EDITOR’S NOTE: Contributing columnist, Steve Nicklas, expresses his views and insights on various topics in Marketplace column.
___STEVE’S MARKETPLACE ___
Closing Signs, Fernandina General Store Window
A few were colorful; others written in stark black ink. Aside from their differences, these are signs of the times for small businesses — here and around the U.S. They describe “sale” and “rent” offers. As in messages of “everything on sale” and “please rent my building.”
These are the latest businesses in Fernandina Beach to close their doors. With the slower winter season not yet upon us, there will now be four empty storefronts in the historic downtown district. And this does not include empty offices on side streets.
On neighboring business corridors like South Eighth Street and South 14th Street, there are so empty offices and stores that you need a calculator to count them. So, in response, what do city officials do?
They raise property taxes (above the state-imposed limit), hike ancillary fees, and tighten their regulatory grip on businesses. Talk about a disconnect between City Hall and the community.
Many small businesses are struggling to stay alive right now, starved by a dearth of unemployed workers who can’t spend or visit and an economy wobbling from its foundation. Elected officials must realize and accept this.
Indigo Alley Window Sign, Fernandina Beach
Tax breaks, reduced fees and loosened regulations are preferred at this point in time — here and around the country. The misguided trend is toward the opposite direction.
One vacant building was recently purchased by investors from outside the area. They say they see value in downtown Fernandina Beach. There is a regenerative quality of the town, whereby new businesses crop up when old ones close.
However, this prolonged economic slump may present a challenge. Also, absentee owners of buildings here have little incentive to invest further in their properties — or others. They’ve seen tax-rate increases the last three years, and fees escalate. If their buildings are empty, why put out more money when they face so many political headwinds?
And all city officials can do is reach into their glove and throw more curveballs of regulations at local businesses, or pitch increased taxes at them. Maybe the so-called “stimulus plan” here — that is based on $5.6 million in borrowed funds and several trivial projects — might solve the problem. Or, more likely, maybe it won’t.
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