Fort Walton Beach — Community Redevelopment Agency 2020-21 Annual Report

City of Fort Walton Beach, FL Community Redevelopment Agency 2020-2021 Annual Report Ft Walton Beach Community Redevelopment Agency 105 Miracle Strip Parkway SW Ft. Walton Beach, FL 32548 850-586-7814 www.fwb.org/cra  City of Fort Walton Beach, FL Community Redevelopment Agency 2020-2021 Annual Report The Vision To ensure that the City of Fort Walton Beach CRA continues to be a waterfront-oriented community that provides a mixed-use urban environment with a diversity of housing, variety of employment opportunities; thriving downtown core; vibrant and distinctive neighborhoods; attractive parks, open spaces, and cultural amenities; and well-designed public street, transit facilities, greenways, trails and blue ways. Ft Walton Beach Community Redevelopment Agency 105 Miracle Strip Parkway SW Ft. Walton Beach, FL 32548 850-586-7814 www.fwb.org/cra 2  Community Redevelopment Agency Plan Purpose and District The Fort Walton Beach CRA was established in 1977, with the Redevelopment Trust Fund and Community Redevelopment Agency following in 1982. The original CRA was focused primarily on the Downtown portion of the city along Miracle Strip Parkway/Hwy 98 and was approximately 222 acres. The boundaries were expanded with a plan update in 1998 adding an additional 385 acres for a total of 607 acres or about 12% of the overall City limits. In 2012, the CRA plan was updated to address changes that had taken place since adoption and refocus projects, programs, and initiatives to guide the redevelopment process for the next five years. In 2018, per Florida Statute 163.361 (1), the CRA Plan was amended to expand the boundary to include three additional Areas of Concern that were considered “Blighted Areas” based on the findings concluded in the FON. Resolutions 2019-6 and 2019-7 for CRA expansions were adopted by the City Council on May 21, 2019 and extended the CRA District boundary to include an additional 219 acres resulting in a total of 826 acres. The current 2018 updated Fort Walton Beach Community Redevelopment Agency Plan is scheduled to terminate at 11:59 on December 31, 2048. 3  CRA Board Members Council Member Nic Allegretto Council Member Mike Holmes Council Member Kirby Locklear Council Member Nathan Kelley Council Member MG Moran Council Member Travis Smith Council Member David Schmidt CRA Administration Michael Beedie Chris Frassetti Alisa Burleson City Manager Growth Management Director Administrator 4  2020-2021 Projects in Review Completed Projects • Playground installation at The Landing Park • Megacycle Route signage purchased and installed in accordance with the Florida statute and the newly established Fort Walton Beach commercial megacycle ordinance • CRA Sponsorship Program was reinstated and contributed $5,650 toward special events. CRA Administration On July 21, 2020, the CRA Board directed the Growth Management Director to look into the option of hiring a CRA Administrator. The funding for this position was ap- proved in the 2020/2021 CRA budget on September 9, 2020. Alisa Burleson was hired on August 2, 2020 to be the CRA Administrator for the City of Fort Walton Beach, FL. She is certified as a FRA-RP (Redevelopment Professional) and working toward the FRA-RA (Redevelopment Administrator) certification through the Florida Redevelopment Association. CRA Education and Training CRA Administrator, Alisa Burleson and the FWB Planning Supervisor, Tim Gibson attended the FRA Annual Conference 5  Projects in Process • Gulfview Museum and Office Suites street and building signage • Downtown Parking Lot renovation plan • Library Relocations Study and Infrastructure Master Plan for the “Around the Mound” project • Indian Temple Mound Museum entrance/expansion project • CRA Grants and Incentives Program improvements/reimplementation of currently established grants along with the addition of additional grants to include:  Permit Fee Assistance (currently active)  Façade Grant (re-implemented)  Nuisance Abatement Grant (re-implemented)  Building Code Upgrade (new)  Asbestos Mitigation (new) 6  Financial Review The Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) Fund encompasses 7.23% of the City’s activities and services and accounts for funding derived from City of Fort Walton Beach and Okaloosa County Tax Increment Funding (TIF) - proceeds from increases in the taxable assessed value of the CRA District. The TIF is determined by the growth in the assessed value of taxable property located in the CRA district from the base year to the current tax year and is multiplied by the current tax rate for the City and County. Expenditures in the CRA area target eliminating blight in residential and commercial areas. New Businesses in the CRA - 28 Approved CRA Grant Recipients - 2 Total CRA Grant Expenditures - $9,466 Private Investment Leveraged as a Result of CRA Grants Incentives - $1,475,000 Adopted 2021 - 2022 CRA Budget Total Tax Revenue ……………………………………………………….....…$2,437,243 City Original TIF …………………………………….$1,037,888 City Expanded TIF …………………………………….$ 380,088 County Original TIF …………………………………….$ 746,053 County Expanded TIF …………………………………….$ 273,214 Budgeted $ Change % Change City Ad Valorem Taxes $1,417,976 $ 66,984 4.96% Intergovernmental Revenue $1,019,267 $ 48,150 4.96% Appropriation from Reserves $ 0 $(1,263,150) (100%) Total Expenditures …………………………………………………...………..$2,437,243 Personal Services ………………………………….….$ 467,900 Operating Expenses ……………………………………..$ 500,191 Capital Outlay ……………………………………..$ 81,500 Improvements ……………………………………..$ 315,000 Reimbursement to General Fund …………………..…$ 186,096 Reserved Undesignated Net assets ……………………..$ 886,556 Budgeted $ Change % Change Personal Services $ 467,900 $ (70,334) (13.07%) Operating Expenses $ 500,191 $ 95,955 23.74% Capital Outlay $ 81,500 $ (13,500) (14.21%) Capital Improvements $ 315,000 $(1,090,301) (77.58%) Reimbursement to General Fund $ 186,096 $ 4,006 2.20% Reserved Undesignated Net Assets $ 886,556 $ (73,842) (7.69%) • Increases in Operational expenses are primarily due to increases in Economic Incentive Programs. • The decrease in capital outlay is due to the carryover of the funding for the Landing Improvements CIP from FY 2020-2021 7  City of Fort Walton Beach, FL Community Redevelopment Agency 2020-2021 Annual Report Alisa Burleson, Administrator Community Redevelopment Agency aburleson@fwb.org cradept@fwb.org 850-586-7814 www.fwb.org/cra 8