Legislation to expedite City Council review and approval of economic incentive deals was reviewed by three Council committees Thursday, but while tweaks were made, no votes were cast.
The proposed legislation would allow deals to be approved in one or two Council readings, depending on the amount of incentives requested and incentive parameters. It would shave weeks off the turnaround time for such deals to be completed, which officials say will make Jacksonville more competitive when attracting employers.
The legislation is the third and final piece of Mayor Alvin Brown's economic development reform proposed in March. The first two, creating the Office of Economic Development and Downtown Investment Authority, were approved earlier this year.
Members of the Council Rules, Finance and Recreation and Community Development committees jointly met Thursday to review the legislation and offer suggestions, which will likely be voted on Nov. 29 at a follow-up special meeting.
For one-reading deals, which could be turned in as little as a week, deals would be for $300,000 or less and not seek waivers from the current economic development policy. Other deals would have to be reviewed in the two-reading cycle, which would add a couple of weeks, or through the regular process that can take a little more than month in Council.
Deals will be approved in resolution form instead of ordinance, which also shortens the time frame and reduces the requirements, though if a deal needed certain requirements — like closing a road — it would then need to be filed as an ordinance.
All requests will be reviewed at the Council level by a committee, possibly the Finance Committee, on the second and fourth Mondays of each month. The Tuesday following is scheduled full Council meetings, where deals would receive final approval.
Maintaining public input also was a topic of conversation, with Council members suggesting that any deals filed by the 5 p.m. Wednesday deadline each cycle be displayed as soon as possible online on the City's website and potentially a new portal that shows only fast-tracked legislation. Members also suggested that public comment be allowed before any review committee vote.
An ongoing schedule of deals and how much money the City is investing in such deals also was suggested.
To allow further review, the legislation also requires filed deals to be submitted simultaneously to the Council Auditor's Office to begin its review that Council can used for an approval decision.
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