SARASOTA – A Downtown Sarasota Community Redevelopment Agency advocate says reluctant county leaders might support a plan to extend the CRA another 30 years, but only if the city approves major changes to how the agency operates.
Andy Dorr, vice chair of the Downtown CRA Extension Study Committee, will appear Monday at a City Commission meeting where he hopes officials adopt seven recommended changes to the organization that has helped revitalize Sarasota’s core. Among them: Shift governance of the CRA from the City Commission to an independent board composed of both city and county members, and renegotiate the split of tax-increment funds between the local governments.
If the city votes yes, Dorr said, he’ll ask the county to approve the same set of recommendations. He thinks a majority of members will consent, and in doing so, trigger a months-long process ending with the transformation and ultimate extension of the CRA until 2046.