50 | F I N A N C I A L H E A L T H
3.
FLORIDA CENTER FOR
BIO-SCIENCES
The City of Port St. Lucie in August 2017 took possession of the building formerly occupied by the Vaccine and Gene Therapy Institute – a move that allows the City to save money while marketing the highly-specialized building for sale to a new owner in a global market.
Now that the City has ownership of the 107,000 square-foot bio-science research facility with biocontainment capabilities, it is being marketed as the Florida Center for Bio-Sciences. The City Manager’ s Office worked collaboratively with the City Attorney to transition the building to the City’ s ownership and control. As a critical next step in divesting the building from the City’ s ownership, Avison and Young was selected as the Realtor / Broker to sell the building. This is a unique opportunity to seek buyers in a global market for the building that is like few others in the United States. The City aims to market the building so it can fulfill its original purpose as a research institution, a jobs creator and an anchor for the Tradition Center for Innovation. The City is striving to recover as many taxpayer dollars as possible through: a sale or lease of the building; all reasonable legal claims against the principals of VGTI, the Oregon Health and Science University and others and monetizing the intellectual property created at the facility, which the City now owns.
The Florida Center for Bio-Sciences is part of the Tradition Center for Innovation, an area that is prospering in Port St. Lucie, which includes Tradition Medical Center, the Torrey Pines Institute for Molecular Studies, Keiser University, and an ever-growing number of medical office buildings.
While all City departments constantly work to find innovative ways to save money, one highlight came when the Utility Systems Department changed from printing and mailing its bills internally to fully outsourcing these tasks.
A cost analysis of the previous in-house process to print and mail bills showed making the switch to an outside contractor would be far more cost effective. The outsourcing saves the City a projected $ 82,900 a year. The City sends traditional paper bills to about 60,000 of its more than 70,000 utility customers, the rest receive e-bills. It also sends out about 20,000 printed late notices.
4.
UTILITY MONTH BILL
PRINTING
FINANCIAL REPORT & BUDGET ACHEIVEMENTS
For the 26th year in a row, the City’ s Comprehensive Annual Financial Report has received the Governmental Finance Officers Association Certificate of Achievement for Excellence in financial reporting. For the 28th year in a row, the City’ s Annual Budget has received the Governmental Finance Officers Association Certificate of Achievement for the Distinguished Budget Presentation Award. Only 2 percent of municipalities nationwide receive these recognitions.
CITY OF PORT ST. LUCIE A N N U A L R E P O R T 2017