Tampa Bay Times Mischaracterized Florida’s incentives Program
 and Omits Florida’s Success Story

October 10, 2014

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Today, the Tampa Bay Times did a follow-up piece to their December story on Florida’s job creation strategies with respect to incentives. Like last December, today’s story mischaracterized the incentives process, forcing us to Set the Record Straight…

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FACT: Each incentive contract has its own job creation schedule, as well as a job maintenance schedule.

• Jobs are not immediately created after a project is announced because many companies are making long-term investments that require time for the construction of buildings, infrastructure, or the fulfillment of local, federal, or other regulatory permits and requirements.
• When a business enters into an incentive agreement with DEO, it is not uncommon for the first job creation phase to begin the calendar year following the year the agreement is executed.
• Incentive agreement requirements are typically phased in and met over multiple years, and performance is measured and verified annually to ensure progress.
• Most agreements contain between five to 10 scheduled performance years.

FACT: This simply is not the case. Measuring total jobs committed and total jobs confirmed is a grossly inaccurate reflection of the success of the program as it assumes all jobs committed are due in the first year.

• A true accounting of the numbers does not mislead: Of economic development incentive agreements executed during this administration, 3,253 jobs are due. Of those, 2,851 jobs have been confirmed as created, representing a more than 85 percent success rate thus far.
• A business announcement is an announcement of plans. When a company announces they are bringing jobs to an area, it is not immediate. Plans must be carried out that may include permitting, building, recruiting, or other items. Jobs are created over a span of several years.
• Of active projects approved during this administration, 85 percent of the jobs due will be confirmed this year.
• This is why DEO protects the taxpayer with clawbacks, sanctions, and pro-rated awards mandated in contracts.

FACT: The Times/Herald omits these companies never received a payment. The story also omits that the majority of incentive agreements are pay-after-performance, and agreements include clawbacks and sanctions to protect taxpayer investment.

• A core principle of the state’s economic development incentive program is that businesses are paid based on verified performance, meaning no tax dollars are paid until job creation or capital investment numbers are audited and confirmed to protect taxpayer investment by an independent outside consultant.
• Incentive agreements have sanction and clawback provisions to protect the state’s investment.
• While performance requirements are typically phased-in and met over multiple years, performance is measured and confirmed annually.
• This administration is committed to holding companies that receive incentives accountable to taxpayers.
• One hundred percent compliance will likely never be reached as the economy is dynamic and business plans change.

FACT: Each incentive contract has its own job creation schedule, as well as a job maintenance schedule.

• Jobs are not immediately created after a project is announced because many companies are making long-term investments that could require time for the construction of buildings, infrastructure, or the fulfillment of local, federal, or other regulatory permits and requirements.
• When a business enters into an incentive agreement with DEO, it is not uncommon for the first job creation phase to begin the calendar year following the year the agreement is executed.
• Incentive agreement requirements are typically phased-in and met over multiple years, and performance is measured and verified annually to ensure progress.
• Most agreements contain between five to 10 scheduled performance years.

Contact: DEO Communications, 850.617.5600, media@deo.myflorida.com