Roundtable: County officials

®oundtable:

County officials

Across the region, officials are assessing needs and allocating funds. Here, local leaders discuss what is happening in their county.

Bill Beasley

County Manager Polk County

What business sectors is Polk County focused on attracting? Polk continues to strive for balance between the tax base that supports residential growth and that which supports commercial growth. I would like to see a slightly heavier commercial growth sector, but we’re taking anything and everything that’s reasonable here. Residential growth is certainly substantial. Polk is big in the warehousing and logistics industries: that will continue. We want to push higher wage jobs, higher tech jobs. We have the SunTrax facility here located next to Florida Poly. I think there’s some good synergy there for landing some high-tech R&D in that corridor and connecting them with artificial intelligence and remote operating environments. I think we’re seeing good growth in the medical side of business. The medical community is growing in Polk County, and that’s important both for medical workers who want to live in Polk and residents who want access to quality healthcare facilities.

What are the biggest challenges facing economic growth and development? Let’s call it commuter mobility. I think transportation and transit could be long-term challenges. We’ve got some things we need to deal with to improve people’s ability to commute, whether that be personal vehicles, the movement of goods and services on the roadway system or public transit. Dealing with public transit or public transportation when it comes to infrastructure is massively expensive but we have some very urban, densely populated corridors in which we need to improve transportation.

Dan Biles

County Administrator Pasco County

What key infrastructure projects are in the pipeline? We have a robust transportation capital program to improve our intelligent transportation system. Those projects have not stopped despite the pandemic. We were able to get approval for the Ridge Road Extension, an east-west connection from the west side of Pasco to the Suncoast toll road. Our water projects continued too. We saw a slight pause in March and April 2020 as everyone tried to figure out what was happening with the pandemic but then it was like the construction industry went into overdrive. Regional homebuilders reported they were breaking sales records due to migration from the Northeast.

In September, October and November, single-family permits were double what they were on the year, which is unprecedented growth. The same thing has happened on the commercial side. It’s impossible to get enough staff in terms of contractors, builders and even in the permitting office we are short-staffed.

What are some of the target industries you want to attract to create new jobs? Aerospace, healthcare, manufacturing and light industrial are our target industries. Moffitt just bought around 900 acres where they are planning a long-term research campus. The Pasco Economic Development Council is our partner in marketing, and we helped formalize the deal for board approval. We’re starting to see the support businesses coming into the new office spaces. One of our industrial spaces recently filled up with light industrial companies and the developer is going ahead with another 300,000 square feet of industrial space.

Barry Burton

County Administrator Pinellas County

What does the county’s transportation future look like? There is still a great deal of uncertainty. We will have to renew our efforts and ensure that our communication with the business community and residents is as strong as possible. We need to provide the infrastructure required to rebuild the economy. The Penny For Pinellas sales tax project, for example, was approved with a majority of 80% but the tourism industry has been heavily impacted by the pandemic and fewer tourists means less money is being spent in the county. We will need to re-prioritize some of our infrastructure projects as our long-term needs become apparent.

What are some of the flagship economic development projects that the county is working on? The Airco project near the airport is in the planning phase. It will provide the airport with support industries and facilities both inside and outside the fence. It’s a major economic development initiative and we, along with our partners, are excited about the progress.

What are the latest developments with the Pinellas Affordable Housing Program? We launched the program in 2020 and we received 18 applications requesting over 1,400 units of affordable housing. We implemented a large outreach program to ensure developers were aware of our plans, resulting in a positive response. We are moving forward by approving some of the applications, while continuing to work with others. The more Pinellas County can transition to affordable housing for all, the more attractive it will be for both employees and employers. How did the county use funds received from the CARES Act? We received $256.8 million and there is an obligation to spend it wisely and to report on it properly. I’ve always felt there was an obligation to tell the board, the community and the taxpayer about how that money was being spent. At every board meeting, we deliver a report that talks about the money and the categories. We always try to report to the board about what is happening, both successes and challenges. We had about $92 million that went to 6,300 small businesses and then we had over $35 million for rental housing assistance and utility assistance programs. When we first launched our COVID-19 relief programs they immediately crashed our phone system. We quickly pivoted to online, which was a huge help.

How is Hillsborough County working to provide more affordable housing options? Affordable housing was identified as an issue before COVID-19. Home sales are still very high and prices remain very high, which is exacerbating our affordable housing problem, even more now that we have so many people out of work.

The county has allocated $10 million a year toward affordable housing. While that may seem like a lot of money, frankly, it’s just a drop in the bucket in terms of what is needed. We have to work with our partners in the community. We’re trying to work with various developers. I think moving forward, there needs to be not only more multifamily affordable housing options but also some form of homeownership assistance. There is not enough of either right now.

Bonnie Wise

County Administrator Hillsborough County