Letters: The cost, and blessings, of children

To the editor:

On your Sunday (Sept. 1) editorial page, one writer discussed having children as an economic asset, “another set of hands, eventually, who can help improve the standard of living for everyone.”

If so, you’d better be patient, for children are an economic liability, not an asset.

Between mandatory school attendance and child labor laws, most children cannot contribute financially to the family until their late teen years. And if college is in the picture, that adds another four years.

Children are a blessing, to be sure, but don’t count on a return-on-investment anytime soon.

Daniel Robison

Fort Walton Beach

To the editor:

EDATE stands for Economic Development Ad valorem Tax Exemption. This economic development program, created by the Florida Legislature, is a tool for local governments to encourage businesses to expand or locate in their communities. In order to qualify, companies must create new, higher wage jobs. Okaloosa County citizens first voted in support of EDATE in 1981, and as required by Florida law, voted to renew the program three more times - in 1994, 2004 and 2014.

Designed to spur job creation, EDATE allows the county to award temporary property tax exemptions to new and existing businesses for county taxes resulting from new facility construction, facility improvements, and equipment purchases supporting new jobs. They still have to pay education, fire, and water district taxes. One of the best things about EDATE is the accountability baked into the program. Companies receiving tax exemptions must create the number of jobs they said they would create before they receive the exemption.

A study by University of West Florida’s Haas Center shows Okaloosa’s EDATE incentive helped facilitate an estimated 317 new jobs along with $19.1 million in new labor income from 2015 to 2023. Read the company testimonials on www.jobsforokaloosa.com . It’s clear the EDATE program works. If we don’t keep it going, our neighbors like Escambia, Santa Rosa, Walton and Bay counties (all who have EDATE programs of their own) will look more attractive to companies. We want our community to be competitive. We want our local economy and citizens to benefit from quality job creation right here at home in Okaloosa County.

So, we should vote yes, again, on November 5th.

Kelly Murphy-Redd

Niceville

This article originally appeared on Northwest Florida Daily News: Letters: The cost, and blessings, of children