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Bradenton CRA to revisit business grant program, staff to propose six‑month 'claw back' and funding changes
Summary
Dr. Burton told the Bradenton Community Redevelopment Agency board it will return with proposals to update the CRA grants program — including a possible increase in award size and a six‑month claw back so recent applicants could reapply — and staff confirmed recent budget carryovers have bolstered grant funding.
Dr. Burton said at the May 27 Bradenton Community Redevelopment Agency meeting that staff are "currently looking at our grants program and how to make it work better" and will return with a formal proposal to the board.
The board was told the City of Palmetto recently raised its business grant ceiling to $75,000, which Dr. Burton cited as context for considering a higher cap in Bradenton. He described a proposed administrative safeguard: "some type of uh six-month uh claw back that anybody that had applied for a grant in the last six months and then if we raised the number, they could come back and reapply for the larger number." That mechanism, he said, would allow staff to raise the maximum without unfairly disadvantaging recent applicants.
Chris told the board that budget adjustments approved on the consent agenda included carryovers for each CRA fund and that staff allocated money "into grants just to make sure we always have enough money" for anticipated grant awards and land-related expenditures. Todd added that the CRA has applied for an external grant to expand the agency's freebie service; "if we receive the grant we can go seven days a week and potentially expand our vehicles coverage as well," he said. The application is currently with "FOT," and staff will update the board when they hear back.
Why it matters: the board's grant policy determines how the CRA supports new and expanding businesses and how CRA funds are distributed across projects. Raising award caps could increase the CRA's economic-development reach but would require adjustments to the CRA budget and administrative rules. Staff said they will return with specific figures showing "what the CRA is putting in, and how much more we would put in," and will work with the city attorney on any required policy language.
Next steps: staff will prepare a formal proposal with numbers and suggested administrative language, including the six‑month claw‑back approach, for board consideration at a future meeting. No formal vote was taken on changes to the grant program at this meeting.
