Alachua County is pleased to announce that four municipalities in the area received a grand total of $4,672,954 in Fiscal Year 2019 funding to assist their community redevelopment efforts.
Community Redevelopment Areas (CRA) are authorized and governed by Chapter 163 of the Florida Statutes. Local governments can establish CRAs to eliminate and help prevent the spread of blight. A CRA is an implementation tool designed to focus financial resources and help accelerate investment in those areas.
At the end of each calendar year, Alachua County fulfills payments to the different CRA districts equal to 95% of incremental revenues. Revenues for CRAs are based on increases to property values that have accrued in years beyond the date that each district was formed. Properties located in the different CRA districts do not pay any additional property taxes, since a portion of the City and County taxes collected in the redevelopment area are transferred to each CRA district for redevelopment activities.
Funds collected by the various CRA districts are then used to fund redevelopment activities, such as parks, sidewalk installations, streetscape improvements, facade grant programs, business incentives, marketing and promotional activities, and administrative salaries. All these activities are based on a defined redevelopment plan.
The FY2019 funding was distributed as follows:
City of Alachua CRA $278,224
City of Gainesville CRA $4,263,682
City of Hawthorne CRA $45,851
City of High Springs CRA $85,197
For more information about the various CRA activities and programs, contact the appropriate CRA office at:
City of Alachua CRA 386-418-6134
City of Gainesville CRA 352-393-8200
City of Hawthorne CRA 352-481-2432
City of High Springs CRA 386-454-1416
For more information about County contributions to CRA districts, contact Alachua County Economic Development Coordinator Edgar Campa-Palafox at 352-264-6908.