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Apopka CRA reports surge in residential‑renovation grants; staff to redesign some incentive programs
Summary
Staff reported the CRA's residential renovation assistance program has seen heavy demand, with awards now exceeding $460,000 to date against a $900,000 line; staff also said state changes require removing certain impact‑fee assistance programs and that they will return with new program proposals.
Antoinette Forbes, Apopka director of economic development, updated the board on CRA assistance programs and budget line items. She said exterior commercial facade and building‑code assistance have modest year‑to‑date expenditures, but the Residential Renovation Assistance Program (RERAP) has seen sharp uptake.
Forbes told the board the RERAP line in the adopted budget is $900,000 and that, since the board packet was prepared, the program has awarded "a little over $460,000" to homeowners; an example award cited was $24,073.21 for roof and window replacement. Tim Williams, a resident who participated in the program, spoke during public comment and thanked staff for an easy application process.
Forbes also said recent changes in state statute have restricted the use of tax‑increment (TIF) funds for certain types of fee reimbursements and clarified that three CRA programs — the building permit refund assistance, a business impact fee assistance program, and the residential impact fee assistance program — were removed from the CRA's offerings because they are no longer allowable under TIF guidance. She said the board approved a budget that contains about $50,000 tied to those now‑ineligible programs and that staff will return with proposed replacement programming for board consideration at the next meeting.
Board members asked whether the $50,000 could be moved to contingency; staff said the board will decide at the next meeting. Forbes said she will consult with Retail Strategies and other CRAs to design replacement programs that support blight reduction and economic development objectives while complying with state requirements.
