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Safety Harbor CRA accepts FY 2023-24 annual report, authorizes filing with Pinellas County
Summary
The Safety Harbor Community Redevelopment Agency on March 17 unanimously accepted its fiscal year 2023-24 annual report and authorized staff to submit the report to the Pinellas County Board of County Commissioners, a filing required by state statute.
The Safety Harbor Community Redevelopment Agency on Monday, March 17 accepted its fiscal year 2023-24 annual report and authorized staff to submit the document to the Pinellas County Board of County Commissioners; the motion passed unanimously, 5-0.
Derek Reeves, assistant development director for the City of Safety Harbor, told members the report covers the CRA’s fiscal year (October 2023 through September 2024) and meets the annual filing requirement established by state statute. “The report must be filed by March 31,” Reeves said, and the city has been submitting the required report each year, he said.
The report shows a roughly 12.71% increase in property values within the CRA/TIF district compared with 2022 and a lifetime increase of about 645% since the district’s base year in 1990, Reeves said. The CRA’s FY 2023-24 budget was about $1.3 million, with total expenditures nearing $2.9 million; Reeves said a large share of the year’s spending — about $2.5 million — consisted of prior encumbered funds spent this fiscal year on the library project.
Reeves described several project highlights in the report. Public art work included a refresh of the fire station mural and a tree-stump carving at the community center. Downtown partnership grants supported multiple private renovation projects listed in the report, including work at Polished Salon, the Chamber of Commerce (exterior painting), Glen Swept Social (interior renovation and an addition), Whistler Stockboro and Bar (interior renovations), House of Pedals (interior renovation), and two residential façade or porch projects.
Reeves also noted a May 20, 2024 action by the Pinellas County Board of County Commissioners that extended the CRA and its tax-increment financing (TIF) fund by eight years; he said the new sunset date is Oct. 6, 2032. After the presentation, a board member moved to accept the annual report and authorize staff to submit it to the county; a second was given, and the board voted 5-0 to approve the motion. Earlier in the meeting, the board also approved minutes from its Sept. 16, 2024 meeting by a 5-0 vote.
No members of the public spoke on the item during the meeting. Near the end of the session board members briefly discussed pending legislation that they said they were monitoring and expressed hope the CRA would continue to exist at the next meeting.
Staff is authorized to file the FY 2023-24 CRA annual report with Pinellas County by the statutory March 31 deadline, as stated in the presentation and in the board’s motion.
