City of Satellite Beach Seeks Brevard County Approval To Dip Into CRA Funds
SATELLITE BEACH, Florida — The City of Satellite Beach wants to return its unused Tax Incremental Redevelopment Trust Fund (TIF) funds from its Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) back to the City at the end of the year to replenish the City’s low reserves.
Because this financial plan involves County funds in the CRA, the City has proposed an interlocal agreement with Brevard County that would permit such a use of those funds while also settling any potential claims the County may have against the City for past misuse of CRA funds.
As reported by Brevard Times last month, Brevard County Clerk of Court Scott Ellis wants to audit the City of Satellite Beach to determine if there was additional misuse of CRA funds by the City. Attorneys for both the city and the CRA questioned Ellis’ right to audit and have called him “prosecutor, judge, and jury of one.”
“We have been looking at the Satellite Beach CRA for many months,” Ellis told Brevard Times. “In response, they ran to the County Commission with an ‘interlocal agreement,’ which deceptively claimed returns on future revenues as returns of past revenues unlawfully spent.”