A lack of housing is under the spotlight in South St. Pete CRA budget
By Breanne Williams
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Nov 19, 2021

St. Petersburg City Council approved the upcoming Community Redevelopment Agency’s budget plan for the South St. Pete Redevelopment District Fund, which featured major cuts to investing in housing.

The budget recommendation presented to the Citizen Advisory Committee by staff had projected revenue for fiscal year 2022 at an estimated $17.35 million. A variety of issues led to city administration needing to revise the recommendation downward. A new budget was presented to the council that totaled approximately $13.01 million.

These funds came from about $4.71 million in current unencumbered CRA funding from prior budget years and an estimated $8.3 million in FY 2022 tax increment financing revenue.

To close that gap between the approximately $17.35 million and roughly $13.01 million, the new proposal had heavy cuts from the Housing and Neighborhood revitalization budget — over $6.97 million — particularly from the Affordable Loan Program.

The finalized recommendation was to split the just over $13 million as follows:

Housing and neighborhood revitalization, $1.85 million

Workforce development and education, $2.70 million

CRA communications, operations and evaluation, $3.34 million

Business and commercial development, $5.12 million

The council kept coming back to just over $1.85 million being allotted for affordable housing. One piece of information didn’t sit right with Vice Chair Gina Driscoll. The CRA budget has $4,709,081 million in unencumbered funds, yet housing was severely cut.

“We’re not spending fast enough, and at some point, that could come back to bite us in a couple of different ways,” Driscoll said. “This is a very big CRA, it’s pulling in a lot of money, it’s very successful, and one could look at it and say, ‘Maybe you don’t need so much,’ or ‘Maybe the CRA isn’t set up right.’ In the meantime, we’ve got a lot of folks who are still waiting for transformative projects to happen.”

Driscoll said St. Pete has a housing crisis. “We’ve got the funding,” she said. “I’d like to see more housing.”

Council Member Deborah Figgs-Sanders also wants more of the $13 million directed to helping families acquire property and move into their own homes.

Deputy Mayor Kanika Tomalin said the city intends to recommend more money for housing than is there but that they “made the strategic decision not to bring that forward yet.” The plan outlined by staff was to add those amendments after deciding how the American Rescue Plan Act funds will be distributed.

Amendments will be presented by the end of the year to the council, specifically directed toward housing.

Some of the major projects outlined in the CRA FY22 plan are:

Underground utilities on 22nd Street South: $700,000

Sankofa redevelopment: $300,000 commercial

Tangerine Plaza redevelopment: $1.5 million commercial

Deuces/WADA improvements: $1.5 million for Parks and Festival Street

Youth farm site improvements/program: $230,000 site; $180,000 managers

Redevelopment planning expenses (corridor planning): $745,000

Expand marketing plan: $400,000