(PENSACOLA) --- Every time you pay sales tax in Escambia County, you are funding a local data center.
It's a fact that $600,000 of taxpayers' money goes to FloridaWest EDA, the local group directly connected to data centers.
Escambia County's economic development runs through two groups with similar names and overlapping boards: FloridaWest Economic Development Alliance (EDA) and the Pensacola-Escambia Promotion and Development Commission (PEDC).
(Photo: FloridaWest webiste)
How FloridaWest and PEDC Work Together
PEDC is the public entity. Created by the state legislature in 1967, it's a dependent special district of Escambia County. It can own land, issue bonds, and enter into contracts. Its nine-member board includes appointees from the County Commission, City of Pensacola, Town of Century, and local business groups.
FloridaWest EDA is a private nonprofit. Launched in 2014 as the marketing and recruitment arm, FloridaWest handles site selection, industry pitches, incentives, packaging, and negotiations with companies. PEDC contracts with FloridaWest to do that work. In practice, FloridaWest brings the deal. PEDC holds assets and votes on public money.
(Photo: FloridaWest website)
The Funding Difference
PEDC's money is public. Escambia County and the City of Pensacola fund their core budget. It also controls land assets, such as The Bluffs industrial campus, and earns lease revenue.
A mix of public dollars and private investors funds FloridaWest EDA.
They receive about $250,000 annually from membership fees and their "Built to Grow" initiative, a 5-year strategic jobs and capital campaign initiated by the FloridaWest EDA. The regional alliance, led by its interim CEO and Board of Directors, promotes local entrepreneurship and business expansion.
The public portion, totaling $750,000, is shared: $600,000 from Escambia County and $150,000 from the City of Pensacola.
(Photo: FloridaWest website)
The Local Option Sales Tax Connection
Escambia's 1% Local Option Sales Tax (LOST) funds capital projects such as roads, public safety buildings, and parks. It's on the ballot again this year for renewal.
Less known to voters: LOST is also a funding source for economic development. Each year, $600,000 from LOST is allocated to FloridaWest EDA for business recruitment and development activities. That's separate from the City of Pensacola's annual $150,000 contribution to FloridaWest.
So PEDC is funded directly by the City and County general funds. FloridaWest pulls $750,000 annually from those two public streams before it raises a dollar from private investors. That structure is now more important to residents than ever because of data centers.
Data Center Backlash
FloridaWest EDA has been courting an AI data center proposal for Escambia County. Details are thin due to a Nondisclosure Agreement (NDA). The deal would likely run through PEDC for land or incentives, with FloridaWest brokering.
NDAs keep the details thin, but residents are filling the silence themselves. Many cite water use as the dealbreaker, including Mary Husky, who owns property with a well.
"We can't afford millions of gallons for a server farm when our bayous are stressed, and our wells feed our kids," said Husky at the May 28 Pensacola City meeting.
Residents have raised concerns about water use, power load, and whether the jobs promised match the public resources spent.
The sentiment isn't just local.
(Photo: Erin Brockovich website)
Environmental advocate Erin Brockovich launched a website for citizens to report data center activity. The site went live on April 27. In just over a month, it logged 7,395 reports from residents about data centers in their area, including multiple pins in Northwest Florida.
Organizers have mapped 4,377 specific concerns so far from active sites, construction, formal proposals, and rumors. The volume makes one thing clear: this is on people's minds across the country.
Residents demand to be heard, organizing to meet the June 17 Escambia County Board of Commissioners meeting, where they will stand at the podium to address their officials.
Organizers plan to address their commissioners and let them know Escambia County doesn't want any data centers. They will demand a moratorium on data centers. This message ties directly to the funding model: If $600,000 in local option sales tax from the county and $150,000 from the city goes to FloridaWest each year, then development brokered by FloridaWest should benefit Escambia residents first.
(Photo: FloridaWest website)
They're asking for four things: transparency on water and power impacts before any PEDC vote, binding commitments on local jobs and wages, a public seat at the table before deals are signed, and a moratorium on data centers.
PEDC may own the land, and FloridaWest may bring the companies, but 75% of FloridaWest's budget comes from taxpayers. Taxpayers plan to tell commissioners on June 17, "If we're funding it, we're deciding it."
Bottom line, the answer on data centers is no.
If you can't make the meeting, let officials know your objection by emailing or calling all the major players listed below.
Chairman - David Peaden, Florida Power and Light, Escambia County Appointee, Phone: (850) 501-3278, Email: david.peaden@fpl.com
Vice Chairman - Commissioner Steven Barry (District 5), Escambia County Board of County Commissioners, Phone: (850) 595-4950, Email: district5@myescambia.com
Secretary/Treasurer - Councilwoman Allison Patton, Pensacola City Council Member Appointee Phone: (850) 977-3892Email: apatton@cityofpensacola.com
FloridaWest Board Appointee - Dave Hoxeng, Past Chairman, ADX Communications Phone: (850) 262-6000, Email: dhoxeng@catcountry987.com
City of Pensacola Appointee - Dr. Lusharon Wiley, Innisfree Hotels, Email: lwiley@innisfreehotels.com, Phone: (850) 748-7641
Pensacola City Council Member Appointee - Councilman Casey Jones, City of Pensacola, Phone: (850) 903-2058, Email: cjones@cityofpensacola.com
Escambia County Appointee - Commissioner Steve Stroberger (District 1), Escambia County Board of County Commissioners, Phone: (850) 595-4910, Email: district1@myescambia.com
Century Town Council Member Appointee - Benjamin Boutwell, Mayor of Century, Phone: (850) 256-3208, Email: bboutwell1@gmail.com
FloridaWest Board Appointee - Donnie McMahon, City of Pensacola, Phone: (850) 430-1630, Email: dmcmahon@higginbotham.com
Staff/Organizational Support
FloridaWest CEO Chris Plate’, Phone: (850) 898-2201, Email: cplate@floridawesteda.com
Tabitha Lee, Operations and Administration, FloridaWest, Phone: (850) 898-2201 Email: tlee@floridawesteda.com
Jessica Scholl, Attorney, Saltmarsh, Cleaveland & Gund, Auditor, Email: jscholl@mhw-law.com, Phone: (850) 434-3541
0
0
Comments