VERO BEACH — The Vero Beach City Council Tuesday defeated a proposal to donate $2,000 to the Indian River County Chamber of Commerce to support economic development.
The measure, proposed by Councilwoman Tracy Carroll and seconded by Mayor Pilar Turner, failed by a 2-3 vote, with the other members of the council voicing concerns about whether or not a donation to the Chamber was a prudent use of public funds.
Chamber Economic Development Director Helene Caseltine had made a brief presentation, as had local Realtor Jay Hart, about the Chamber’s efforts to bring new businesses into the county. Hart said that, over the past 10 years, the Chamber efforts had either “retained or added” 1,500 jobs. Included in that number, however, was 850 jobs at Piper Aircraft, which were secured by a pledged $4 million contribution by local governments.
The Chamber’s Economic Development division has a budget of $150,000 per year, most of which is funded through tax dollars distributed through the Board of County Commissioners.
Carroll pointed out that other counties, albeit larger counties, commit $500,000 or even $1.2 million per year to economic development.
Vero’s $2,000 would have been a token donation to show local businesses that economic development is a priority for the City Council. The money would have come out of the council’s training and conference budget.
Local architect Tony Donadio, who co-chairs the Chamber’s Economic Alliance Task Force, urged the council to approve the contribution so the Chamber could leverage the City of Vero Beach funds and use the city’s support to raise money from private businesses.
“We’re using that money to bring in businesses to develop jobs for the community,” said Donadio, who added that the Chamber will also be asking the City of Sebastian for some funds.
Vice Mayor Craig Fletcher said he was opposed because City of Vero Beach taxpayers already contribute via the county’s funding.
Councilman Jay Kramer said, while he supports economic development in concept, didn’t like the idea of using public funds to donate to a non-profit organization.
The final dissenting vote, Councilman Dick Winger noted the city’s current and future fiscal constraints and said the council needs to be particularly careful about how it spends any money right now.