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Keystone Heights manager outlines CRA progress and projects; base taxable value doubled since 2004
Summary
Jamie Booth briefed Clay County commissioners on the Keystone Heights Community Redevelopment Agency: completed sewer, parking and facade grants, new trailhead investment and ongoing streetscape, park and infrastructure work. The CRA now has about $28 million taxable base versus $14 million in 2004 and receives roughly $230,000 in incremental ad valorem revenue per year.
Jamie Booth, city manager of Keystone Heights, briefed commissioners June 9 on the status and priorities of the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA). Booth described completed projects — including downtown sewer installation that enabled parking conversion, facade grant‑funded streetscape improvements, and a roughly $150,000 rails‑and‑trails trailhead — and outlined the CRA’s current plan priorities: streetscapes and parking, park improvements, economic development and infrastructure/facility acquisitions.
Booth said the CRA was established in 2004 with a base taxable value of about $14 million; current taxable value inside the CRA boundary is about $28 million. “The CRA was established in 2004,” Booth said; “the current taxable value is roughly double what it was at inception.” He told the board the county and city increments combined yield roughly $230,000 annually to invest in downtown revitalization and leverage other funding such as state grants. Booth also said the city has applied for a $660,000 small‑community CDBG acquisition grant intended to acquire and repurpose a former volunteer fire station as a community center and welcome/museum space.
Commissioners asked about the commercial/residential mix inside the CRA boundary and about planned real‑world costs for infrastructure such as a state‑funded $800,000 turn lane that will be tied to a parcel recently acquired and demolished by the CRA. Booth said the CRA budget includes about $110,000 a year of county increment and about $100,000 a year of city increment plus smaller grant funds.
What’s next: The city will pursue the CDBG acquisition grant and continue facade grants, streetscape work and parking improvements; any grant awards or property acquisitions will come back to the county and city for required approvals.
