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NEWS FROM DOWNTOWN CHIPLEY
Chipley Merchants Learning
What CRA Has To Offer
A
group of Chipley's downtown
merchants spent some time
April 29th learning what the
Chipley Redevelopment Agency
may have to offer those
having their businesses
located in the CRA
designated area.
In 1969, the Florida State
legislature enacted Part II,
Chapter 163, Florida
Statutes, enabling local
units of government to set
up a Community Redevelopment
Agency. The overall goal of
the legislature was to
encourage local initiative
in downtown and neighborhood
revitalization and to
provide maximum opportunity
for private enterprises to
participate in
redevelopment/revitalization
of the designated areas.
The five primary objects of
the redevelopment
legislation are:
* To address the physical,
social and economic problems
associated with slums and
blighted areas;
* To encourage local units
of government to improve the
physical environment (i.e.
buildings, streets,
utilities, parks, etc.) by
means of rehabilitation,
conservation, or
clearance/redevelopment;
* To convey to local
community redevelopment
agencies the powers of
eminent domain, expenditure
of public funds, and all
other general police powers
as a means by which slums
and blighted areas can be
improved.
* To enhance the tax base
in the redevelopment areas
by encouraging private
reinvestment channeling of
tax increment revenues into
public improvements with the
designated area; and
* To eliminate substandard
housing conditions and to
provide adequate amounts of
housing in good condition to
residents of low to moderate
income, particularly to the
elderly.
Tax Increment Financing (TIF)
provides that as values of
property rise due to
redevelopment investments,
increased property taxes
that result will be
available to repay the
public improvements needed
to support new development.
For the purposes of
calculating the amount of
tax increment revenues, the
frozen tax base was the
final 1986 tax roll. Each
year thereafter, 95 percent
of the incremental increase
for the designated are has
been put into the CRA Trust
Fund for use in
redevelopment and
improvements.
Business and property owners
in the designated area are
eligible to apply for
financial assistance in the
form of the CRA Revolving
Loan Program and/or the CRA
Facade Renovation Grant
Program.
Under the CRA
Revolving Loan Program:
1. Loans in this program
are available for the
purpose of appearance
improvement, structural
integrity and upgrading of
health and safety feature of
all commercial buildings
within the designated area.
2. The maximum amount of a
single loan shall be
$20,000. a property owner
may obtain more than one
loan providing that the
loans are for identifiably
separate buildings or for
the same building, if funds
are available and there are
no other applicants.
3. Funds will be available
for new construction,
renovation, improvement,
structural integrity and
upgrading work "to be
done," and will not be
available for work "already
completed," at time of
application request. The
intent is to help facilitate
work to be started and
monitored by the CRA.
4. Loan interest rate shall
be two percent per year, for
a maximum term of five
years. The principal may be
paid anytime during the loan
term without penalty.
Repayment will be in monthly
installments, made payable
to CRA.
CRA Facade
Renovation Grant:
The intent of the program is
to provide financial
assistance to owners of
business property in the
form of a reimbursement
grant to improve the
exterior aesthetic
appearance of structures in
the CRA area.
Such exterior improvements
may include: structural,
facade visual treatments
(paint, stucco, doors,
windows, etc), awnings,
exterior building code and
especially historical theme
improvements which reflect
Chipley's history.
Subject to availability,
applicants may receive up to
$6,000 for each public
entrance facade. Grant
applicants must contribute
at lease 25 percent over and
above the requested grant
amount.
For more information about
the Revolving Loan Program
and the Facade Renovation
Grant contact Jeanne Betts
at 638-4157. |
