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Huachula CRA outlines nearly 30 years of redevelopment, warns of proposed state limits
Summary
Huachula Community Redevelopment Agency staff reviewed 1997–2024 investment and projects funded by tax increment financing, summarized recent and upcoming projects and warned about state legislation that could limit CRA authority.
Jessica Newman, the Huachula Community Redevelopment Agency representative, told the Hardee County Board of County Commissioners on April 3 that the agency has used tax increment financing and grants to support infrastructure, housing and historic-preservation work since the CRA was established in 1997.
Newman said the CRA’s work is governed by Florida Statute 163 Part 3 and “their role is to eliminate slum and blight.” She told commissioners the CRA area now covers about 1,579 acres — roughly 75% of the City of Huachula and about 4.4% of Hardee County’s land mass — and that the CRA’s 2024 assessed property value totaled about $163 million.
The agency has collected about $13 million in tax-increment revenues over roughly 30 years and, Newman said, “we have been able to accomplish over $14,000,000 in projects” by leveraging grants and private investment. She described infrastructure work (parking lots, streetscapes, stormwater), 45 commercial building renovations, a residential infill/home rehabilitation program and multi‑phase park improvements at Peace River.
Newman highlighted several recent or in-progress projects: a TIF rebate incentive for a 23‑unit Diana Street apartment project, window and audiovisual upgrades at the historic auditorium, fountain refurbishment in Heritage Park, and a state-appropriated Far Field sports complex (softball field, splash pad, playground and parking) pending final state signatures before bidding.
She described the CRA’s approach to brownfields cleanup, noting it has completed Phase I and II assessments on multiple downtown properties and used EPA/DEP and other grants. Newman said the CRA has sold cleanup tax credits to recoup some costs and cited recent sale prices — roughly $0.83 on the dollar.
Newman also reported on state-level legislation she said could limit CRA activity. She said Senate Bill 1242 had passed a committee with criticism and would, in its current form, bar new CRA projects or debt after Oct. 1, 2025, and set a uniform sunset date for all CRAs. “The 10/01/2025 is really the language that’s the most detrimental,” Newman said, and she described committee discussion about revising the bill to target outlier CRAs rather than broadly curtailing the tool.
Commissioners asked about assessed value calculations (Newman said figures came from the property appraiser and represent taxable/assessed value used to calculate the TIF deposit), the CRA’s governance (the City Commission serves as the CRA board), and funding sources (city and county TIF deposits plus grants and private dollars). Commissioner remarks emphasized that CRA projects take time and public education about funding and phasing is important.
Newman closed by noting the agency still relies heavily on grants and partnerships given the modest size of its annual deposits and invited commissioners to follow up with questions.
The presentation served as the CRA’s annual update to the county commission and included detailed year-by-year valuation charts and lists of grants and private investments.
