After cap lifted, North Miami to get $4 million more a year for economic development
North Miami will have nearly $4 million more a year to spend on its economic-development arm after striking a deal with Miami-Dade County to loosen a cap on how much property tax the agency can keep.
The deal, approved earlier this month, means a significant cash boost for the North Miami Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA), which city commissioners control.
The agency spent about $12 million last year on projects aimed at boosting economic growth within its boundaries, and is funded with a mix of city and county property taxes that would otherwise go to police, parks and other services. While the CRA is allowed to keep a portion of city and county property taxes generated within its boundaries, Miami-Dade capped the county portion at $1 million. The new agreement eliminates that cap, and city officials say they’re planning investments in the Northwest 7th Avenue Corridor.
North Miami Mayor Alix Desulme said the $1 million cap limited what the city could do financially. “The cap was there and we fought it,” he said, adding the CRA was told in 2016 either they take what they’re given or they would be eliminated.
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Under the new agreement, the CRA will retain 75% of property tax. Additionally, the agency was also authorized to take about a $60 million loan for redevelopment of the city’s CRA district. The new agreement requires at least 35% of the funds will go toward upgrades to the city’s Northwest 7th Avenue Corridor, including mixed-use developments, septic to sewer conversions, street and swale beautification, and updating business exteriors.
“We’re investing in a disinvested community, we’re seeing a historic investment to make up for past wrongs,” Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said during a press conference Friday announcing the new agreement, which was passed by commissioners at an Oct. 3 meeting.
The CRA had a fiscal 2022-2023 budget of $21.5 million, but about $5.1 million had to go to the county, according to an amended budget.
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North Miami CRA Executive Director Anna-Bo Emmanuel said the increased funds will help with operating expenses and infrastructure obligations, such as the Rucks Park project, an affordable housing project expected to break ground next year. “We are also in that interlocal (agreement) able to go and seek debt financing for up to $60 million which will also increase our capacity with the work that we’re able to do,” she said.
“When you think about what North Miami lost, when we think about that Interlocal that was in place since 2016, we’re talking about over $20 million that our city could have received but did not receive,” North Miami Commissioner Kassandra Timothe said.
