Politics

Storms wants time limits on tax districts

The community development areas usually are in place for 20 to 30 years. She wants 15.

By Janet Zink, Times Staff Writer
Published March 5, 2008

TAMPA - State Sen. Ronda Storms has introduced legislation that city officials say would severely hamper their efforts to revitalize neighborhoods like East Tampa and Tampa Heights.

Storms, a Republican from Brandon, has proposed limiting to 15 years the life of special taxing districts intended to boost economic development in blighted areas. She also wants any district already in place for 15 years dissolved in 2009.

Such districts, called community redevelopment areas, redirect property taxes raised in their borders toward improving infrastructure and the economy in the area. They typically remain in place 20 to 30 years.

"It takes some time to build up resources that can be used to cure some of the more significant blight conditions in a community," said Mark Huey, Tampa's manager of economic development.

The budget for the East Tampa Community Redevelopment Area in 2005, its first year, was $1-million. The 2008 budget, thanks to property value increases, is more than $6-million.

Among other things, the money will go to provide home improvement loans, beautify major streets, and pay the salaries of police dedicated to investigating environmental crimes such as illegal dumping.

Districts created downtown in 1983 and 1988 helped build the Tampa Convention Center. Future revenue there is slated to go to construction of a $15-million waterfront park.

Huey also said the 15-year time frame makes it difficult to finance such major projects as new stormwater systems over decades. He also pointed out that the city's agreement with the developers of the Heights, which will bring nearly 2,000 homes to the neighborhood just north of downtown, includes a 30-year funding commitment from a community redevelopment area.

The districts get their money by directing property tax revenue increases away from the city, county and other taxing authorities and back into the neighborhoods where they are collected.

Eric Johnson, Hillsborough County's budget director, said payments to community redevelopment areas are one of the fastest growing parts of the county's budget. In 2008, Tampa's districts will pull in $14-million that otherwise would have gone to Hillsborough County. In 2006, the figure was $8-million.

Storms' bill "is probably helpful to counties because it forces (cities) to move quickly and frees us up from those obligations," he said. "But obviously, if you're trying to finance infrastructure, that's a very short period."

[Last modified March 5, 2008, 01:34:36]