Community Redevelopment Areas

Destin Community Redevelopment Agencies
The City of Destin has two Community Redevelopment Areas (CRA), created to alleviate conditions of blight by reinvesting TIF (Tax Incremental Financing) monies into those areas. CRA areas are one of few tools that a local government can use to encourage new business and redevelopment, invest in infrastructure improvements and rebuild blighted areas. They are a popular and effective redevelopment tool, used in 44 states across the country, and are essential for communities like Destin, which boasts one of the lowest millage rates in the state for a coastal city of its size.

The two CRA areas in the City of Destin encompass the Town Center, located north of US 98 between Airport Road and Beach Drive, and the historic Harbor, including waterfront from the east end of the unique Destin Harbor to the Choctawhatchee Bay, approximately 1,000 feet north of the Marler Bridge.

Functions of the Community Redevelopment Agency
The Community Redevelopment Agency (board of directors) was established by the City of Destin in 1998 under the powers granted by Chapter 163, Part III, Florida Statutes. Its goal is to combat neighborhood deterioration and eliminate economic blight in the designated Community Redevelopment Areas. Prospective projects and working plans for each Community Redevelopment Area is contained in the respective Community Redevelopment Area Plan.

What is TIF and where do redevelopment funds come from?
TIF stand for Tax Increment Financing. It is a way to pay for improvements to vacant and underused land in the city, so that it can be more productive. The city created the CRAs to help improve blighted areas, build and repair roads and infrastructure, and to promote improved and productive property development that generate additional revenues without placing additional burden on the citizens and taxpayers of the city.

Links: 
City Budget (contains CRA budgets)