The Indian River Citrus League was elated to learn that House Bill 7087 was signed by the Governor on March 28. The bill entitled Economic Development is an 800 million dollar package designed to encourage economic development in Florida, which included the exemption of sales tax on electricity utilized in the packinghouses.
The law will go into effect beginning July 1 of this year, and will allow the citrus packinghouses to realize savings in the hundreds of thousands of dollars beginning next season. The League, in a continuing effort to find ways to save their grower members money, has been working on this effort since 2007. Executive Vice President of the League, Doug Bournique, stated that, “We are ecstatic over this bill passage; couldn’t be better news for our packinghouse owners. This shows that the Governor is staying on course with his pro-business agenda.”
Along with the League, House members Steve Crisafulli and Ben Albritton, Senators Gary Siplin, and Mike Haridopolos, Ben Parks (Florida Farm Bureau), Richard Kinney (Florida Citrus Packers) and Dan Richey (Riverfront Packing) worked tirelessly on this effort.
With the potential savings, the packinghouses are slated to have a great start to next season, which is much needed news for the citrus industry.