Boca Raton CRA adopts $60.5 million FY2024–25 budget, funds downtown walkability and Palmetto Park connectivity

The Boca Raton Community Redevelopment Agency unanimously approved its fiscal year 2024–25 budget on Sept. 9, voting 5–0 to adopt Resolution No. 202407CRA.

Stephen Timberlake, the CRA’s Special Projects Manager, presented the plan and described the agency’s revenue and spending outlook. He told the board the downtown’s assessed value approaches $2.6 billion with a frozen base of roughly $74 million, producing an estimated tax‑increment revenue of $22.5 million for the coming year. Timberlake said the CRA expects total operating revenue of about $26.4 million and is proposing a $60.5 million budget, driven primarily by capital outlays and future redevelopment projects.

The proposed spending package includes approximately $22 million in capital outlay and $24 million appropriated for specific redevelopment projects, with roughly $6.5 million identified as repayment to the city for services. Timberlake said the agency is carrying over $34 million in reserves from the current year and plans to appropriate part of those reserves to three projects: $6.1 million for traffic lighting, $24 million for the Downtown Palmetto Park Road connectivity and mobility effort, and $4 million for CRA roadway and sidewalk improvements.

Commissioners asked for clarification about the downtown plan and how potential overages would be allocated. Commissioner Wachter pressed whether funds that exceed projections would be devoted to longer‑term allocations such as a potential community center; Timberlake and Mr. Brown said holdover project funds would be directed to specific projects and reevaluated next year, and that transfers and OE (office equivalency) conversions remain options under the current ordinance.

The resolution was approved after the agency opened a public hearing (no public comments were offered). The board also approved a separate scheduling resolution for 2025 meetings on a unanimous vote earlier in the session.

What’s next: Staff will provide commissioners with more detailed office‑equivalency and transfer information at the next meeting, and the CRA’s budget remains dependent on the city’s budget approval because the CRA is a dependent special district.

Quote: “We recommend the agency approve our resolution 24‑07‑CRA, adopting the ’25 budget,” Timberlake said while presenting the figures.

Ending: The budget vote concluded an otherwise routine meeting; staff and commissioners flagged follow‑up items on OE detail, project phasing and coordination with the city budget process.