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Panama City CRA adopts 20% cap on administrative costs
Summary
The Community Redevelopment Agency board on Sept. 2 set a 20% cap on CRA administrative expenditures (measured against CRA revenues) and adopted a broad definition of eligible administrative costs, while directing staff to reconcile actuals to budget and return to the board if exceptions are needed.
The Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) Board of the City of Panama City voted Sept. 2 to cap administrative expenditures at 20% of annual CRA revenues and adopt a broad definition of what counts as administrative costs.
Board member Josh Street proposed using a third-party review to benchmark administrative allocations, saying, "Rather than putting it on the staff to go and find, I'm just saying, hey. We could use a third party to give an exact objective view." The board moved, seconded and approved a motion establishing the cap and adopting a definition that includes staff salaries and benefits, prorated city support services, office rent and utilities, insurance, IT, audits, legal, training and travel.
The board discussed measurement and governance: members agreed the cap should be applied to budgeted CRA revenues and that staff should reconcile actual administrative costs against the cap at year-end. The board also directed staff to bring any material variance or requests to exceed the cap back to the board for consideration.
Staff had previously surveyed statewide practice and cited a Miami‑Dade grand jury finding and related interlocal guidance that produced a 20% benchmark in that county; Board member Street told the board the figure was a defensible starting point while acknowledging practice varies widely across Florida CRAs.
The motion passed on a roll-call vote with Board member Granger, Board member Josh Street, Board member Hughes, Board member Lucas and Chairman Alan Branch voting yes.
The board asked staff to provide clearer line‑item identification in the FY2026 work plan and to return if programmatic needs (for example, unusually high legal or compliance costs tied to discrete projects) require reconsideration of the cap.
The policy will be implemented in the CRA's FY2026 budget process and applied to budgeted revenues; staff said they will perform a reconciliation of actuals after the fiscal year closes and propose adjustments if needed.
