With Hillsborough County’s proposed All for Transportation tax dead, Tampa City Council Chairman Joseph Citro wants to use Community Redevelopment Agency funds to extend Tampa’s streetcar. CRAs are parts of the city where increases in property tax revenues are directed back into the areas where they were collected
Citro pointed out that the streetcar runs through three CRAs and would extend to a fourth, so all four could support construction of the extension. State and federal transportation officials have allocated funding for the project, but it requires a local match. The city was counting on the transportation tax for that match.
Besides improving the city’s transit network in the urban core, extending the streetcar would also help Tampa build more affordable housing along the route by easing parking requirements on developers, Citro said.
In a wide-ranging interview, Citro also touched on Tampa’s search for a way to reuse 50 million gallons of highly treated waster water that’s dumped into the Bay every day, the recent forced resignation of the Tampa police chief, former Sen. Janet Cruz’s challenged to appointed City Council member Lynn Hurtak, and his days as a DJ at WMNF.
Listen to the entire show here or by searching for WMNF WaveMakers wherever you listen to podcasts.
