Business Incentives in Sebastian, Florida

Sebastian businesses can draw on Indian River County's jobs grant and tax exemption, leasable land at Sebastian Municipal Airport, and riverfront grants and parking rules from the Sebastian Community Redevelopment Agency (Indian River County Economic Development Division; City of Sebastian).

The City of Sebastian says it has adopted an Economic Development Plan built largely around Sebastian Municipal Airport and that tax incentives are available from both the city and Indian River County (Economic Development at Sebastian Airport). In practice the county runs the cash and tax programs, while the city's tools are land, buildings and the redevelopment district along Indian River Drive and U.S. 1.

Indian River County's Local Jobs Grant pays a set amount for each new job a targeted business creates, after the jobs are verified, and its Ad Valorem Tax Exemption can reduce county property taxes on new buildings and equipment (Economic Development Division).

To qualify for the jobs grant, a new or expanding business in a targeted industry must create at least 5 new jobs whose average wage meets or exceeds the Indian River County average wage, and grant money is paid only after an annual report confirms the jobs. The tax exemption, authorized by section 196.1995 of the Florida Statutes and approved by county voters in 2020, covers new capital investment in real and tangible personal property; its percentage and length depend on investment, jobs and wages, and each award must be approved as an ordinance by the Board of County Commissioners (Indian River County).

The Indian River County jobs grant was rewritten in 2026 because almost no one used it. WQCS reported on June 5, 2026 that county commissioners unanimously advanced revisions after Economic Development Manager Doug Dombroski said only two businesses had used the grant over the past decade, citing burdensome quarterly reporting and agreements that could run seven to nine years (WQCS).

Under the revision the wage threshold rises from 75 percent to 100 percent of the county average wage, the job creation period is capped at three years with payment once each job is verified, and a clawback recovers money from businesses that fall short. The program maximum rose from $500,000 to $1.5 million, with no business receiving more than $500,000 in a budget year. Jobs paying 100 to 149 percent of the county average wage earn 20 percent of the average wage per job, and jobs at 150 percent or more earn 25 percent of 150 percent of it (WQCS). For a Sebastian employer those county programs sit beside the county's Projects of Significant Impact review for larger catalytic projects (Indian River County).

Sebastian Municipal Airport offers over 80 acres for lease to aviation and light industrial businesses, on terms of up to 30 years, with improved sites ready to build on (Leasing Information; Economic Development at Sebastian Airport).

Leasing lets a business put its money into the building instead of the land, the city notes, and sites near the airport's Eastside entrance will have all utilities available, with most future growth expected on the northwest side as the Taxiway Golf project and its apron are built (Leasing Information). The city's CRA economic development page adds that, for the right company, limited funds can be used to build a turnkey leasable industrial building upon City Council approval, at lease rates that could be as low as $2.00 per square foot, and it points to Interstate 95 six miles west and the Florida East Coast Railway running through Sebastian (CRA Economic Development). Detailed airport history, hangars and tenants are covered on the airport's own pages.

The Sebastian Community Redevelopment Agency funds facade, sign and landscape grants and septic to sewer assistance for projects in its district along the Indian River Lagoon, and created the parking-in-lieu program that lets riverfront businesses use public parking to meet zoning rules (CRA Projects).

The district dates to 1995 and covered the city east of the FEC Railroad right-of-way. In 2003 it was expanded to the 95-acre Sebastian Boulevard Triangle, where County Road 512 splits into eastbound and westbound lanes, plus industrial land south of C.R. 512 (Sebastian CRA; CRA Master Plan). The City Council serves as the agency's board (City of Sebastian), and the agency's money comes from tax increment financing, which directs growth in property tax revenue inside the district back into it (CRA FAQ).

Parking-in-lieu grew out of a 2010 riverfront deal. After a bank foreclosed on a run-down restaurant property on the Indian River Drive waterfront in May 2010, buyers needed more parking than the site held, so the CRA and city adopted a payment-in-lieu-of-parking change to the Land Development Regulations by late August 2010; restoration began in September and the restaurant opened in early December (CRA Economic Development Story). A 2011 Riverfront Parking Study then established the parking-in-lieu program for parking within the right-of-way of the business district (CRA Projects).

The agency has a fixed horizon. Under section 163.3755 of the Florida Statutes, the Sebastian CRA sunsets on September 30, 2033 unless the City Council votes to continue it (Sunsetting the Programs). Its current plan is the 2023 Sebastian CRA Sustainable Economic Redevelopment Master Plan, completed in June 2023 with Florida Department of Economic Opportunity funding and built around a ten-year horizon for capital projects and tax increment revenue (Master Plan).

Beyond the county and CRA programs, Sebastian employers can use CareerSource Research Coast's training reimbursements, and housing developers can look to three city parcels Sebastian has listed as suitable for affordable housing (CareerSource Research Coast; Live Local Act).

CareerSource Research Coast's on-the-job training program reimburses employers up to 50 percent of a new hire's wage to offset training and supervision costs (On-the-Job Training). For housing, Florida's Live Local Act requires cities to publish an inventory of public land that may suit affordable housing; Sebastian's Resolution R-24-49, adopted September 11, 2024, lists parcels on Tuxedo Terrace, Concha Drive and Barber Street (City of Sebastian).

Last verified: October 11, 2026, on the City of Sebastian website.