federal Credit Union and Ascend Performance Materials both were given EDATES and combined created nearly 6,000 new jobs and drove more than $380 million in investments in Escambia County.
Bruce Vredenburg chaired Elevate Escambia, the political action committee that was organized to provide education and awareness around the ballot referendum. He sent out an email thanking supporters:
Supporters/investors,
On behalf of the Elevate Escambia political committee that was organized to provide education and awareness around the ballot referendum on Economic Development Ad Valorem Tax Exemptions (EDATEs) in Escambia County, Florida, I wanted to reach out to all of you and extend our sincerest appreciation for your investment in our effort.
Your confidence and trust in our committee to successfully execute a plan to educate the local electorate on the value of EDATEs as well as the necessity to have EDATEs as a part of our recruitment and retention program was rewarded yesterday with the passage of the referendum.
This successful outcome ensures that for the next ten (10) years Escambia County will be able to compete directly and aggressively with all the other counties throughout the state who have EDATEs at their disposal, as well as against neighboring states and communities, in maintaining and recruiting successful companies to the area to grow jobs, create opportunities and expand commerce for everyone who does business within Escambia County.
We are fortunate to have community stewards, such as yourselves, who understand that these efforts require the investment of dollars and manpower to help make it happen. Thank you for taking action!!
Onward and upward,
Bruce