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Boca Raton leaders warn fast-tracked Florida bill could eliminate CRAs
Summary
Officials said a fast-tracked Florida bill known as HB 991 could end community redevelopment agencies in future years, potentially disrupting planned downtown infrastructure projects; city lobbyists expect significant amendments but the measure remains under close watch.
Boca Raton officials told the Community Redevelopment Agency on March 17 that a fast-tracked Florida bill identified at the meeting as HB 991 could eliminate community redevelopment agencies (CRAs) in future years, a change they said would disrupt long-range downtown infrastructure work.
Deputy Mayor Commissioner Drucker said the measure — which she described as moving quickly through committees in Tallahassee — would “eliminate CRA's in future years” and urged residents and stakeholders to contact their state representatives to highlight how the change would affect Boca Raton’s downtown projects.
The CRA’s concerns center on timing and scope. Commissioner Wigder, who said he and colleagues traveled to Tallahassee to advocate for the city, noted the CRA divides its downtown into subareas and stages infrastructure work over many years. He said the government center and underlying utilities — pipes and electrical systems that he described as decades old — are scheduled for replacement as part of the downtown program and could be affected if the CRA’s authority were curtailed.
CRA staff and elected members told the board they have engaged lobbyists and state lawmakers and that the bill remains in flux. Chair Nattlis said lobbyists reported that “significant amendments to the bill are anticipated,” and that some committee members felt the measure as introduced went too far.
Board members said the local concern stems in part from misuse of CRA funds in other jurisdictions, which has prompted state-level scrutiny that could be applied more broadly. Deputy Mayor Drucker emphasized the difference between alleged misuse elsewhere and Boca Raton’s local redevelopment work, saying that a single problem in another community should not “hurt the rest of us.”
There was no board vote on the matter during the March 17 meeting. Members said they would continue monitoring developments, work with the city’s lobbyists, and evaluate how any changes could affect projects already in the CRA pipeline.
