News

By Jane Smith
    
    Delray Beach’s Community Redevelopment Agency will have an additional $5.7 million to spend in the next budget year.
    The extra money comes from an estimated 14.6 percent increase in property tax income and $3.6 million from the long-delayed iPic land sale.
    As CRA board members discussed how to spend that money on June 22 and 23, the city of Delray Beach was there with its proverbial hat in hand. The board agreed to pay 8 percent more into the CRA’s Clean & Safe program, but the city’s request for a more than 260 percent increase for Tennis Center sponsorships was tabled to its July 14 meeting.
    “We do not see the CRA, if you will, as an endless bucket of resources for our operational needs,” City Manager Don Cooper told the board. “Our request for the Clean & Safe area is for use inside the CRA district.”
    The city is not broke, he said, but it has a lot of demands on its resources.
    On the Tennis Center sponsorships, Cooper said he was limited in what he could say because the city has sued the center’s operator, Match Point, to be released from a long-term, no-bid contract. “We appreciate any help you can give us,” he said.
    The 8 percent increase for Clean & Safe would pay for two additional police officers and allow the city to outsource its street-sweeping operation.
    The city has one street sweeper, which is a temperamental piece of equipment, said Michael Coleman, head of the Community Improvement Department. His department oversees Clean & Safe.
    “When the street sweeper breaks down, then it goes out for repair,” Coleman said. “But if we outsource that work, the company would have to provide the street sweeper.”
    City workers sweep the streets three times a week. Downtown is open nearly 24/7 and needs streets swept five days a week, he said. Doing so would cost the CRA $40,000 more.
    The cost of the two police officers for salaries and benefits is $188,625.
    The CRA already pays $2.3 million for the program. A manager oversees the schedule of police officers, code enforcement officers, sanitation and maintenance workers, electricians and the supplies needed to maintain the downtown and allow visitors to feel safe.
    “Feeling safe is a perception, it can’t be measured,” said Police Chief Jeff Goldman. “We can never have enough boots on the ground.”
    The extra officers would allow the program, now in its third year, to put another officer on day shift, Goldman said.
    Larcenies are on the rise in the Clean & Safe area, Goldman said. By May 31, the city recorded 223 thefts of bicycles, purses, cellphones and other items. For all of 2014, 315 larcenies were reported in the area.
    “A lot of our larcenies are due to the recovery industry when people relapse,” he said.
They steal merchandise that can be pawned to feed their drug habits.
    CRA board member Herman Stevens, a criminal lawyer, said he needed more crime data to justify the increase for what he called a “feel-good program.” Delray Beach’s overall crime rate dropped nearly 10 percent between 2015 and 2014.
    One board member asked when the program’s staffing goals would be reached. “The CRA can’t continue to pay for extra officers,” said Cathy Balestriere, CRA vice chairwoman.
    The Tennis Center sponsorships were deemed a city obligation that the CRA has been asked to cover.
    “I say we hold our nose and support our city,” said Bill Branning, on his last day on the CRA board.
    Others, though, want to see the Tennis Center’s financials and a list of the projects the CRA couldn’t do if it covered the sponsorships.
    “It’s pretty much a city function,” said CRA Chairman Reggie Cox. “Even if we agree to cover it, we’re still spending taxpayer dollars.”