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Agenda
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The meeting opened with passioned pleas from members of the East Tampa CRA CAC for help. As a resident of the district, my instinct was to offer help. Then as I listened to the rest of the discussion, I had a feeling of deja vu. I care deeply about my neighborhood and the broader neighborhood I am a part of in East Tampa. I hope the moves by the CRA board to have more input into what the CRAs prioritize and provide more oversight these issues will start to resolve. I also believe the restructuring of the CRA will help. What won’t be solved is the tension between having to look at the full boundaries of the district when making decisions and the needs of the core of East Tampa.

Items 3 & 4 I skipped over in the preview as I assumed most things with Encore were formalities at this point. I couldn’t have been more wrong. What’s interesting is there’s a new angle being approached with these developments. It’s not upfront money or a grant, it’s in the form of a tax rebate down the road. Item 3 was for like $14 million in credits for 40 proposed units at up to 140% AMI. They are basically offering the city to fully subsidized the units in the form a tax credit. It failed.

Item 4 I think the developers also thought this was a formality and didn’t come with their A game. The ask here was for $9.9 million in tax credits so they could build a grocery store and medical offices in the development. This project also failed, though the board hinted they would be open to a different proposal. The developers made it sound like this was a one time shot to get those two pieces built. I would be curious if they presented their plan better and explained the finances if the vote had been different.

Item 5 was a presentation from the Museum of Art explaining their ask for an additional $10 million. They brought their A game. The money is basically cost increases for infrastructure spending. Public space and pedestrian improvements along the River Walk and Museum. Passed without issue.

I did mention item 6 in the preview. More tax credits. This time for Gas Worx. Again, it’s mostly in the form of infrastructure spending. The developer does all of the work redoing streets and connecting back to a grid. Storm water and sidewalks. I snarked last week that the city wouldn’t wind up capping the Downtown CRA because GasWorx needs the money but generally speaking, I don’t oppose this type of arraignment.

Ultimately item 8 was continued until April, but not without some discussion. One important point that was made is the Downtown CRA district is maxed out until roughly 2028. There is no magic bullet for FY 25 budget coming for the Downtown CRA. Council member Carlson wanted to keep the process moving forward and motion for staff and legal to begin formal talks with the county. The majority of council felt differently. After pointing out the cap wouldn’t have an affect until 2028, and defending continuing until next year, Council member Viera said “let’s have an accomplishment not a vote to prove a point.” I would have offered the same advice on his motion for a reimbursement resolution the week before regarding funding far off projects at Tampa Fire Rescue.

Items 9 & 10 relate to Tampa Union Station. The CRA approved a grant for restoration work and it was questioned whether the city had legally failed to comply with the grant. Legal opinion: no. We should be taking better care of the station. We own it. The rail line is important as is the historic nature of a downtown train station.

Broader conversations were woven throughout the day regarding capping and priorities. This spring there will be more conversations about how much has been committed, the estimates of what’s coming and capping. Added to that will be conversations about Channelside. While the county would want their piece of the pie if we started carving up that chunk of money, they also have neglected obligations to maintain roads within the city. A possible solution being floated would be for the county to use their cut of the funds from capping that CRA on county owned roads in the city. Once repaired, the city could take over maintenance and what comes with that responsibility. The X factor here is the money coming back from the state they stole collected as part of All for Transportation tax. Either way, don’t count on your county road in the city being repaired any time soon, but point your anger at your County Commission, not City Council.