☐ Consent Agenda ☐Quasi-Judicial Public Hearing
☐ Regular Business 6:30 pm
☒ Public Hearing Ordinance
DEPARTMENT: Planning & Zoning
SUBMITTED BY: Laura McClelland
PRESENTED BY: Misty Servia
TITLE & DESCRIPTION:
title
Ordinance / Dissolving the Oak Stone East Community Development District
body
REQUESTED MOTION:
A motion to adopt/deny the proposed ordinance approving the dissolution of the Oak Stone East Community Development District (CDD).
SUMMARY:
The agenda request before the Board of County Commissioners is a petition to dissolve or terminate the existing 330.01-acre Oak Stone East Community Development District (CDD), approved by the Board in 2019. The applicant has requested the dissolution and pursuant to Florida Statutes Section 190.046(10), a CDD can be dissolved by a nonemergency ordinance of the local governmental entity that established the district.
BACKGROUND:
Since 1980, Community Development Districts (CDDs) have been used throughout Florida as cost-effective tools to develop, finance, and manage the infrastructure systems and services needed to support the development of new communities. There are over 1,000 CDDs in Florida.
A CDD is governed by a Board of Supervisors which is elected initially by the landowners, then begins transitioning to residents of the CDD after six years of operation and there are 250 qualified electors residing within the CDD boundaries. Like all municipal, county, state, and national elections, the Office of the Supervisor of Elections oversees the vote, and CDD Supervisors are subject to state ethics and financial disclosure laws. They basically serve as publicly elected officials. The CDD’s business must be conducted in the “Sunshine,” which means all meetings and records are open to the public. Public hearings are held on CDD assessments, and the CDD’s budget is subject to annual independent audit.
Florida Statutes Section 190.011 <http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String&URL=0100-0199/0190/Sections/0190.011.html> provides for the general powers of a CDD. It is a legal entity that has the power and right to enter into contracts <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contract>; own both real and personal property; adopt policies, rules and regulations and orders; sue <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawsuit> and be sued; obtain funds by borrowing; issue bonds; and impose assessments and levy taxes on property within the district. Actions against a CDD are subject to the sovereign immunity provisions of section 768.28 <http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String&URL=0700-0799/0768/Sections/0768.28.html>, Florida Statutes. Section 190.012 <http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String&URL=0100-0199/0190/Sections/0190.012.html>, Florida Statutes gives special powers of the CDD to a defined set of services and facilities. They are to finance, fund, plan, establish, construct or operate the following within the district:
• Water management <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_management> and control;
• Water supply <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_supply>, sewerage <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sewerage>, and wastewater <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wastewater> management;
• Bridges <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridge> and culverts <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culvert>;
• District roads <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road> and street lights <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Street_light>;
• Public transportation <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_transportation> and parking <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parking>;
• Investigation and remediation of environmental contamination <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_contamination>;
• Conservation areas <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservation_area>, parks <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Park> and recreational facilities;
• Fire prevention <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_prevention> and control;
• School <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/School> buildings and related structures;
• Security <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Security>, but not the exercise of any police <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Police> power;
• Waste collection <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waste_collection> & disposal; and
• Mosquito control <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosquito_control>
The cost of operating a CDD is borne by those who benefit from its services. A CDD allows the developer to finance the costs of construction with a CDD bond through tax-free municipal bonds. The property owners in the CDD are then subject to a non-ad valorem assessment, which appears on their annual property tax bill from the county tax collector and may consist of two parts: (1) an annual assessment for operations and maintenance, which can fluctuate up and down from year to year based on the budget adopted for that fiscal year; and (2) an annual capital assessment to repay bonds sold by the CDD to finance community infrastructure and facilities. The bond repayment portion is generally fixed for the term of the bonds.
On July 26th, 2005, the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) adopted Ordinance No. 2005-24, which established the procedures governing the creation but not dissolution of a CDD, therefore, guidance of the process is provided by Florida Statutes, Section 190.046, “Termination, Contraction, or expansion of district”.
On January 22, 2019, the Board of County Commissioners adopted Ordinance 2019-3, which established the 330.01 acres Oak Stone East Community Development District, which allowed the district to exercise additional powers to “finance, fund, plan, establish, acquire, construct, reconstruct, enlarge or extend, equip, operate, and maintain additional systems and facilities for security, including, but not limited to, guardhouses, fences and gates, electronic intrusion-detection systems, and patrol cars.” (See Attachment A).
In addition to the subject CDD Dissolution, the County Commission will consider the establishment of a new CDD for the Oakstone project immediately following Board authorization of the dissolution. Should the CDD dissolution not receive Board authorization, then creation of the new Oakstone CDD cannot be heard.
This Development Review Report addresses the petition for dissolution of the Oak Stone East Community Development District while the companion report addresses the establishment of the Oak Stone Community Development District.