For Immediate Release
Wednesday, April 13, 2016
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‘Citizens for a Better Nassau County’ Hosts First Public Meeting
RCLCO Fiscal Sustainability Analysis Shows Nassau County Needs to Look Toward Ways to
Diversify & Broaden its Tax Base
Nassau County, Fla. – ‘Citizens for a Better Nassau County,’ a non-profit organization focused on raising awareness of the importance of financial sustainability, yesterday hosted its first public meeting at the Florida State College at Jacksonville, Betty P. Cook Nassau Campus, Red Bean Center Building.
The meeting featured Shanea Jones, director of the Office of Management & Budget and assistant county manager of Nassau County, as well as Brian Martin, a vice president of Robert Charles Lesser & Co. (RCLCO), who presented an analysis on the fiscal sustainability of Nassau County.
In summary, RCLCO’s fiscal sustainability analysis showed the following:
• Nassau County’s tax base is much more dependent on its residential tax base than surrounding counties, counties of a similar size and to Florida as a whole;
• Anemic growth in industrial and commercial land use development has created a much greater reliance on residential property taxes to fund the county government;
• A lack of higher value industrial and commercial development contributed to the recent one-mill property tax increase; and
• Industrial development contributes a net fiscal benefit to the county 30 times greater than the average single-family house.
To view the full analysis, please visit http://bit.ly/1Yry3NS.
“‘Citizens for a Better Nassau County’ is grateful for all those who were able to make it to our first public meeting,” said Robert W. Spaeth, co-chair of ‘Citizens for a Better Nassau County.’ “Brian gave a thorough and thought-provoking presentation on the financial sustainability of Nassau County, stressing the need for the county to look toward ways to diversify and broaden the tax base, in order to decrease the county’s dependence on residential property taxes to fund all government services.”
“This was a great event, and we thank Brian and Shanea for taking part in it,” said Jimmy Higginbotham, co-chair of ‘Citizens for a Better Nassau County.’ “Our main goal with this public meeting was to start up an honest conversation with all members of the community on the fiscal standing of the county, and I think we brought that about tonight.”
‘Citizens for a Better Nassau County’ is a non-profit organization, composed of concerned Nassau County residents, that is focused on raising awareness of the importance of a more fiscally sustainable county. As such, ‘Citizens for a Better Nassau County’ supports the following guiding principles to restore economic sustainability to Nassau County: smart economic growth, private capital investment and high-wage, high-quality job creation that benefits the county as a whole; a broader and more diverse tax base to decrease the county’s dependence on residential property taxes to fund all government services; accountable, sound decision making by our county’s leaders; and key investments in the county’s infrastructure and school system to maintain and enhance the overall quality of life in Nassau County.
For more information on ‘Citizens for a Better Nassau County,’ please visit CitizensforaBetterNassau.com, follow @ABetterNassau and like FB.com/CitizensforaBetterNassau.
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Sponsored by Citizens for a Better Nassau County, Inc.