PANAMA CITY BEACH – The City Council has approved extending the lifetime of the Front Beach Road Community Redevelopment Area from 2031 for at least another ten years and possibly to the year 2049.
The council’s move on Thursday, by a 3-2 vote, rebuffed a last-minute request from Bay County Commission Chairman Philip “Griff” Griffits for the council to delay the vote until after a joint meeting of the city and county governments to discuss the matter. The joint session has been set for Oct. 11.
As adopted by the council on Aug. 30, 2001, tax revenues collected from within the CRA boundary are diverted to the agency for use in funding roadway redesign, underground utilities and other improvements. The tax increment used for financing projects is the difference between the amount of tax revenues on properties within the CRA boundary generated before its formal creation that year, and the amount of property tax revenue generated afterwards.
The CRA has generated a total of $119 million for the roadway redevelopment since 2003, with an additional $11.2 million estimated for 2019-20. Upon the original termination of the CRA in 2031, those revenues would once again flow to the county.