MISSION
To foster and directly assist in the redevelopment of the Community Redevelopment Area in order to eliminate blight, create a sustainable downtown and encourage economic growth, thus improving the attractiveness and quality of life for the benefit of the CRA District and the City of Delray Beach as a whole.
ESTABLISHED IN 1985
The Delray Beach Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) was established by the City Commission on June 18, 1985 to guide the City in its redevelopment efforts. The purpose of the CRA is to revitalize the physical environment and the economy of the Community Redevelopment Area. The CRA’s activities are designed to solve the underlying problems of slum and blighted conditions through planning, redevelopment, historic preservation, economic development and affordable housing so that the tax base can be protected and enhanced by these mutually supportive activities.
Your Questions, Answered
A Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) is a special dependent taxing district established by local government for the purpose of carrying out redevelopment activities that include reducing or eliminating blight, improving the tax base, and encouraging public and private investments in the redevelopment area. The City Commission is the official Community Redevelopment Agency for the City of Delray Beach.
Finding of Necessity & Ordinance
Please see Florida Statutes Chapter 112 Part III for more information about Ethics Requirements.
Community Redevelopment Agencies: Chapter 163.330-163.463
Special Dependent District.: Chapter 189.02-189.022
The Delray Beach CRA was created on June 18, 1985 by the City Commission to aid in eliminating blight in the City and guide the City in its redevelopment efforts.
Every year the fiscal year begins on October 1 and ends on September 30.
The Delray Beach CRA contributes to many projects throughout its District to carry out its redevelopment mission Projects include street beautification and infrastructure improvements, affordable housing, public transportation, and land development. The CRA’s Redevelopment Plan is a document that is approved by the City and the County at the time that each CRA district is created. The Redevelopment Plan outlines the goals and objectives for the district, and more importantly, outlines specific programs and capital improvements designed to reach those goals.
Any funds received from a tax increment financing area must be used in accordance with the Redevelopment Plan for specific redevelopment purposes within the targeted area, and not for general government purposes.
The CRA is primarily funded through tax increment revenues. Properties located in the CRA district do NOT pay any additional property taxes, rather, a portion of the annual City and County taxes collected in the redevelopment area is transferred to the CRA for redevelopment activities. The greater the increase in taxable property values over the CRA’s base year (1985), the larger the incremental increase in revenues transferred to the CRA. Other sources of funding for redevelopment activities include grants, the sale or lease of property, and the issuance of taxable and nontaxable bonds. Although funding in recent years has reached into the millions of dollars, it wasn’t until 1999 that the CRA’s total City and County funding broke the $1 million mark.
CRAs are created to assist local governments in pursuing redevelopment in targeted areas that are characterized by blight and disinvestment. By establishing a CRA, local governments are given a financial and planning mechanism by which to redevelop areas where private market forces aren’t working. The CRA also provides funding assistance to…
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In Delray Beach, there are five (5) members of the governing body of the Community Redevelopment Agency consisting of the five (5) members of the City Commission.
Please see Florida Statutes Chapter 163.357 for more information on the governing body of the CRA.
The CRA oversees redevelopment efforts within the older central core of the City.
The Community Redevelopment Area covers more than 1,900 acres of land (approximately 20% of the City).
Included within the boundaries are:
- The entire Central Business District
- The adjacent neighborhoods east of I-95 between Lake Ida Road and SW 10th Street
- Much of the area north of downtown, east of Seacrest Boulevard, and along the US 1 corridor to the Boynton Beach city limits.
