Roundtable: Managing the cities of Broward Ana Garcia, City Manager, City of Dania Beach

®oundtable:

Managing the cities of Broward

Local city managers discuss the investments and developments that are ongoing in their respective cities.

Ana Garcia

City Manager City of Dania Beach

What are some of the top budget priorities for the city of Dania Beach? For FY20, we ended up reducing the budget by almost $1.9 million. We didn’t want to raise taxes, we wanted to build our reserves and as a newly appointed city manager, I wanted to fully assess our operations and our needs. Fast forward to today and our adopted fiscal year 2021 budget has the greatest investment in infrastructure in the history of Dania Beach, and this was achieved without raising taxes or reducing our city team and ensuring we have an incredibly sound reserve. In this challenging time do to COVID-19, we are actually one of those cities that are augmenting our services and investing in both personnel and in our community.

What are some of the key investments for the city? Our investment in infrastructure is unprecedented. This year, the budget has a multitude of projects that we are investing in. Last year’s lighting assessment will be this year’s lighting investment, with over $2 million to be implemented. The priority of safety is aligned with our investment in citywide lighting. A massive investment in storm drainage to include a storm drainage master plan and a multitude of projects citywide was a priority for us. Additionally, we will bring forward several additional storm drainage projects seeking support from the commission. We will implement automated meter reading and put in place the infrastructure for citywide Wi-Fi as the pandemic has increased the need for better connectivity and communication due to more people working from home. We want to ensure all our residents have access to the internet.

Desorae Giles-Smith

City Manager City of Lauderhill

How have pre-COVID plans to revitalize the city changed as a result of the pandemic? Prior to the pandemic, we had allocated money for capital projects to help revitalize our city. Those dollars must, and have, remained in place. So, our plans have continued to move forward. The NW 38th Avenue Arts District Business Attraction Plan, near our Warehouse District, is under construction and should be finished within a year. Our light industrial community in the area will undergo a total revitalization. We’ve had a great start with the opening of the city’s first microbrewery. Other businesses have also come into that area, and several are looking into it. The Arts District abuts the Central Broward Regional Park, which holds a multipurpose stadium that is the only International Cricket Stadium in the United States.

What new improvements has the city been working on? Our residents voted in favor of a $45 million bond in 2016, which we’ve been using for major improvements on our parks. For example, we have upgraded facilities in Westwind Park, Veterans Park, St. George Park and have started on West Ken Lark.

How accessible is housing in Lauderhill? Our housing stock is broad, and price isn’t as big an issue as in other parts of Broward County. Like other cities in South Florida, we have seen spikes in our housing values but on the whole, housing here is attainable. We have a number of condominiums and apartment complexes for those who are not interested in buying or renting a single-family home. We have workforce housing and we have market-rate housing to meet the needs for a wide range of incomes.

Leigh Ann Henderson

City Manager City of Wilton Manors

How is Wilton Manors positioned for development and growth? We are a city that was built out in the 1950s and ‘60s and we measure only two square miles. We are built out with no major vacant parcels of land available but the good thing is that those buildings that went up at the beginning of the city’s life are now poised to be redeveloped. This is a critical time because it only comes around once in a generation. We have been envisioning what we want the city to look like through consultations with the community. Everything down to the zoning requirements have changed drastically over those 70 years. We are looking at mixed-use development to optimize our space, routes that would allow non-vehicular transit, pedestrian plazas, bicycle amenities and we are lucky enough to have the Florida East Coast corridor running through our city, which provides an opportunity for future passenger rail transit. We are positioning development around that rail line to maximize the benefits.

How are you balancing residential and commercial interests in your planning? We were approaching that issue in a very data-driven way, working with the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council to analyze our existing property uses and make recommendations. Our existing retail, on a per capita basis compared with other cities, is three times higher than the national average. For us to attract business, we need to have more residential to support this, and this is what the data says. We undertook this whole process with the community, which helped build a consensus about the city’s needs. What is the purpose of the East Sunrise Improvements Master Plan? The East Sunrise Improvements Master Plan has been a top priority for us over the last several years. The goal is to develop an improvement plan for the East Sunrise area to stimulate investment and redevelopment of nonresidential areas and to revitalize existing neighborhoods. The city has already invested approximately $30 million into infrastructure in East Sunrise over the past couple of years and more is planned. We are actively looking to purchase and repurpose underperforming and vacant properties, as well as attract new businesses and partner with existing ones to enhance the area. As part of our vision for the community, we are looking to partner with developers to bring new housing to the area. We‘ve made significant investments in the area with the expectation that it will attract public and private investments exponentially.

How have apartment and o ce development projects been a ected by the pandemic? Every project that was approved in 2019 or early 2020 has been moving forward. Apartment development projects are still hot. We thought the o ce market would see a slowdown but we still see a significant amount of activity concerning corporate relocations. We have been pleasantly surprised and are very optimistic with the economic recovery in the area. Pre-pandemic, we had about 4% vacancy rates in the local o ce market. Obviously, this rate increased during the pandemic but we’re expecting a strong and fast recovery. The area’s first class-A o ce building in over a decade is on track for completion as well as a variety of large residential developments.

Mark Lubelski

City Manager City of Sunrise

( ) offices in Greater Fort Lauderdale include more steps to ensure the region remains competitive, Germany’s MAN Diesel and Turbo, Italy’s Costa Cruise including setting up free trade zones. Port Everglades Lines, Switzerland’s Nyrstar and the UK’s Balfour has 23 foreign trade zone sites across Broward County. Beatty. The region serves a wide variety of industries There are also a variety of international trade programs and helps them obtain a foothold across the Americas. orchestrated by the county, including export readiness South Florida also has extensive consular offices, with 75 seminars, protocol assistance and notification of local foreign consulates, foreign trade offices and binational and international business opportunities. chambers of commerce in operation across the region. Incentives also include the qualified target industry

According to panelists at the Florida International refund (QTI), the high-impact performance grant (HIPI) Trade and Cultural Expo in October 2019, South Florida and capital investment tax credits (CITC). The QTI, is the ideal place to settle for those who want to grow which was allowed to sunset last year but is now being their business. In fact, the three promoted for renewal, provides South Florida counties make up the world’s 38th largest economy. The businesses companies with tax refunds of up to $5,000 for each new Florida, For many entrepreneurs, a big advantage of doing business in that were able to full-time equivalent job created subject to certain conditions. Florida is its business-friendly pull through either The HIPI is a negotiable amount tax climate. Broward boasts a sales tax rate of 6%, which is lower than had a continuity awarded to high-impact sectors that create a minimum number the U.S. average of 7.3%, while the income tax rate is zero, compared plan in place or of jobs and make at least a $50 million investment in a three-year to a 4.6% average income tax rate had the ability to period. CITC provides a tax credit across the United States. flexible. to companies creating 100 new jobs and making a cumulative capital Public sector initiatives Cindy Brief investment of at least $25 million. Fort Lauderdale is targeting key Coral Springs Chamber of Commerce Workforce training programs business sectors that authorities are also offered by the county to want to attract to the area and for this purpose, foster a better-prepared workforce. The state welcomes the region must remain competitive. Aviation and public-private partnerships and has set up an economic aerospace, financial services, logistics, life sciences, development transportation fund that provides up to $3 manufacturing, marine industries and technology can million to local governments to alleviate transportation all provide high-paying, high-quality jobs for locals and issues arising from new projects. There are lower wage attract a hub of auxiliary services. Authorities are taking thresholds for those operating in the urban centers and

Phillip Holste

Assistant Town Administrator & CRA Director – Town of Davie

Davie has always had a rural feel to it. Our main redevelopment areas have been identified specifically as the Regional Activity Center and Transit-Oriented Corridor that promote synergy with the South Florida Education Center. The remainder of Davie is primarily focused on residential development, typically singlefamily homes on an acre. Recently, townhome developments have provided the most opportunities for new homeownership. That is where the a ordability really lies today. One aspect of a ordability in Davie is rooted in its mobile homes. We have the most mobile homes in all of Broward County. We recognize that as the basis for a ordable living in Davie.

Florida Power and Light offers discounts on its electricity for large-scale users. On top of this, a variety of loans and bonds are available at preferential rates.

Looking ahead As the vaccine program continues across the county, residents are returning to normalcy, but the pandemic is sure to stretch out at least for the next few months. South Florida’s way of doing business has changed a great deal during the pandemic, some of which has been positive. As supermarket chains struggled to keep shelves stocked, local producers promoted their wares, gaining prominence amid the public and encouraging them to shop local again. There is now a preference to shop local and many supply chains are being onshored again. Businesses related to construction, home improvement and crafts flourished across the county.

In June, faced with the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Broward County government kicked off a marketing campaign to promote the benefits of local consumption. The Supporters of Broward, or SOB, campaign launched a virtual event that featured business leaders who were able to promote their services amid a significant revenue decline.

With a limited ability to travel, Broward residents can take the next few months to look inward and reevaluate priorities to boost the local economy. This could be in the shape of visiting up-and-coming neighborhoods such as Coral Springs, Oakland Park, Sunrise and Hollywood, or scrutinizing racial inequity within the county — the South Florida Black Prosperity Alliance launched on Feb. 11 to bring together various groups to focus on community, culture, jobs, wealth, education, health and justice issues.

One thing is clear. As the county gradually emerges from the pandemic, the businesses that have been able to adapt have navigated the storm and are set to come out the other end even stronger. “The businesses that were able to pull through either had a continuity plan in place or had the ability to be flexible and realize they had to pivot. Those who could not become innovative could not get through this. Some restaurants even completely changed their venues to outdoor venues or takeaway venues. Even the chamber did not have a plan for the pandemic, but we were able to accommodate ourselves and make it work,” Cindy Brief, president of the Coral Springs Chamber of Commerce, told Invest:.