As Lakeland Commissioners agreed planning workshop these 10 priorities are key strategies for the growth and for the future of the city.
- Affordable housing: Increased funding for affordable housing initiatives from $500,000 to $750,000
- Downtown redevelopment: Budgeting $875,000 for incentives aimed at attracting manufacturing businesses and $600,000 in downtown new-business incentives that would be overseen by the Lakeland Community Redevelopment Agency.
- Commission ombudsman: Commissioners would like to assign a staff person to help coordinate schedules and keep them informed of upcoming events.
- Reduce RP Funding Center Subsidy: City is going to reclassify the entertainment-and-convention complex as a governmental fund instead of an enterprise fund. As a result but one million dollars expenses would now be absorbed by those departments.
- Overdue infrastructure projects: Commissioners agreed to accelerate work on both maintenance of existing infrastructure — roads, sidewalks, bridges, water and sewer pipes, utility lines, etc.
- Downtown West: The city will focus more around RP Funding Center, which is increasingly being called Downtown West.
- Pedestrian highline to Downtown West: Commissioners are going to start planning for a “highline” pedestrian walkway to allow people to cross the CSX railroad tracks between Downtown West and new development to the north, including Bonnet Springs Park.
- Downtown catalyst funds: The city has set aside just over $1 million dollars for development incentives related to a downtown master plan created in 2018-19
- Airport commercial service backstop: The commissioners what to aggressively pursue commercial airline service at Lakeland Linder Airport in the 2022 budget, they reserved a $1 million called a “backstop” to be used as a revenue guarantee in the airline’s first year.
- Manufacturing incentives: Funds for the manufacturing incentives that were ranked lower but they are incorporated in the downtown redevelopment priority.
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