Manatee County commissioners end funding of Bradenton EDC

Manatee County commissioners have opted not to renew a $337,000 contract with the Bradenton Area Economic Development Corp. — with one elected official questioning if the county even needs an EDC and equating the organization to lobbyists doing sweetheart deals. 

The move, while not connected politically and different in process, follows a similar decision Sarasota County commissioners made last year to repeal a business tax as a funding source for that county's EDC. Sarasota County, in repealing that levy, essentially shifted the financial burden tax to all Sarasota County taxpayers, with a 50% match per private dollar invested. The business tax had generated $472,421 a year, 28% of the annual $1.82 million budget of the Economic Development Corp. of Sarasota County.