The road leading to Vero Beach's incorporation had a few bumps on the way to Tallahassee

VERO BEACH — In 1918, not everyone was excited about becoming a city. 

Residents were concerned about higher taxes that could come with incorporating the small town, according to a Nov. 29, 1918, article in the St. Lucie County Tribune. 

Proponents of incorporation talked with dissenters about the benefits during a November 1918 meeting of the Vero Commercial Club, which later became the Vero Chamber of Commerce. Proponents promised that two committees would consider incorporation costs and recommend new boundaries, the article said. 

A.W. Young, who would become the first mayor of Vero, was one of those who urged support of incorporating. 

"(Supporters of incorporation) said the benefits to be derived from having a town government would far outweigh the taxes that would be required to carry it on," the newspaper reported. 

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Fire protection, better streets and sidewalks, improved sanitary conditions, additional street lighting and a waterworks system were some of the benefits to incorporation, the article said. 

Vero Beach needed a special charter from the Legislature before it could incorporate. Lawmakers were scheduled to approve the charter in December 1918, but delayed it after some received telegrams indicating "most people in Vero" opposed incorporation, a Dec. 3, 1918, Tribune article said. 

A two-day petition drive, however, showed just the opposite, collecting 48 signatures in favor of incorporating. "Only 10 went on record against it," the article said.

The opposition — led by owners of orange groves and marsh land, according to the newspaper — delayed any vote on the bill until the April 1919 legislative session. 

"This leaves the way clear for the Commercial Club to proceed with its efforts to frame a charter for Vero that will be satisfactory to everybody," a Dec. 6, 1918, Tribune article said. 

The Legislature eventually approved the bill, and Gov. Sidney Catts signed it into law

In May, A.W. Young left for Tallahassee with the bill for the incorporation of Vero.

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