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
