North Beach CRA spent $569,000 last year and carried $2.95 million into this one

The North Beach Community Redevelopment Agency spent $569,351 in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, 2025, and finished the year with $4.57 million in its funds, according to its audited financial report. That spending was mostly for managerial and administrative services from the city, the report says.

The agency’s year-end budget memo, adopted by its board Nov. 20, 2025, shows how far spending fell short of plans. Of its $3.38 million budget, about $2.2 million was meant to be set aside for housing and future projects. Of the $1.18 million it planned to spend on administration, projects and services, it spent about $569,000, less than half. It carried a $2.95 million surplus into the current year.

Red Sidewalks sent the agency questions about its spending, its projects and the strategic plan on Nov. 2 and asked for answers by Nov. 5. Its response will be added when received.

Where the budget went unspent

The year-end amendment cut most project lines down to what was actually spent:

• Facade and home improvement grants: $342,000 budgeted, $22,000 spent
• Small business development: $97,000 budgeted, $2,000 spent
• Arts and culture tourism: $175,000 budgeted, $65,000 spent
• Code compliance: $130,000 budgeted, $79,000 spent
• Community policing: $239,000 budgeted, $229,000 spent

Of $1.05 million budgeted for projects and services, the agency spent $493,324, the memo shows. The rest, along with a $1.87 million set-aside for affordable and workforce housing that hasn’t been used, was rolled into this year’s budget.

The schoolyard and shade sails

The agency’s October open house presentation lists $1.5 million for a schoolyard and $100,000 for shade sails at Normandy Fountain among its investments so far. The audited report shows the agency moved $1.6 million into a new capital fund for those two projects, and that the fund had no revenues or expenses during the year. The agency’s board approved the schoolyard money on April 23, 2025, according to the report.

The presentation calls it the North Beach Elementary schoolyard. The audit, the budget and the agency’s 2021 plan all identify the school as Biscayne Elementary, which the plan places inside the district. The FY 2026 work plan says the money will add a running track.

Grants with few takers

The facade and home improvement programs reimburse up to 70% of the cost of exterior work, up to $20,000, starting around Normandy Fountain and Rue Vendome, according to the FY 2026 work plan. The home program is limited to buildings where most units rent to households earning up to 140% of area median income, and owners can’t raise those rents more than 3% a year for three years. The work plan said 11 applicants were in progress in FY 2025. The October presentation says the home program has “no clients yet.”

The plan that kept slipping

A short-term strategic plan for the agency was budgeted at $65,000 in its FY 2024 work plan and named as a primary initiative for FY 2025 in its annual report. This year’s budget folds a strategic plan into a $297,000 small business development line. The consultants held the five-year plan’s first open house in October 2026.

The agency’s records posted online don’t explain why spending lagged or how much the plan costs.

The agency’s advisory committee meets Tuesday, Nov. 10, 4:30 to 8:30 p.m., at Normandy Shores Golf Club, 2401 Biarritz Drive.

Going to the meeting? Here are 12 questions the agency’s own records raise, with links to each record, and a printable one-page version.