Port Richey plans to reduce its redevelopment area to respond to audit criticism

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PORT RICHEY Stung by a critical review of its operations by the States Auditor General, the Port Richey Community Redevelopment Agency is considering shrinking its redevelopment area and establishing a more transparent way to track its ongoing projects unfolding inside.

Its leaders also began discussions with Pasco County officials to resolve several financial issues.

Scott Tremblay, mayor of Port Richey, recommended Tuesday that the agency remove another riverside community from its boundaries. In this case, he said slicing Harbor Isles out of the redevelopment boundaries could solve many of the audit issues.

In the 37-page report, the auditor found 15 deficiencies in the Port Richey agency. These included having the entire city within the boundaries of the redevelopment area and paying city salaries, including police, firefighters and city council members, with money from the agency. Such payment of general public expenditure is not authorized by law, the auditor concluded. The agency’s money is intended to repair degraded areas.

According to the audit, having the whole city within the limits of the redevelopment agency is a problem. The agency is funded by tax revenue from rising land values ​​in the area. The inclusion of the entire city means that all land value increases go to the agency for redevelopment projects and not to the city, which pays normal government expenses.

After heavy criticism last year by county commissioners about another upscale waterfront community, Harborpointe, being included in the agency’s boundary, the city opted to cut off that area.

Scott Tremblay [OCTAVIO JONES | Times]

Tremblay said payroll costs can be taken out of the agency’s budget for the coming budget year and instead come from the city’s budget if the city removes Harbor Isles from the redevelopment district. The move would reduce the city’s contribution to the redevelopment agency to about $450,000, compared to about $650,000 paid in 2021, Tremblay said.

You would kill three or four birds with one stone by adjusting the boundaries, he said, adding that county officials also liked the idea.

Since the county also contributes increased county tax revenue to the city’s redevelopment agency, deleting an area also reduces the county’s tax liability to Port Richey. Tremblay said that with the city and county each giving about $450,000 to Port Richey’s redevelopment over the next fiscal year, that would be enough to move the projects forward.

Agency board member Todd Maklary asked if the city should also consider scrapping another upscale community, Sand Pebble Pointe. But Tremblay said removing the two neighborhoods would reduce the redevelopment fund’s revenue too much, to about $100,000 a year.

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Board members of the community redevelopment agency agreed to talk more about the boundary change. They also learned from City Manager John Dudte that talks with county officials to resolve other issues had begun.

The city is also updating and posting its list of redevelopment projects on its website and creating a policy manual, guidelines to document the time city employees spend on redevelopment agency activities, and new job descriptions to ensure that other issues raised by the auditor are addressed.

Maklary said he was happy to see city staff planning regular updates on their progress on the various issues.

It shows everyone who was talking about it. Didn’t fight it, he said. We find the verification useful and try to fix all these problems.

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