The Palm Beach County Commission approved a resolution Tuesday that will provide a special assessment to 18 homes on 68th Street North in The Acreage for a water main extension.
The resolution also approved a work authorization to Johnson-Davis Inc. under the Palm Beach County Water Utilities Department continuing construction contract in the amount of $199,512.
The properties are currently on private wells. Petitions in favor of a potable water main were provided to the water utilities department with 61 percent of the properties in favor. Of the 18 homes, three were opposed and four did not respond, according to the county staff report.
The petitions were approved by the Indian Trail Improvement District Board of Supervisors on June 15, 2016.
The individual assessments range from $11,525 to $27,067 per parcel and will be assessed based on 90 percent of the estimated cost of the project, pursuant to terms of an agreement between the county and ITID, in which the county committed to allocate $500,000 to provide financial support for up to 10 percent of the final cost per parcel. The county has expended a total of $287,553 for previous assessment projects.
Assessments are payable over a 20-year time period in equal annual payments of the principal, plus 5.5 percent interest.
Commissioner Hal Valeche made a motion to approve the resolution, which carried 6-0, with Commissioner Dave Kerner absent.
In other business, the commissioners approved the final readings of ordinances giving ad valorem tax exemptions for aircraft engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney to attract more jobs to its facility on the Beeline Highway. The company plans to relocate a manufacturing facility to the Beeline location.
Both ordinances set ad valorem tax exemptions and cash incentives to encourage economic development at Pratt & Whitney, a division of United Technologies, which was once a major economic engine for the county. The company employed more than 10,000 people locally before most of the operation left Palm Beach County in 2000.
The first ordinance would establish an exemption from certain ad valorem taxation for a specified time on the condition that it provide a return in jobs for the county.
The ordinance finalizes an agreement made in March 2013, when the county approved an agreement with Pratt & Whitney providing an ad valorem tax exemption of up to $700,000 over a seven-year period, as well as an economic development cash incentive of $300,000 over a four-year period.
The second ordinance finalizes an agreement with Pratt & Whitney that provides an ad valorem tax exemption of up to $650,000 over a six-year period for the company to construct and renovate a 35,000-square-foot building that will accommodate its radial Auxiliary Power Unit (APU), which moved from San Diego.
A member of the public commented that the county should be giving such incentives to small businesses, and Commissioner Steve Abrams pointed out that there is a small business enterprise office in the county.
“We spend a lot of resources assisting and giving incentives to small businesses,” Abrams said. “We could have a whole workshop on what we try to do for small businesses in Palm Beach County.”
Palm Beach County Mayor Paulette Burdick also pointed out that Pratt & Whitney must meet certain requirements in order to qualify for the incentives.
The exemption, together with the incentive payment, serves as the county’s financial support for the state’s commitment of $2.3 million, of which $1.65 million is from the state and $650,000 is from the county.
The second agreement requires Pratt & Whitney to make a minimum $25 million capital investment, create 110 new jobs over a three-year period at an annual average wage of $84,892 and maintain those jobs for five years. The project is estimated to have a $183 million economic impact over a five-year period.
Valeche, a former U.S. Air Force pilot, explained that APUs are an internal component of an aircraft that keeps it cool when it is sitting at the gate.
“If you ever travel, that’s a convenience to you, and it provides compressed air to start the turbine in the jet engine running, so it’s a component of the aerospace cluster we’re developing in the north part of the county, which I’m very happy about. This is a big win for us to get the APU manufacturing unit here in northern Palm Beach County,” Valeche said.
Valeche made a motion to approve the first ordinance, and Commissioner Mary Lou Berger made a motion to approve the second ordinance. Both carried 6-0 with Kerner absent.
