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Transfusion or drain?

By JANET ZINK
Published October 31, 2005

TAMPA - A vital linchpin in the deal to rebuild a rundown public housing complex into a huge residential community near downtown is to cordon off the project into its own taxing district.

That would let the city direct increases in property taxes collected there back into the neighborhood for things like better roads and drainage.

Mayor Pam Iorio said she supports the district for the Central Park Village project, which could bring more than 4,000 condos and townhouses to land between downtown and Ybor City.

But it's the last one she'll back.

The city already has eight Community Redevelopment Areas, as the neighborhoods are called, with accompanying taxing regulations. Five CRAs were created in just the past two years. And the mayor and some other officials think they are taking too much money from more pressing needs.

The program, authorized by the state Legislature, allows the city to funnel millions of dollars into blighted areas to spur redevelopment. But it also siphons money from city services, including police and fire rescue, and parks and recreation.

And it takes millions away from the county and other agencies supported by property taxes, including the Children's Board, the Tampa Port Authority and the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit bus system.

"It's very positive for that geographic area," Iorio said. "For the general fund of the city, it's not positive."

Typically, CRAs remain in place for 30 years.

"That's a long period of time not to have those increased revenues," she said. "On the other hand, if you don't address the blight and make a concerted effort to redevelop an area and increase the tax base, you are left with blight and no tax base in the area."

The Children's Board, which supports health, education and other programs, depends on property taxes for nearly all of its $30-million annual budget, said John Bakas, an attorney for the board.

CRAs take $360,000 each year from the board's coffers. Since 1990, Bakas said, they've cost the board more than $2-million.

"When you take money out for any purpose, that's money that the Children Board can't spend to accomplish its mission," he said.

Creating a CRA requires a study showing that an area is blighted, an improvement plan reviewed by the City-County Planning Commission, agreement from the Hillsborough County Commission and approval by the mayor and City Council.

The county will give up more than $8-million to Tampa CRAs next year.

That's okay, say county commissioners.

"It's worth it to me to have a revitalized area," said Commissioner Jim Norman. "If you can bring back an area, it has a domino effect."

Redevelopment can lower crime rates in a blighted area, which puts less pressure on county jails, he said.

Commissioner Kathy Castor called CRAs an important growth management tool.

"It encourages development to occur where many facilities already exist," she said. "(Hillsborough County) has a long history of urban sprawl type development, far flung subdivisions where it's very costly to provide roads, sewers, parks, police protection. If you redevelop some of your in-town areas, sometimes those already exist."

Giving up millions in property tax revenue for 30 years is a big sacrifice. But in the end, the county benefits, she said.

"Investments don't pay off the very next year. Sometimes you have to invest over time," she said. "At the end of the CRA's life, you will have recouped an awful lot of money."

Both Castor and Norman, though, agree with Iorio that the Central Park Village CRA should be among the last.

"If you have too many of these little cities around, general government isn't supported," and neighborhoods elsewhere, who don't have their own special tax income, can suffer, Norman said.

But City Council member Shawn Harrison would like to see at least one additional CRA in Tampa. Several weeks ago, he asked the city staff to look into the possibility of creating one near the University of South Florida, between Busch Boulevard and Fowler Avenue.

"North Tampa is really the only part of the city that doesn't have one," he said. "And if you take a drive up through there, it is the poster child for CRA necessity."

The area is "crying out for some assistance from government," he said. "It is every bit as deserving as Central Park."

But city officials reported back that economic incentives for businesses such as enterprise zones were already in place there. The officials didn't recommend a CRA for the area.

Discussion of a CRA around Central Park began two years ago when Iorio asked the County Commission to approve the district to assist the Tampa Housing Authority's application for a federal grant and developer's plans for the area.

Public officials faced a tight deadline for the grant application, and city and county leaders couldn't agree on the terms of CRA.

Districts can vary on how property tax money is divided. In the Ybor City CRA, for instance, the county gives up 70 percent of its revenues for 30 years. In Drew Park, the county gives up 100 percent for 10 years, and 80 percent for the following 20.

In the earlier CRA plan for Central Park, Norman said he also had problems with parts of the plan regarding relocation of residents there.

CRA redevelopment plans usually outline exactly how the money will be spent in the neighborhood. East Tampa's plan calls for facade improvements. The downtown CRA pays off the construction debt on the Tampa Convention Center.

Disagreement over the Central Park Village CRA in 2003 killed the redevelopment proposal altogether.

With this new effort, there will be plenty of time for negotiation. City officials hope to have the Central Park Village CRA in place by June.

--Janet Zink can be reached at 813 226-3401 or jzink@sptimes.com

[Last modified October 31, 2005, 03:00:27]