IN YOUR CORNER

As you may already be aware, the City of Stuart has allowed negotiation

with the Channing Corp on the Southpoint Community Redevelopment Project

to expire. The City seems to have learned from this long negotiating

process and is taking a different tack for the future. In the future,

before offering private developers the opportunity to build a project in

this Southpoint Area, the City will conduct a traffic analysis to

determine the scale for any proposed development, including building

height, number of square feet allowed, parking requirements, etc. Given

the time, the controversy and the expense associated with the previous

negotiating process, we believe this is a much better approach.

Another good idea from the City Staff, Redevelopment Board (CRB)and

Redevelopment Agency (CRA) is the Façade Improvement Program. This pilot

program allows a small business to apply for a grant to improve the

exterior facades of their properties within the Community Redevelopment

Area. The first group of grant recipients will be using approximately

$17,000 worth of Tax Increment Financing (TIF) as an incentive to

complete over $70,000 worth of building improvements beginning

immediately. Applications for the second group are currently being

accepted.

In a related vein, the Martin County Commission approved a request from

the City of Stuart for a reduction of thirty-five percent of the

transportation impact fees associated with small projects within the

City's redevelopment area. We applaud the City for pioneering this

concept of spurring revitalization by a more logical approach to the use

of impact fees. Many studies have shown that the impact of various land

uses on government services are directly associated with their location

within the region, with the greatest impact being attached to sprawling

growth and the least impact found with growth close to downtown areas.

We congratulate the county commission on embracing this innovative

approach to more fairly apply the concept of impact fees. If it were

applied county wide it would encourage revitalization in all the

county's redevelopment areas.

All of these actions by the City, as well as their forward-thinking

projects such as Haney and Poppleton Creek, are being accomplished

without an ad valorum tax increase. Keep up the good work!

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This is the time of year when our local officials decide how much of our

money they will need to provide the amount of service they think we

require. Unfortunately, even with our anticipated increase in the

assessed value of properties in Martin County, the picture does not look

bright.

The Children Services Council of Martin County (CSC) is proposing a

twenty percent increase in their budget, or $6.00 per $100,000

household. This will be approved or disapproved at their July budget

meeting. The South Florida Water Management District is leaning towards

an increase. Utility rates are going up. The county is looking into

creating a comprehensive healthcare program for Martin County citizens

with centralized funding and budgeting; it may end up being a special

taxing district for healthcare that would be similar to the CSC. These

and other agencies will be looking locally for more of their funds as

the state government cuts its funding to the various counties due to its

loss of revenue. As a result, we need to demand more efficient

governmental operations.

In fact, more attention should be paid by all of us as our elected

officials, both local and state, begin making the tough choices that

will be necessary as revenues diminish. Within the county the various

departments, agencies and special interests are submitting their

preliminary budget proposals and requests - the first draft of the

Martin County Budget will be coming out soon.

As we sort out all these pending operational demands on our tax dollars,

we must keep in mind that we have in excess of seventy million dollars

in county-sponsored capital projects in progress. This, plus the opinion

poll by the commission regarding the extension of a one-cent sales tax,

should make this summer an interesting one.