Okaloosa County BOCC — February 16, 2016 — BWB MSBU Ordinance 1.19.16 — reading text

governing body of the MSBU district and it shall perform that function be responsible for overseeing the MSBU, the approval of its budget and ratifying the amount of any annual assessments imposed within its boundaries. by adopting annually a budget for the benefit unit. Section 3. – SameBoard of Directors; terms of office. A. [Initial benefit unit directors.]The initial benefit unit directors shall be: Edward L. Callicotte, Samuel G. Ellsworth, Roger H. Oelke, Albert A. Salerno, and Karl E. Welhart. Said initial benefit unit directors shall hold and remain in office until their successors are elected and qualified in the general election in the year 2004, unless such directors cease to be qualified to act or are removed for cause. In the 2004 general election, three directors shall be elected for four year terms and two directors shall be elected for two terms. The three candidates attaining the highest number of votes shall be elected for four year terms and the two candidates receiving the next highest number of votes will be elected for two year terms. In subsequent elections, eEach director officer shall be elected for a term of four years. They shall qualify for office pursuant to law. In the event any director officer ceases to be qualified to act, through resignation, removal for cause, other compelling reason, or due to the failure of any candidates to qualify for the office, the vacancy thereby created shall be filled by appointment by the majority of the remaining members of the benefit unit board of directors of the 5 MSBU district until the expiration of the term of the member who has become disqualified or failed to qualify for election. B. Qualification. Each candidate shall qualify by obtaining ten signatures of qualified voters within the Bluewater Bay MSBU area, and shall pay a $25.00 qualification fee. During 2004, qualifications of candidates shall occur between July 12, 2004 and July 16, 2004. In other years, Qualifications for candidates shall be during the periods established for other county-wide candidates. C. Applicability of election code. In the event more candidates qualify than there are open positions on the Bboard of Benefit Unit D directors of the Bluewater Bay MSBU, in that event, the general election code of the State of Florida will apply to all candidates in the same manner and to the same extent as that code applies to other countywide candidates. (1) Removal from office, failure to attend meetings: (a) Any member of the benefit unit board of directors may be removed from office by a majority vote of the benefit unit board of directors, for cause. Prior to taking such action, the director subject to removal shall be provided notice of the hearing where the removal will be considered and shall be provided an opportunity to be heard. Cause shall be considered to be malfeasance or neglect in the performance of his duties or the violation and/or conviction of a crime related to that directors official duties. (b) If any member of the befit unit board of directors fails to attend two consecutive board meetings without a satisfactory excuse, or if a member is absent from more than one-half of the boards meetings in a given year, the directors shall declare the member's seat vacant and the vacancy shall be filled as above. (2) Chairman/vice chairman: The chairman/vice chairman terms shall be for one year, with eligibility for re-election, however, the chairman/vice chairman can only serve two consecutive terms. (3) Election details: Any election subsequent to the adoption of the benefit unit Elections will be for all qualified electors residing in the district, not just property owners. In addition, the MSBU benefit unit will pay for any expense caused by additional ballot styles. Section 4. – Board of Directors; meetings. The directors of the MSBU benefit unit shall have the duties usually pertaining to like directors. The board of directors may adopt its own by-laws for conducting its business and meetings. A record shall be kept of all meetings of the board. A majority of the benefit unit directors must be present to convene a meeting of the board. At least three of the members present shall be necessary for any affirmative action by the board. The meetings of the board and minutes of the meetings shall be open to the public at all times. The board shall adhere to Florida Sunshine Laws and shall keep minutes of meetings, and written records of resolutions, 6 findings and determinations. The MSBU and its board of directors shall be subject to the Public Records Law. Section 5. - Audit. The books and records of the MSBU benefit unit will be audited annually as a part of Okaloosa County's single audit. Copies of this audit will be submitted to the board of county commissioners. Section 6. - Powers. The board of directors shall have authority to: (1) Adopt rules and regulations not inconsistent with state law or any portion of this ordinance as it may deem necessary in the transaction of its business and in carrying out the provisions of this article. (2) The benefit unit board of directors shall determine for each fiscal year the level, extent and type of community services and improvements to be provided and their estimated cost, including administrative costs and expenses (including property appraiser and tax collector, as required by law) and any fees for services of professional personnel, technicians or consultants deemed necessary by the board of directors committee for the effective provision of the community services and improvements. The cost of community services and improvements shall be included as part of the then become the proposed budget for the MSBU benefit unit for the ensuing fiscal year. (3) Purchases, solicitations for services and other contractual services shall be procured through the policies and procedures of the County’s Purchasing Manual. Section 7. - Provision of services. The benefit unit board of directors will not hire any employees. All functions of the MSBU benefit unit will be accomplished through the use of contracts, volunteers or other such non-employee types of arrangements. Section 8. - Funding. (1) The benefit unit board of directors is hereby authorized to recommend to the board of county commissioners, the levy of and impose an annual assessments against all property in the MSBU district with the following limitations. (a) The initial current assessment unit amount for financing the operation of the benefit unit MSBU shall not exceed is established at $63.00. (b) The assessment unit amount cannot increase by more than five percent from the previous year. (c) The assessments collected shall be used to provide services and improvements within the MSBU that specially benefit the properties within the MSBU (“Assessment Projects”). 7  (d) The assessments may be used to fund reasonable expenditures related to the provision of management services for the benefit of the MSBU and the properties therein. (e) The assessments may be used to fund reasonable administrative costs related to the provision of the services and improvements and the operation of the MSBU. (2) Method of establishing the assessment. The assessment unit is the standard for imposing the annual assessment. The assessment unit shall be determined by dividing the approved cost budget for Assessment Projects by the total number of residential lots and commercial and institutional residential lot equivalents to determine the assessment unit, then applying that amount to each residential lot and commercial and institutional parcel as set forth defined below. The cost of Assessment Projects community services as set forth in the approved budget shall be allocated as follows among the parcels: (a) Residential: -1- Each lot which is platted residential property, whether built on or not, will be assessed the same, one assessment unit. -2- Tracts of land intended for development as residential property but not yet improved will be assessed one assessment unit per acre (rounded to the nearest tenth acre) until platted, after which they will be assessed as in -1- above. -3- Each townhouse unit, condominium unit, or other property division intended as a residential dwelling or rental unit, shall be assessed one assessment unit. (b) Commercial: -1- Commercial property will be assessed one assessment unit per 1,000 square feet of building space constructed (property appraiser adjusted square footage figures will be used). -2- Parcels used as commercial property but without a building will be assessed one assessment unit per acre (rounded to the nearest tenth acre). -3- Parcels intended for use as commercial property but not yet developed will be assessed one assessment unit per acre (rounded to the nearest tenth acre). When built on or placed into use as commercial property the parcel will be assessed as per -1- or -2- above. (c) Institutional: -1- Institutional property will be assessed one assessment unit per 1,000 square feet of building space constructed (property appraiser adjusted square footage figures will be used). -2- Parcels used as institutional property but without a building will be assessed one assessment unit per acre (rounded to the nearest tenth acre). 8  -3- Parcels intended for use as institutional property but not yet developed will be assessed one assessment unit per acre (rounded to the nearest tenth acre). When built on or placed into use as Institutional property the parcel will be assessed as per -1- or -2- above. (3) In each year that an annual assessment is imposed, the board of directors shall adopt a Preliminary Assessment Resolution which will set forth the proposed annual assessment to be considered by the board for the upcoming fiscal year. Upon adoption, the Preliminary Assessment Resolution will be provided to the Property Appraiser of Okaloosa County and Tax Collector of Okaloosa County for inclusion on the Truth in Mileage (TRIM) bill. Such Preliminary Assessment Resolution shall be adopted and provided to the Property Appraiser in sufficient time to allow inclusion on the TRIM. (4) Prior to September 1 of each year, The aforementioned the annual assessment shall be approved levied and imposed by the benefit unit board of directors by the adoption of a Final Assessment Resolution which shall be reduced to writing. The Final Assessment Resolution shall recommend to the board of county commissioners the amount of the annual assessment that the board of directors recommends. The board of directors shall make a specific finding within the Final Assessment Resolution that the Assessment Projects to be funded by the annual assessment will specially benefit the properties within the MSBU. In addition to the adoption of the Final Assessment Resolution, the board of directors shall approve the budget for the MSBU for the fiscal year. The approval of the annual assessment and the budget may be approved within a single resolution. A copy of such Final Assessment Resolution shall forthwith be forwarded to the Property Appraiser of Okaloosa County, the Tax Collector of Okaloosa County and the board of county commissioners. The benefit unit board of directors shall comply with all state laws relative to the levy of the annual assessment. (5) All annual assessments to be levied and collected pursuant hereto shall be due and assessed and certified by the Property Appraiser of Okaloosa County and cCollected