11/19/1991 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Nov 19 19S`1 naK STREET LIGHTING DISTRICT ASSESSMENTS County Administrator Jim Chandler made the following presentation: TO: Board of County Commissioners DATE: November 5, 1991 FILE: Through: James Chandler % County Administrat r Street Lighting District SUBJECT: Assessments FROM: Randy Dowling REFERENCES: Asst. to County Admin. BACKGROUND During the recent budget hearings, the Commission requested staff to look into the assessment methods of the County's street lighting districts. To date, the County has 12 Board approved street lighting districts and many single street lights spread over the entire county . ( see Attachment A) . The assessment method for all of the districts is either on a per lot basis where the district has uniform lot sizes or per parcel/acre where the district has non-uniform lot sizes. In summarizing the County's current street lighting district establishment procedures, a developer, homeowner's association, or individual requests the Board to form a district. County staff then prepares an ordinance creating the district and its boundaries. A public hearing is conducted and, if approved, the assessment is normally billed annually on the tax bill as a non ad valorem assessment. The district's budget is established annually in association with the County's budget. CURRENT A review of case law indicates that ',the assessment methods used by the County are legally acceptable. However, the courts recognize that no system of appraising benefits or assessing costs has yet been developed that is not open to some criticism. Staff also conducted a telephone survey to ascertain how other counties assess street lighting] districts. The results, which are attached as Attachment B, indicates that there is no predominant method used. In summary, Collier, St. Lucie, and Broward counties assess street lighting districts according to the assessed', value of the property; Orange and Polk counties assess on a per house basis; Hillsborough County assesses according to lot size or front footage; Brevard 'County has no street lighting districts but pays for street lights from general revenue; Martin County has no provisions for residential street lights; and Palm. Bleach County only installs and pays for major roadway street lighting with general': revenues while all residential street lighting is provided directly from FPL through agreements with developers, incorporated homeowners' association, or individuals. Staff discounted the assessed value assessment method because that method could IeaVe some property owners paying little or nothing for street lighting when the homestead exemption is considered. Staff further studied Palm Beach County's street lighting arrangement of having the electric service provider deal idirectly with the county concerning major roadway street lighting and directly with the developer, individual, or homeowner association concerning residential street and security lighting, thus eliminating the county as middleman Staff has had discussions with FP&L and the City of Vero Beach regarding this arrangement. Both electric service providers were receptive to the arrangement and are willing to work with county 48 � � r