In an effort to provide a much-needed jolt to the local economy, Clark County commissioners are working out the details on an incentive package for prospective business owners.
On Wednesday, commissioners discussed a “fee holiday” to encourage new businesses in industrial, mixed use, business park and office campus zones.
The fee holiday would mean that certain new business owners would be exempt from paying certain application, service and impact fees.
After hearing a proposal by Economic Development Manager Kelly Sills, commissioners made suggestions for changes they’d like to see in the ordinance, which they plan to adopt this fall.
The fee holiday would extend until 5 p.m. Dec. 31, 2011.
“We didn’t go the route of saying every business gets a waiver,” Sills said.
Businesses would be encouraged to open on properties within designated Focused Public Investment Areas. Those include Highway 99, downtown Vancouver, parts of Orchards, Fruit Valley, the Ridgefield Junction, La Center Junction and a dozen other areas.
In the rough draft of the ordinance, Sills listed several criteria and said potential businesses would have to meet at least one.
One of the criteria involved wages, with the suggestion that the average wage at the business would be 1.2 times the most recent average wage for the Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton Metropolitan Statistical Area.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the average hourly wage, as of May 2009, was $22.15.
‘We need good jobs’
Commissioner Tom Mielke questioned why the county would even bring up wages.
“Beggars can’t be choosers,” Mielke said. “Right now people would be tickled to death to have any kind of job.”
Sills said the Portland-Vancouver area has the lowest average wages of any metropolitan area on the West Coast, and he wanted to add in one incentive to try to attract well-paying jobs.
“It’s simply to try to diversify our economy,” Sills said.
Commissioner Steve Stuart objected to Mielke’s “beggars” line.
“We aren’t a bunch of beggars,” Stuart said. “We need good jobs here, not any old jobs. Hopefully we’ve learned that lesson.”
County Administrator Bill Barron reminded Mielke that wages would be just one qualifying criteria. Other criteria are targeted for businesses that would move into existing vacant space or would generate a minimum of 10 jobs.
The ordinance also strives to diversify the local economy by discouraging competition for existing businesses. For example, a new business in an industry for which the county has 200 or fewer jobs would not have to pay impact fees.
One thing commissioners haven’t worked out? Where the difference will be made up. The Department of Community Development relies on fees. One possibility would be taking money from the general fund to reimburse the department.
Stuart got the idea of a “fee holiday” from the city of Gresham, Ore., which recently enacted a similar ordinance to try to attract businesses downtown.
Stephanie Rice: 360-735-4508 or stephanie.rice@columbian.com.
