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2007 Legislative Policy Statement
The Florida Redevelopment Association's purpose is to promote the improvement of downtown and urban areas through redevelopment and development activities. Our association opposes any amendments to the Community Redevelopment Act (Ch.163, Part III) that affect the ability of community redevelopment agencies to carry out their mission. In those areas in Florida where there are issues between municipalities and their respective counties, FRA believes these issues should be worked out at the local level and not through legislative amendments.
Our position is identical to the Florida League of Cities, Inc.:
We support legislation that preserves the home rule powers of municipalities to create and effectively use community redevelopment agencies to redevelop and revitalize their urban areas, including the use of tax increment financing. We further support local control and disposition of any disputes between local governments over the use of such agencies and financing.
For the past thirty-three years cities throughout Florida have created community redevelopment agencies (“CRAs”) to focus on the needed redevelopment and revitalization of the urban core. CRAs rely heavily on tax increment financing as a means to finance public redevelopment projects and to, in many instances, match private investment. This type of financing is very popular and successful because it provides specific public services without increasing taxes or levying any new taxes. In addition, both residents and business owners favor this system because the taxes they pay on their investment are rewarded with direct benefits from the CRA. In most cases, these benefits have been in the form of infrastructure improvements.
Recently, some county governments have proposed changes that would unduly restrict the creation and expansion of CRAs by municipalities and would upset the carefully crafted redevelopment policy this state has been following since 1969. The Legislature should resist any attempt to restrict the use of tax increment financing, particularly if the object is to restrict the amount of money to be available for redevelopment or to obtain control over its use, and not about the merits of revitalizing blighted areas.
CRAs and tax increment financing have been integral tools for cities and counties to provide improvements to blighted urban cores for more than 30 years. It is not in the state's best interest to restrict their ability to revitalize and redevelop areas that are the most in need of every possible tool.
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