A bill that could phase out programs meant to help economically blighted communities has local government agencies preparing Community Reinvestment Agencies has local government officials preparing to find alternative funding for future projects.
The entities, called Community Reinvestment Agencies (CRA) are created by a city or county and are meant to use allocated property tax dollars to bring economic and social growth to financially constrained areas. However, CRAs have come under fire in the Florida Legislature this year, with legislation emerging that would dissolve CRA's by 2045 and prohibit them from investing in new projects
Sen. Stan McClain, R-Ocala, and Rep. Mike Giallombardo, R-Cape Coral, are sponsoring the bills. During committee discussions on their legislation, they claimed that a majority of CRAs across Florida misuse their funds. Both lawmakers did not respond to WUFT's request for comment.
"CRAs are initially designed to help slum and blight areas, but again, what's happening is they're continuously moving the charter date, or the end date, of them and just paying for a bunch of other stuff," Giallombardo said during a committee meeting last month.
If CRAs are dissolved, he proposes the money should be given to the city council.
But that removal won't impact Gainesville and Alachua County to the same extent it would impact other areas. The Gainesville Community Redevelopment Area was formed in 2019 when lawmakers first floated the idea of removed CRA's. Its goal is to continue similar projects to the one the previous CRA previously supported, including Depot Park, South Main Station as well as projects in Downtown Gainesville.
Rick Smith, the director of the GCRA, said that despite what lawmakers may try to implement, the GCRA will be safe from any changes, and its structure is something that could possibly help other areas.
"We've created a model here that could be used by other counties and communities," Smith said.
Since it was formed, the GCRA has made progress on several projects. In 2022, the GCRA began building the Heartwood Neighborhood, a project aimed to bring more affordable housing to East Gainesville. According to Smith, 18 homes have been sold in Heartwood, eleven of which went to lower income families. 14 more lots are left and will be developed within the next couple of years.
In 2024, the program finished supporting the construction of the Eastside Urgent Care Center – the closest emergency room for residents in East Gainesville.
Amanda Rodriguez Demaria of the GCRA advisory board worked directly on this project, she said it took over five years to finish.
"The closest emergency room would be Shands at UF, so you would have to go all the way across town to get to the emergency room," Rodriguez Demaria said. "That was a big problem with growth out in this area, one of the things you need for growth is emergency services."
The GCRA is also currently working on developing another area of East Gainesville called "Cornerstone." They plan to add a fire department, bus hub, apartments, and more.
"When [Cornerstone] is built out over the next five to ten years, it'll be its own little walkable community, for East Gainesville," Rodriguez Demaria said.
The work of the GCRA directly mirrors that of what they aimed to achieve during their former iteration as a typical CRA. Both Smith and Rodriguez Demaria think that a bill terminating all CRAs in Florida would have detrimental effects on communities that don't have the same relationship between the city and county as Gainesville does.
"It requires cooperation, participation, I think some counties are probably more challenged than others," Smith said. "We're fortunate that our two governing bodies are within a baseball throw of one another."
Rodriguez Demaria feels the same way.
"While it could be possible, it's not going to be possible for every community that has a CRA to do the transition like the Gainesville CRA has done," she said.
Rodriguez Demaria believes CRAs are important because funds are allocated only to places that really need it, whereas when that money is given to a general body, they may not use it for redevelopment.
"What the CRAs allowed to happen is that a certain set amount of money is set aside from that area for redevelopment, so it's not the usual areas that already are seeing development, it's the ones that have been forgotten, it is the ones that have fallen behind, possibly," Rodriguez Demaria said.
The bills have picked up some steam in the legislature. They have passed several committees so far, but have not yet advanced to the floors of their respective chambers.
"The general drift in Tallahassee is, they don't want to deal with locals," Smith said. "They don't believe in localities having the independence to crave their own destinies, they want everything to flow through Tallahassee."
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