Sunday, July 1, 2012

Final Draft of Blue Ribbon Report Gives Equal Standing to Mayor and Commission President in Economic Development

From the Madison Courier:

The president of the Board of County Commissioners should have a role equal to the mayor's in leading economic development, the mayor's blue ribbon panel said Friday in its final recommendations.

The draft of the panel's report released June 19 recommended that the mayor alone be in charge of economic development for the entire county, not just the city.

The final report says that in the city the mayor and outside the city the commissioners president would be the "presiding officer of all matters related to economic development" in their separate jurisdictions.
...


The panel added to its final recommendations that the city and county align the economic development plan with the state's long-term strategic economic development plans.

Other changes between the draft and the final report include:

• There no longer is a reference to the Growth Council having an operating budget.

• Possible sources of money for economic development in the city and county, which would go into a Growth Fund to be administered by the Growth Council, are not listed in the final report. The draft had suggested that tourism tax dollars, the Economic Development Income Tax and other sources could be used.

• A structure recommended for economic development would include having "sectors" made up of businesses and organizations with like interests, such as large manufacturers. One change in the final draft is that agriculture would be added as a sector. It was not in the draft. Sectors would pay dues, which in the draft were called fees, based on the type and size of the sector. The panel recommended patterning the dues after Wabash by having dues range from $250 for small businesses to $1,250 for large industries.

The panel recommended that an early, necessary step is for an economic development plan to be written as a guide.
...


http://madisoncourier.com/main.asp?Search=1&ArticleID=70613&SectionID=178&SubSectionID=963&S=1