The CRA

In this space two weeks ago the City Commission’s economic development initiatives were listed. Among these initiatives there were several references to the CRA – the City’s Community Redevelopment Agency. The CRA is the key to the City’s redevelopment efforts – downtown, on Lincoln Ave, in the Scenic Highway industrial area, in the residential rings surrounding these areas, as well as in the Longleaf Business Park and areas nearby. It is important to understand the organization of the CRA, how it is helping us, and what it will do in the future.

Organization

CRA refers to ‘Community Redevelopment Agency’, and its purpose is to address slum and blight conditions. Any city or county can adopt a CRA organization per state law Chapter 163, and there are currently 178 CRA’s across the state. The steps for adoption of a CRA include:

• The designation of a distinct area of the City as the CRA area;


• The adoption of a redevelopment plan that specifies how CRA funds will be spent. The plan must follow the guidelines in state law; and


• The designation of a base year.

In the base year, the total taxable value in the CRA is frozen for the length of time the CRA is adopted, usually 30 years. As taxable value in the CRA increases with development activity or increased assessments from the County Property Appraiser’s Office, the City and the County taxes on the increase above the frozen value in the base year go to the CRA.

The CRA is governed by a board, and in Lake Wales our City Commission also sits as the CRA Board.

How it is Helping Us

As noted above, the CRA achieves two important purposes:

1. It brings a focus to areas that are in need of redevelopment activities; and


2. It provides funding – from both City and County funds – that is restricted to the uses outlined in the redevelopment plan.

As noted above, the Lake Wales designated CRA area is quite large. By including undeveloped areas of the City (the Longleaf Business Park and the Mayfair development on south US 27), the CRA budget can be expected to grow dramatically. In the base year of 1999, there was no development on these two properties. Now the business park has seven buildings with a total taxable value exceeding $7.5 million, and the City and County taxes on these properties go to the CRA. Development in Mayfair is anticipated to begin soon, which will continue the growth of CRA revenues. Current year CRA revenues exceed $2.6 million.

CRA funding is used for development incentives and capital improvements (such as street, water, and sewer improvements), as well as the work of several staff members and consultants involved in redevelopment efforts.

What it will do in the Future

The CRA has partnered with the Chamber’s new Redevelopment Steering Committee, and it is anticipated that this partnership will bring a new focus to the CRA: the use of funds to finance improvements that will be specifically designed to facilitate the expansion of an existing business or the location of a new business in the redevelopment area. The expansion or new business will in turn result in a higher tax base, and the higher taxes paid will go to the CRA to pay off the debt that the CRA used to finance the improvement. The key to this effort is planning, and the first of several studies to identify projects and opportunities is now underway.

The future for redevelopment in Lake Wales is very promising!