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TALLAHASSEE — A property tax provision in legislation sponsored by state Rep. Matt Gaetz last session provided a big incentive to green-light a $50 million project being developed by a major donor to a super PAC supporting his congressional bid.
The project, the brainchild of Pensacola developer Quint Studer, will include apartments, commercial space and a parking garage. Studer says it will bring an estimated $65 million in new investment, 600 construction jobs and 150 permanent jobs to the area.
Studer Properties LLP, one of his companies, gave $25,000 to North Florida Neighbors, the super PAC backing Gaetz’s campaign for Congress. So far, the committee has spent more than $420,000 funding TV ads, robocalls and mailers in support of the Republican.
The contribution came in May, a month after Gov. Rick Scott signed Gaetz’s legislation. In January, Studer, his wife, Mary, and Studer Properties each gave $1,000 checks (the maximum allowed) to the state Senate campaign Gaetz was running before he decided to make a bid for Congress. The family had not given contributions to past Gaetz campaigns.
One provision included in the legislation Gaetz sponsored will help cut nearly $600,000 off Studer’s tax bill for the completed development over the next 25 years.
“No,” was Gaetz's one-word answer when asked if help for his campaign was discussed when crafting the provision.
Studer says the provision is not a tax break because when the project is completed, his annual tax bill for the property will jump from $40,000 to $500,000. Overall, he estimates new property taxes generated will total around $700,000 when counting the separate office building that would not have been constructed without his development moving forward.
Without the provision, Studer's tax bill for the project would have been at least $1.1 million a year, making it prohibitively expensive for a project of this size. The building being developed is the former home of the region’s newspaper, the Pensacola News Journal.
Studer said Gaetz’s effectiveness as a lawmaker led him to write the check.
“Matt and I have spoken several times at Blue Wahoos [baseball] games, but this was the first time I was able to watch him work as a legislator. I was immediately impressed with how he worked to fix this statewide EDATE issue,” he said in a statement. “Following the legislative session, when he announced his plans to run for Congress, I looked for a way to support his campaign.”
Studer’s $25,000 contribution went to a super PAC that Gaetz and his official campaign can’t coordinate with. David Johnson, the veteran GOP strategist who runs the super PAC, said “I have not discussed any legislation with any [North Florida Neighbors] contributors.”
The legislation itself was a hulking tax cut package Gaetz helped craft as chairman of the House Finance and Tax Committee. One small provision in the 53-page bill clarified that a specific property tax break — known as the “economic development ad valorem tax exemption” (EDATE) — could be applied to the Pensacola development and to another in Martin County.
Local governments had approved the EDATE, but they came into question when the Florida Enterprise Zone Program expired at the end of 2015.
The Pensacola development is on the site of a former enterprise zone which, under the now expired program, were areas specifically targeted for economic revitalization.
In 2015, Gaetz’s legislation included extenders that offered the property tax exemptions to a series of projects put at risk as the result of the Florida Enterprise Zone Program ending. That bill accidentally left out the Pensacola and Martin County projects.
“For reasons unbeknownst to me, likely negligence, no one in Escambia [County] reached out to me to include this project in the extender that happened for all the other projects in the state. Here, they were up the creek without a paddle,” Gaetz said. “I did not become aware of the problem until late in the process last session.”
The language was added to the bill two days before final passage, after Gaetz discussed the issue with Rep. Clay Ingram, a Pensacola Republican, and Greg Evers, a Republican from Milton, who represent the areas.
“I asked them both what their thoughts were because it’s more their sphere of influence than mine,” Gaetz said.
Evers is one of Gaetz’s primary opponents as they seek the Republican nomination in the 1st Congressional District, a seat being vacated by Republican Jeff Miller. The heavily Republican district covers the western portion of the panhandle.
In a statement issued by Studer after Scott signed the bill in April, each member representing Escambia County was mentioned, but he gave special thanks to Gaetz, who lives in Okaloosa County.
“We are very grateful to local legislative Representatives Clay Ingram and Mike Hill, as well as State Senator Greg Evers,” Studer said at the time. “We especially are grateful to Representative Matt Gaetz whose leadership in writing the language and support was crucial.”
The most recent campaign finance data available for North Florida Neighbors is through June 30. The biggest individual donor is Houston-based Harness Oil and Gas, which gave $100,000. The second biggest is the $25,000 check from Studer Properties LLP.
The committee has had additional donors since June, but it has not yet had to file its most recent campaign finance reports.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/states/florida/story/2016/08/gaetz-legislation-will-help-save-600-k-annually-for-super-pac-donor-104836#ixzz4I4qL9hWg
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