CRA member urges support for state-level home-rule lawsuit; board member also stresses keeping current millage to preserve CRA funds

Board member Bridal told the Stuart CRA on Aug. 25 that she supports the city joining lawsuits relating to state action on home-rule and the statute or policy described in the meeting as "1 80 and home rule." "I fully support the city jumping on as part of lawsuits against... the situation with the home rule, yeah, and 1 80 and home rule. And I I'm a 100% for that, and I wanted to go record on that," Bridal said. She added she does not support breaking the law in pursuing that course. In the same comments period, Bridal urged keeping the current millage rate to maintain CRA funding. "I wanna put in a plug from a budget standpoint again for keeping that millage rate up... That's the amount of dollars are coming directly to us," she said, noting that reducing the millage reduces CRA revenues and ultimately returns more to the county. Discussion vs. decision: these remarks were statements of position made during board comments; the board did not take a formal vote during the meeting to join or fund litigation or to change the millage rate. Bridal said she will be absent from an upcoming CRB meeting on Sept. 15 and requested information on how projects would have been judged under older versus newer guidelines before she would support actions that might conflict with legal limits. Background and next steps: Bridal asked for project comparisons under prior and current guidelines to assess legal compliance before supporting further CRA actions; no direction or motion was recorded on joining litigation or changing tax policy at the Aug. 25 meeting.