Bradenton Beach CRA budget planning begins
BRADENTON BEACH – The Bradenton Beach Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) expects to receive $635,677 in ad valorem property tax revenues during the 2023-24 fiscal year.
City Treasurer Shayne Thompson presented the projected CRA revenues and expenses to CRA board members during the July 18 budget meeting that marked the beginning of the board’s annual budgeting process. Further discussion and decision-making will occur at a future budget meeting before the proposed CRA budget is formally adopted in September.
The city of Bradenton Beach has the only CRA on Anna Maria Island. The property tax revenues the CRA receives are a portion of the property tax revenues collected from residential and commercial property owners in the CRA district that extends from the Cortez Bridge to the southernmost residential property lines along Fifth Street South.
Each year, the CRA also receives a state-mandated transfer of funds from the city’s general fund. For the coming fiscal year, the city will transfer $142,516 from the general fund to the separately controlled CRA fund. The proposed CRA revenues also include $3,000 in interest income, giving the CRA $781,193 in total anticipated revenues for the 2023-24 fiscal year that begins on Oct. 1. Approximately $300,000 from the current fiscal year budget will be carried over into the new fiscal year, giving the CRA approximately $1.1 million to work with for the year. According to Thompson, the CRA has an estimated $711,839 in unallocated funds to spend on projects and improvements within the CRA district.
The proposed budget includes $121,100 in general CRA-related operational expenses and an additional $5,000 for administrative services provided by city staff.
The proposed budget includes $100,769 for the CRA-funded additional policing of the CRA district. This entails patrolling Bridge Street during peak hours and using the police boat to police the liveaboard boats and boaters in the unmanaged anchorage south of the Bradenton Beach Pier. CRA police funding will increase by $17,125 compared to last year.
Police Chief John Cosby said he’s adding Wednesday evenings to the CRA-funded policing that already occurs on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Cosby said Wednesdays have become another busy night on Bridge Street, in part because the AMI Moose Lodge attracts hundreds of people to the area during its Wednesday evening Queen of Hearts drawings.
The proposed budget includes $84,500 for CRA-related salaries and wages for the Public Works personnel who maintain, clean and service the CRA district. During Tuesday’s meeting, CRA member John Chappie said he’d like to discuss increasing that amount at the next budget meeting. Chappie would also like further discussion on once again giving bonuses to city staff members who significantly assist the CRA.
CRA projects
In recent years, the Bradenton Beach CRA has funded several projects to enhance and improve the district for visitors, residents and business owners, including the floating dock expansion project next to the pier that included 13 new finger docks (with 50% matching funds provided by Manatee County), undergrounding most of the utility lines in the CRA district and partially funding the Old Town Tram parking tram shuttle service.
Smaller-scale CRA-funded pursuits include park improvements, holiday decorations, signs, landscaping and beautification projects, bike racks and financial support for special events.
The preliminary budget worksheet Thompson presented for the coming fiscal year lists $72,000 in anticipated CRA-funded projects and capital improvements, $52,000 for Old Town Tram operations and $20,000 for seagrass mitigation required for a previously completed CRA-funded dredging of the navigational canal between the Bradenton Beach Pier and Leffis Key. Thompson said the seagrass mitigation expenses might be more than currently budgeted.
Thompson noted the CRA spent about $10,000 more than it budgeted for the current fiscal year and advised CRA members to hold back $20,000 to $25,000 to cover any unexpected costs, including project costs that run higher than expected. Thompson advised the CRA members to create a list of desired projects for the coming year and task the appropriate staff members to get estimated costs for the proposed projects.
“If there’s something you want to do, add some dollars for it,” Thompson said.
At Chappie’s suggestion, CRA members agreed to include in the budget $30,000 for beautification/facade grants that were previously budgeted for but never used. Chappie said he’s talked to a couple of property owners who have expressed interest in pursuing the grants that would require them to match the funds received from the CRA.
CRA Chair Ralph Cole said he’d like to allocate some money to enhance and possibly widen the walkways that lead to the CRA district.
CRA member David Bell suggested setting aside $200,000 each year for the next five years to purchase small slices of property for CRA enhancements, but that suggestion didn’t garner much support.
The CRA members will better define their list of proposed projects during their next budget meeting.
The city commission and CRA members have expressed support for a paid parking program that would include some or all of the city-owned parking spaces in the CRA district, but the proposed CRA budget doesn’t currently include any anticipated paid parking revenues or expenses. There are still details that need to be worked out before a request for proposals can be issued seeking bids from potential paid parking program vendors.
