By Jane Smith
The Delray Beach Community Redevelopment Agency selected a Davie firm to analyze taxable values in each of its eight subareas.
Munilytics was picked on price and time. It had the lowest price of the three bidders, coming in at $59,000 and estimated time of two months.
“We rely on GIS [geographic information system] info, that is why our costs are low,” said Chris Wallace, a Munilytics director. He brought along Will Allen, a retired Davie redevelopment administrator, who has since joined Munilytics. He also is consulting with Davie. Other than Allen, Wallace said, he would need only clerical staff to get the work done on time.
CRA Chairman Herman Stevens asked Wallace how he would evaluate which parts to cut.
By marginal returns in each subarea, Wallace said. He added, “I like CRAs. Area 1 is good, so you could move over to another area.”
Stevens finished that thought by saying “and use that money in other areas waiting their turn.”
The analysis will be done in three parts.
Part A will include these tasks: Establish a base year value of each subarea when the CRA was formed in 1980; establish current year value; project values for each subarea for the next 30 years; interview city and CRA commissioners and staff; interview the CRA bond and legal counsel and present report and findings to the CRA board and to the City Commission.
Part B covers comparative analysis of CRAs in other Palm Beach and Broward county cities, including date started, annual budget, expected sunset date and taxable value.
Part C calls for an economic analysis of the CRA contribution to the Delray Beach economy from CRA investments, demographic data, property values, jobs created and other similar items.
The other bidders also were from Broward County: PMG Associates of Deerfield Beach and RMA Associates of Pompano Beach.
PMG’s price was $79,600. The firm also would include a progressive computer model that CRA staff could be trained to use. The model would account for tax rates, inflation rates, property values and the like.
RMA Associates of Pompano Beach has principals with more than 50 years of redevelopment experience, said Kim Briesemeister when making the pitch. She used to be the director of the West Palm Beach CRA; now her firm runs it on a contract basis. The other principal is Chris Brown, a former director of the Delray Beach CRA.
The firm bid between $112,500 to $152,500 depending on whether each property record would have to be pulled or whether it could just do a random selection of 15 percent to 25 percent.
RMA would assign 12 people to work on the three-part project that would take approximately 30 weeks, Briesemeister said. Not only would they review the property records, but they also include what she called “nuances. You need that extra step of why that happened. What is LIBOR, what is the interest rate?”
Chuck Ridley, a community organizer for the West Atlantic Redevelopment Coalition, called the presentations great.
“This decision you are making will affect the city for generations, particularly the Northwest and Southwest neighborhoods,” he said. “It needs to be understandable by me and my grandmother.”
Briesemeister also said, “The CRA has been in existence so long that you have to go back to the microfiche” to get a base value. The county property appraiser has only one fiche reader, she said.
That prompted CRA Commissioner Bill Branning to ask what Munilytics would do in that case.
“When the data does exist but it is not convenient, we will do it by tax rolls,” Wallace said.
CRA Commissioner Paul Zacks was captivated by Briesemeister’s presentation. “She read between the lines and knew what we wanted,” he said. “As Mr. Ridley stated, this is an important process that will affect Delray for decades. I’m switching my vote to RMA.”
But RMA wasn’t part of any motion. CRA commissioners voted twice and were deadlocked 3-3 with Cathy Balestriere absent.
Finally CRA Commissioner Reggie Cox, who initially liked PMG because of its model, made a motion to hire Munilytics. It passed 4-2, with Zacks and Joseph Bernadel voting no. They both preferred PMG, recommended by CRA staff.
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