On Dec. 2 the Martin County Board of County Commissioners adopted a formal economic development toolkit and corresponding ordinance to implement six principal incentives intended to attract capital investment: an Opportunity Fund (reimbursable grants, up to $1,000,000 per project for investments of $10M+), a Local Closing Fund (gap‑financing grants up to $500,000 for $5M+ projects), expedited permitting, training and workforce grants, Industrial Development Authority (IDA) tax‑exempt bond authority, and a voter‑approved ad valorem tax exemption program administered under county ordinance.

Assistant County Administrator George Stokas summarized changes from the old toolkit: the shift from job‑centric to capital‑investment focus, performance‑based reimbursement (pay‑for‑performance rather than upfront payments), removal of a proposed <500 employee size cap so larger acquired firms could qualify subject to board approval, and a pilot payment‑in‑lieu‑of‑tax (PILOT) mechanism for eligible data centers meeting a 100‑megawatt threshold with a maximum grant payment of $1,000,000 under the Opportunity Fund rules.

Supporters from the business community — including the Business Development Board, local bankers, consultants and economic development groups — described the toolkit as a fiscally conservative, performance‑based approach to attract high‑value industries, leverage private financing and help diversify the county tax base. Several speakers from Indiantown and local manufacturers urged adoption to secure jobs and capital investments.

Opponents, including Commissioner Vargas, warned of the risk of "corporate welfare,” questioned the adequacy of clawback language, and raised capacity concerns should large data centers pursue sites in western Martin County or Indiantown (water supply, power transmission, noise, diesel generators for outages). Staff and some speakers responded that modern data centers often use closed‑loop cooling and that the toolkit requires case‑by‑case board approval of incentive packages with clawback provisions and transparency measures; staff also noted the Economic Trust Fund balance was estimated between $1.3M and $1.6M.

After extended deliberation, Commissioner Campey moved to adopt staff’s recommendation (including the staff‑proposed edits); Commissioners Campey, Hetherington and Capps voted yes; Commissioners Vargas and Hurd voted no. The motion passed 3–2. Staff said each incentive package will return to the board for approval on a project‑specific basis with performance conditions and clawback language as part of each contract.