Delray commission to consider taking control of taxing district

Authority over millions of taxpayer dollars is at stake today as Delray commissioners consider taking control of a special taxing district that includes the city’s most popular nightlife destination — Atlantic Avenue.

The move would leave elected officials to manage the budget for the Delray Beach Community Redevelopment Agency, which amounted to more than $17.5 million last year.

City Attorney Max Lohman proposed “the nuclear option” of taking over the commission-appointed board after officials expressed their disapproval with recent decisions during a meeting earlier this month.

Lohman said many municipalities have commissions that run their redevelopment agencies, also known as CRAs.

“Remove them and install yourselves as the CRA board then the only way you have a conflict with the CRA board is if you suffer a bout of schizophrenia,” he told commissioners.

Founded in 1985, the CRA is a seven-member volunteer board appointed to fight blight and encourage economic growth inside the taxing district, which extends from Interstate 95 to the beach, south to Southwest 10th Street and north as far as Gulf Stream Boulevard.

The redevelopment agency is primarily funded through taxes collected inside the district that also must be spent within those boundaries. That reinvestment helped make Atlantic Avenue the cultural destination it is today, but those tax dollars can’t be spent on the other side of I-95.

City officials acknowledge the agency’s successes, but recent tensions are making them reconsider the agency’s independent board.

Delray Beach City Manager Neal de Jesus said officials should not have to debate the redevelopment agency over who will fund city improvements inside the taxing district, such as the $11 million renovation to Old School Square.

Commissioners Mitch Katz and Shelly Petrolia disapproved of the redevelopment agency’s decision to offer a $400,000 taxpayerfunded subsidy to the the iPic theater complex.

A tipping point came when the redevelopment agency enacted a policy on naming streets and facilities, when the city already had taken its own position against street naming. The city denounced the redevelopment agency’s move in early May. The CRA reversed its policy, but the damage was done.

“I look at that vote as a really just a personal F you,” said Mayor Cary Glickstein during the May meeting.

Officials said if they seize control, they could maximize CRA spending on public projects inside the district so that more general fund dollars are left to spend outside the district.

Commissioner Shirley Johnson expressed some hesitation over the resolution, saying that it may be seen as a power grab.

“I think that is something that we should be cognizant of,” she said in May.

But Commissioner Shelly Petrolia said it’s the redevelopment agency board who has attempted to seize power by not listening to the commission’s recommendations. She said she plans to support the resolution to take over the board.

“The taxpayers need to have a direct link to hold accountable decision makers that are spending their money,” Petrolia said.

Commissioner Jim Chard said he’s still mulling it over and wants to hear from the community before he’s made up his mind.

Katz, Glickstein and Johnson couldn’t be reached Monday. The Delray Beach Community Redevelopment Agency’s executive director, board chairman or co-chair also couldn’t be reached.

CRA board member Daniel Rose said he would be disappointed if the commission dissolved the board, and hopes that they wouldn’t lay off employees.

“If it does happen, I hope they don’t do anything to the hardworking staff that are there. They do a great job,” he said.

The city does have one alternative to dissolving the board. City commissioners could choose several new board members when their terms end later this summer.

The City Commission will vote on the resolution during the meeting that starts at 6 p.m. at City Hall.