Florida Maritime Council

Fostering Florida’s Maritime Industry to Ensure its Continued Economic Prowess in a Global Marketplace
Council Lobbyist: Mark Flynn

Maritime businesses in Florida have built the prowess of the state’s ports into a major financial engine and a critical component of the state’s economy. The role of government should be to support the development of our ports and prevent impediments to commerce, so that maritime industries can reach their true potential and effectively compete in a global marketplace.

Recently, Associated Industries of Florida conducted a tour of Florida port cities to talk with maritime businesses about economic development. The Legislature had just created the Seaport Strategic Planning and Financing Task Force and charged it with determining if more extensive strategic planning and a long-term financial plan could help stimulate the expansion of maritime related businesses.

The meetings soon uncovered that while strategic planning is interesting, seaport security is the most critical port issue in Florida. Duplication of credentialing required to meet separate federal and state requirements, security weaknesses, the logic and inconsistency of minimum standards and in the waiver process, arbitrary application of security requirements by local law enforcement and the associated costs of compliance dominated the discourse.

While more than 80 participants across the state agreed that security is the top issue, other serious problems were also identified, like encroachment from competing land uses and property taxes. Addressing these priorities, identified as economically onerous and operationally disruptive to maritime enterprises, was considered most essential to port businesses which may not survive to benefit from strategic and long-term financial planning.

At the same time, it was found that the state does little to promote the economic development of Florida’s maritime industry. Funding for ports, other than security, is almost non-existent, especially compared to states like Alabama, which just gave a grant to their single major port of $350 million.

These issues place Florida ports at a competitive disadvantage with other states; and a course correction is warranted if Florida is going to protect the profitability, and ensure the survival, of its ports.

The Florida Maritime Council (FMC) was formed in response to these threats to the industry and to provide a forum for businesses that operate or support operations at any of Florida’s 14 deep water ports, such as shipping, trucking, rail, stevedoring, etc. Participants from Cape Canaveral, Fort Lauderdale, Jacksonville, Miami, Riviera Beach, St. Petersburg, Tampa and West Palm Beach have helped in documenting the issues and formulating our positions.

During the last special session on property taxes in 2007, the FMC took its first position, which was to oppose language that would have constitutionally prohibited maritime businesses not providing water access to the public from special tax consideration. Other issues the FMC will be addressing with the Legislature and the Taxation & Budget Reform Commission are outlined below.

FMC Issues

• Establish better lines of communication between regulators and port tenants, primarily by addition of port tenants and tenant employees to the Florida Seaport Security Advisory Council (FSSAC)
• Streamline security requirements to eliminate duplication in credentialing
• Address inconsistency with minimum security standards and in the waiver process
• Address arbitrary application of security requirements
• Require for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to brief port authority board members and local security taskforce co-chairs concerning results of unannounced seaport inspections
• Restrict encroachment on port property of alternative land uses
• Support alternative language to have tax collectors assess port properties based on their existing use and preventing them from using “highest and best use”
• Support economic development funding for Florida’s ports
• Support funding to deepen ports in Florida to take full advantage of the bigger ships that will use the expanded Panama Canal