Businesses harmed by construction projects could get lifeline in Senate bill
A construction zone in Tallahassee featuring a crane and soon-to-be-apartments across the street from the FSU campus on Dec. 31, 2024. (Photo by Jay Waagmeester/Florida Phoenix)
Stories of businesses being hurt by local or state government construction projects have become common in Florida in recent years.
Last year, the owners of a popular Tampa cafe went before the Tampa City Council to voice concern about how a long-term construction project in front of their business was 'hemorrhaging' its cash reserves, threatening their financial livelihood.
That cafe ended up closing several months later.
But that company might have been able to stay afloat if a proposal that advanced in a Florida Senate committee on Thursday had already been in place.
The measure from Orange County Democrat Carlos Guillermo Smith (SB 324) would create a program within the Department of Commerce providing low-interest loans of up to $100,000 for small businesses harmed by prolonged state and local construction projects that directly block access to their establishments.
The businesses must show proof of demonstrable loss, including a reduction in revenue from the start date of the construction to the week before they submit an application.
That proof would have to include a comparison of the applicant's average weekly or monthly revenue the year before the construction began and their currently weekly or monthly revenue. They would also have to submit photo or video evidence of the obstruction to the business due to the construction zone.
Smith said the impetus for filing the bill was the closing in January of the Hammered Lamb, a locally owned restaurant in Orlando.
'They directly attributed that closure to this sewage infrastructure project that was delayed for 18 months,' he said. 'As Florida continues to experience tremendous growth, we're going to hear more about these stories, more and more. We can't as a state or a local government throw up our hands and say, 'I'm sorry. Deal with our construction.' We have to be able to offer a lifeline for those who want to stay afloat.'
Those problems continue.
An estimated $65 million project to improve South Tampa's stormwater system bitterly divided that community last fall, with businesses fearful the plan could shut down a section of a major street in both directions for up to two months, potentially devastating their bottomlines.
In the Senate Appropriations Committee on Transportation, Tourism, and Economic Development on Thursday, Hernando County Republican Sen. Blaise Ingoglia suggested Smith amend his bill to exclude the private business records from public disclosure.
'It seems to me that competitors would say, 'I want the P&Ls [profits and losses] of my competitor right across the street,'' Ingoglia said.
The bill passed unanimously, athough Ingoglia expressed concern about giving taxpayer subsidized loans to businesses that might not be able to qualify for such a loan anywhere else. 'To get an unsecured loan for an established business is relatively easy to come by,' he said. 'Granted, you're gong to pay higher interest rates, but that loan is pretty east to come by.'
The bill has one more stop before reaching the floor. However, its House companion (HB 215), sponsored by Orlando Democrat Anna Eskamani, has not received a hearing yet in any committee.
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