This section provides answers to questions frequently asked by Escambia County constituents regarding Community Redevelopment activities and operations within Escambia County.
For more information, contact the Community Redevelopment Agency Office at 850-595-3217 or email CRA@myescambia.com.
A Community Redevelopment Agency is defined under F.S. Chapter 163, Part III, the Community Redevelopment Act of 1969, as a public body which has been established by a resolution of a local governing body due to a finding of necessity which states that:
1) One or more slum or blighted areas, or one or more areas in which there is a shortage of housing affordable to residents of low or moderate income, including the elderly, existent in such county or municipality; and
2) The rehabilitation, conservation, or redevelopment, or a combination thereof, of such area or areas, including, if appropriate, the development of housing which residents of low or moderate income, including the elderly, can afford, is necessary in the interest of the public health, safety, morals or welfare of the residents of such county or municipality.
Under Florida Law, upon adoption of a Community Redevelopment Agency, the body must, by ordinance, appoint a board of commissioners of the community redevelopment agency consisting of between five to nine commissioners.
In Escambia County, the Community Redevelopment Agency has appointed a five member Community Redevelopment Agency Board comprised of the Escambia County Board of County Commissioners. The CRA meets on the second Thursday of each month at 8:30 a.m. in the Escambia County BCC Chambers located in the Ernie Lee Magaha Building at 221 Palafox Place, Pensacola, FL 32502 to discuss current redevelopment initiatives implemented by the Community Redevelopment Agency.
For additional information, please contact the Community Redevelopment Agency office at 850-595-3217 or email CRA@myescambia.com.
A Community Redevelopment Area is defined under F.S. section 163.340 as:
Local governments within the State of Florida, including municipal bodies, may designate a redevelopment district, under F.S. Chapter 163, Part III, upon the establishment of a resolution which declares the necessity for redevelopment in one of more areas of its jurisdiction where one or more of the conditions listed above exist, and where the rehabilitation, conservation, redevelopment, or a combination thereof is necessary in the interest of the public health, safety, moral or welfare of local area residents.
In Escambia County, the Escambia County Board of County Commissioners (BCC) have declared a need for community redevelopment under F.S. Chapter 163, Part III, for nine (9) designated redevelopment districts covering a total area or approximately 25 square miles within unincorporated Escambia County. These districts include the Atwood, Barrancas, Brownsville, Cantonment, Englewood, Ensley, Oakfield, Palafox, and Warrington Redevelopment Districts and are managed by Escambia County’s Community Redevelopment Agency. Programs and services for Escambia County’s designated redevelopment districts are funded through Tax Incremental Financing, and administered in accordance with each individual district’s community redevelopment plan.
A Community Redevelopment Plan is a strategic plan which outlines that conditions which exist within a community redevelopment area or “redevelopment district” designated under F.S. Chapter 163, Part III, and provides strategies to improve the designated area. The Community Redevelopment Plan governs all of the activities and operations which may be administered by the Community Redevelopment Agency within the designated area, which may include, but are not limited to, land acquisition, demolition and/or removal of structures, redevelopment, and/or rehabilitation projects, zoning and planning changes, land uses, maximum densities, and/or building requirements, affordable housing development and/or community policing initiatives. Escambia County’s Community Redevelopment Plans are developed and implemented by the Community Redevelopment Agency following a public involvement processes as required under F.S. Chapter 163. All plans conform to Escambia County’s Comprehensive Plan and are amended, as needed.
All Community Redevelopment Plans which have been approved by the Escambia County Board of County Commissioner are available online via their respective redevelopment district’s webpage. Community Redevelopment Plans have not yet been developed for Escambia County’s newly designated Ensley, Oakfield and Atwood redevelopment districts.
For more information on Escambia County’s Community Redevelopment Plans, contact the Community Redevelopment Agency at 850-595-3217 or CRA@myescambia.com.
Tax Incremental Financing is a property value-based funding mechanism used to finance operations and activities conducted within designated Community Redevelopment Areas or “Redevelopment District” under F.S. Chapter 163 Part III, the Community Redevelopment Act of 1969.
Pursuant to F.S. 163.183, once a local government has designated a redevelopment district and approved a community redevelopment plan, the government may then approve an ordinance to establish a redevelopment trust fund for that specific district. Funding from the Redevelopment Trust Fund, referred to as “Tax Incremental Financing” or “TIF,” may only be expended within the specified district for which it was established, and in accordance with the district’s Community Redevelopment Plan.
TIF is generated based on the amount of annual rate of growth in taxable ad valorem property values of real property located within the boundaries of the designated area compared to the year of designation or “base year”.
The annual amount of tax incremental financing generated to support a redevelopment district is calculated based a percentage, 50-95 percent, as defined by the local governing body, of the “tax increment,” the difference between the total taxable ad valorem property value in the base year compared to the current year.
For example:
If the following conditions exist:
This year’s TIF would be determined based on the following equation:
TIF = (Current Year – Base Year) X 95%
TIF = (5,900,000 – 1,900,000) X 95%
TIF = $3,800,000
Statutory Description
F.S. Section 163.387, Redevelopment Trust Fund:
The annual funding of the redevelopment trust fund shall be in an amount not less than that increment in the income, proceeds, revenues, and funds of each taxing authority derived from or held in connection with the undertaking and carrying out of community redevelopment under this part.
Such increment shall be determined annually and shall be that amount equal to 95 percent of the difference between:
1. The amount of ad valorem taxes levied each year by each taxing authority, exclusive of any amount from any debt service millage, on taxable real property contained within the geographic boundaries of a community redevelopment area; and
2. The amount of ad valorem taxes which would have been produced by the rate upon which the tax is levied each year by or for each taxing authority, exclusive of any debt service millage, upon the total of the assessed value of the taxable real property in the community redevelopment area as shown upon the most recent assessment roll used in connection with the taxation of such property by each taxing authority prior to the effective date of the ordinance providing for the funding of the trust fund.
However, the governing body of any county as defined in s. 125.011(1) may, in the ordinance providing for the funding of a trust fund established with respect to any community redevelopment area created on or after July 1, 1994, determine that the amount to be funded by each taxing authority annually shall be less than 95 percent of the difference between subparagraphs 1. and 2., but in no event shall such amount be less than 50 percent of such difference.
For more information, contact the Community Redevelopment Agency office at 850-595-3217 or email us at CRA@myescambia.com.
The mission of Escambia County government is to provide efficient, responsive services that enhance our quality of life, meet common needs and promote a safe and healthy community.
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