Okaloosa County BOCC — May 6, 2014 — MSBUpolicy_GTS-3--20140428-REVISED — reading text

Okaloosa County BCC Okaloosa County BCC MSBU / MSTU Policy Municipal Service Benefit Units Municipal Service Taxing Units Revised 5/6/2014 Table of Contents INTRODUCTION .........................................................................................................................................................1 MSBU CALENDAR YEAR SCHEDULE ....................................................................................................................5 TYPES OF MSBU SERVICES & IMPROVEMENTS ................................................................................................6 COSTS INVOLVED IN THE MSBU PROCESS .........................................................................................................6 MSBU BOUNDARIES .................................................................................................................................................7 DISSOLUTION PROCEDURES FOR MSBUs ...........................................................................................................9 EXCEPTIONS TO THE GUIDELINES ..................................................................................................................... 10 DETAILED PROCEDURES, CONSTSRUCTION UNITS ....................................................................................... 11 DETAILED PROCEDURES, STREET LIGHTING UNITS ..................................................................................... 16 APPLICATION AND DESIGNATION OF SPECIAL UNITS.................................................................................. 20 ii INTRODUCTION The Okaloosa County Board of County Commissioner's Municipal Service Benefit Unit (MSBU) Program is a community self-help program. It provides a vehicle by which communities may enhance their efforts to secure quality construction of essential improvements. The success of the program is directly related to the cooperative effort of each resident, the community and the County. Municipal Service Benefit Unit (MSBU) Municipal Service Benefit Units (MSBU) are special assessment areas created by the Board of County Commissioners under the authority of section 125.01, Florida Statutes. Under this Statute, the Board has the authority to create designated areas (a “Unit”) within which a variety of services and improvements, including but not limited to, fire protection, sidewalks, street lighting, expedited Water & Sewer projects, transportation and storm water drainage, etc. The services or improvements provided within the MSBU must specifically benefit the property that is to be assessed for the improvements or services. The special assessments imposed within the boundaries of a Unit may be collected through a variety of ways. However, they are primarily collected through the "Uniform Method of Collection" as authorized in section 197.3632, Florida Statute and are billed along with other Property Taxes each November. Alternative ways of collecting the special assessments may be through their inclusion on the billing of either municipal or Okaloosa County Water and Sewer utility billing and such other methods as approved by the Board of County Commissioners. Role of the Citizens Participating in the MSBU It is the responsibility of the citizens within the proposed MSBU to organize support for the MSBU, prepare the petition for submittal to the Board of County Commissioners and develop the general scope of work for what the MSBU will accomplish. Specific requirements of the petition, fees, and other submittals will be discussed in detail in the document below. Role of the Board of County Commissioners and Staff The Board of County Commissioners acts as the governing body of the units. The Board must adopt the MSBU budget, establish the level of services to be provided, and levy the special assessment to pay for the services and improvements. County staff is responsible for preparation of resolutions, ordinances, scheduling required public hearings and publishing required legal and display notices in the newspaper. County staff mails by U.S Postal first-class mail a notice to each property owner in the first year a special assessment is levied or as otherwise required by law. 1 Role of the Property Appraiser The Property Appraiser provides to the Board of County Commissioners information from the data base maintained by his office such as owner's name, address, value of the property, front footage, size and type of structures, as well as section maps detailing the proposed Unit etc. Role of the Tax Collector The Tax Collector's Office is responsible for the annual billing of non-ad valorem assessments based on the information transmitted to his office. The standard procedure of assessments is that the amount of costs for the Tax Collector and Property Appraiser are added to the assessment amount and paid by the property owner. The information transmitted to the Tax Collector is prepared by the County Staff. For non-ad valorem assessments, the assessment roll must be certified to the Tax Collector by no later than September 15 of each year to be included in the Uniform Tax bills mailed by U.S Postal first-class mail in November. The Board of County Commissioners is responsible for the payment of actual cost incurred by the Tax Collector in billing the non-ad valorem Assessments. The Tax Collector is responsible for the collection of delinquent non-ad valorem assessments. The Tax Collector is responsible for the sale of tax certificates and issuance of tax deeds on properties that fail to pay their ad valorem taxes and non- ad valorem special assessments. Role of the Clerk of the Circuit Court The Clerk of the Circuit Court is responsible for recording and where required, the administering of liens on unpaid non-ad valorem assessments. Policy Highlights County municipal service benefit units MSBU’s establish, monitor, maintain and manually adjust non-ad valorem assessments which may be collected by the Tax Collector on the ad valorem tax bill, through their inclusion on the billing of either municipal or Okaloosa County Water and Sewer utility billing or such other methods as approved by the Board of County Commissioners.. The funds raised are public funds and must be collected, accounted for and spent in accordance with applicable laws regarding public funds. Only public property can be maintained and improved by a MSBU; access must be open to all members of the public equally. In addition, adequate easements or property dedications must be provided if needed. Okaloosa County may establish MSBUs within municipalities upon the approval of the respective city government in accordance with section 125.01(1)(q), Florida Statutes . 2 • A petition process is used in establishing MSBU's to ensure community awareness and involvement in the decision-making process. This also increases recognition of the public nature of the improvements and the responsibility of property owners for payment of the assessments. - The minimum percentage required for the petition is as follows: 1. 66% of the property owners representing 66% of the property for a capital improvement MSBU. 2. 51% of the property owners representing 51% of the property for a service or street lighting MSBU. • Cost estimates are available at the time of obtaining petition signatures to aid provision of complete information. - The Public Works Engineering Division will provide appropriate preliminary engineering in order to obtain valid preliminary cost estimates for construction projects. • Design and construction work for capital projects is done by County staff, contingent upon approval by the Board of County Commissioners, up to the financial limits as set forth by Florida State law. Projects exceeding the statutory limits or staffing capabilities of the County will be competitively bid out for design and/or construction. Street lights are installed and subsequently maintained by the appropriate power provider. • Separate accounts are maintained for each Unit. • An additional petition and public hearing is required prior to beginning construction of any capital project if the total project cost estimates increase 20% or more above the estimate included in the initial petition required to establish the Unit. • Designation of a liaison by each Unit is important for maximum neighborhood input and on-going coordination between the community and the County. In addition, a central County staff contact is designated for each project. • The Unit liaison is authorized to request minor changes that may be needed over time. Minor changes, are defined as those which represent an estimated increase in total annual cost / assessments of no more than 10%. These requests are then presented at a Public Hearing to allow opportunity for public input, and approval/disapproval by the Board of County Commissioners. 3 General Guidelines for Establishing New MSBU s STATUTORY AUTHORITY Section 125.01(1)(q), Florida Statutes authorizes the Board of County Commissioners to provide for the establishment, merging, or abolishment of municipal service taxing (MSTUs) or benefit units (MSBUs) on any part or all of the unincorporated area of the county. It also provides for a County MSTU or MSBU to include all or part of a municipality subject to consent by ordinance of the governing body of the municipality. The law permits such Units to be created for the purpose of providing and maintaining essential facilities or services within an area and to fund these facilities and services through non-ad valorem assessments where they specifically benefit the property in that area. The facilities or services must provide a public purpose. Typical improvements include but are not limited to, road paving, drainage, street lighting and sidewalk installation. Section 197.3632, Florida Statutes provides for the levy, collection and enforcement of non-ad valorem assessments through the uniform method. Non-ad valorem assessments are not based on millage but on the cost to provide the improvement(s) or services and the corresponding benefit to the assessed property. They are collected through the tax bill method and can become a lien against the property, including homestead property. Reference the timeline to impose the non-ad valorem assessments through the use of the uniform method as established in Section 197.3632, Florida Statute on the following page. 4  MSBU CALENDAR YEAR SCHEDULE Before January 1 4 consecutive week public notice notification that the local government has intent to use the uniform method of collection for non-ad valorem assessment By January 1 Adopt a resolution at a public hearing (by March 1 if local government, property appraiser, and tax collector agree) By January 10 Local government mails by U.S Postal first-class mail a copy of the resolution to property appraiser, tax collector, and the Department of Revenue (by March 10 if the local government, property