Okaloosa County BOCC — August 24, 2013 — reading text

that imposes Assessments within the Destin Subarea of the MSBU. "Fiscal Year" means the period commencing on October 1 of each year and continuing through the next succeeding September 30, or such other period as may be prescribed by law as the fiscal year for the County. "MSBU" means the Okaloosa County Beach Restoration Municipal Service Benefit Unit, a description of which is attached hereto and incorporated herein as Appendix A. “Obligations” means notes, bonds or other evidence of indebtedness secured by proceeds of the Assessments that are issued to finance the Project Cost. "Ordinance" means Ordinance 07-71, as amended. “Project” means the Beach Restoration of those portions of the beaches within the Destin Subarea and located within or adjacent to the boundaries of the MSBU which have been classified as critically eroded areas by the State of Florida. "Project Cost" means (A) the Capital Cost of the Beach Restoration, (B) the Transaction Cost associated with any Obligations attributable to the Beach Restoration, (C) interest accruing on such Obligations for such period of time as the County deems appropriate, (D) the debt service reserve fund or account, if any, established for the 4 Packet Pg. 19 Obligations attributable to the Beach Restoration, and (E) any other costs or expenses related thereto. "Property Appraiser" means the Okaloosa County Property Appraiser. "Tax Parcel" means a parcel of property to which the Property Appraiser has assigned a distinct ad valorem property tax identification number. "Tax Roll" means the real property ad valorem tax assessment roll maintained by the Property Appraiser for the purpose of the levy and collection of ad valorem taxes. "Transaction Cost" means the costs, fees and expenses incurred by the County in connection with the issuance and sale of any series of Obligations, including but not limited to (A) rating agency and other financing fees; (B) the fees and disbursements of bond counsel and disclosure counsel, if any; (C) the underwriters' discount; (D) the fees and disbursements of the County's financial advisor; (E) the costs of preparing and printing the Obligations, the preliminary official statement, the final official statement, and all other documentation supporting issuance of the Obligations; (F) the fees payable in respect of any municipal bond insurance policy; (G) administrative, development, credit review, and all other fees associated with any pooled commercial paper or similar interim financing program; and (H) any other costs of a similar nature incurred in connection with issuance of such Obligations. "Uniform Assessment Collection Act" means Sections 197.3632 and 197.3635, Florida Statutes, or any successor statutes authorizing the collection of non- ad valorem assessments on the same bill as ad valorem taxes, and any applicable regulations promulgated thereunder. 5 Packet Pg. 20  SECTION 4. INTERPRETATION. Unless the context indicates otherwise, words importing the singular number include the plural number, and vice versa; the terms "hereof," "hereby," "herein," "hereto," "hereunder" and similar terms refer to this Resolution; and the term "hereafter" means after, and the term "heretofore" means before, the effective date of this Resolution. Words of any gender include the correlative words of the other gender, unless the sense indicates otherwise. SECTION 5. LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS. It is hereby ascertained, determined and declared that: (A) Article VIII, Section 1 of the Florida Constitution, and Sections 125.01 and 125.66, Florida Statutes, grant to a board of county commissioners all powers of local self-government to perform county functions and to render services for county purposes in a manner not inconsistent with general law, or with special law approved by vote of the electors, and such power may be exercised by the enactment of county ordinances. (B) The Board of County Commissioners of Okaloosa County, Florida, has enacted the Ordinance providing for the creation of an MSBU and authorizing the imposition of Assessments to fund the construction of the Project to serve the property located therein. (C) The MSBU created two subareas, however, assessments are only imposed within the Destin Subarea, the proceeds of which are to be used to fund construction of the Project in that Destin Subarea. (D) The Project provides a special benefit to all property located within the Destin Subarea of the MSBU including improving and securing road access, protecting the natural environment associated with the beach, providing enhanced storm 6 Packet Pg. 21 protection, protecting and enhancing the market value and marketability of properties within the Destin Subarea of the MSBU, and enhancing the use and enjoyment of such property through the provision of aesthetic benefits and recreational beach amenities. The Project will provide property owners within the Destin Subarea of the MSBU with a greatly expanded beach area for their use and enjoyment. The presence of the beach also serves as a primary motivator for people to live in the Destin Subarea of the MSBU or to visit those properties. (E) The Board hereby adopts and incorporates by reference that certain study entitled “Okaloosa County Funding Feasibility Study for Beach Restoration on Okaloosa Island and City of Destin,” dated October 1, 2007, prepared by Coastal Tech (the “Feasibility Study”), including particularly the assumptions, methodology, conclusions and findings in such study as to the allocation of anticipated benefits and costs of the Project amongst properties within the Destin Subarea of the MSBU. The Feasibility Study is available for inspection at the Emerald Coast Convention & Visitors Bureau, located at 1540 Miracle Strip Parkway, Ft. Walton Beach, Florida 32548. (F) Since the benefits received by properties from the Project vary depending on the type of benefit and proximity to the Project, with all properties receiving a recreational benefit and with beachfront properties receiving a storm protection benefit, it is fair and reasonable for the County to establish separate Areas and apportion a share of the Capital Cost among the Areas as set forth in the Feasibility Study. (G) The Board finds that the treatment of hotel and commercial facilities within the boundaries of the MSBU as more fully described in the Feasibility Study is fair and reasonable based upon the respective benefits derived from the Project. Any 7 Packet Pg. 22 differences in the treatment of various property uses is based upon reasonable and appropriate differences existing between these properties as more fully discussed in the Feasibility Study. (H) The Board hereby finds and determines that the Assessments to be imposed in accordance with this Resolution provide an equitable method of funding the construction of the Project by fairly and reasonably allocating the cost to specially benefitted property based upon the relative degree of benefit attributable to each parcel as more fully described in the Feasibility Study. (I) Certain properties were excluded from the Project area and it would be inequitable for those properties to pay the assessments. Therefore, they are excluded from the Assessment Roll. (J) The Board hereby finds that each property within the Destin Subarea of the MSBU will be benefited by the construction of the Project in an amount not less than the Assessment imposed against such property, computed in the manner set forth in this Resolution and the Feasibility Study. SECTION 6. ASSESSMENT ROLL. The County Administrator is hereby directed to prepare a projected estimate of the Capital Cost of the Project and to prepare the Assessment Roll in the manner provided in the Ordinance. The Assessment Roll shall apportion that portion of the Project Cost to be funded by Assessments among the parcels of real property within the Destin Subarea of the MSBU, less those properties excluded from the Project (the “Excluded Properties”), as reflected on the Tax Roll in conformity with this Resolution and the Feasibility Study. The estimate of Capital Cost, the Feasibility Study, this Resolution and the Assessment 8 Packet Pg. 23 Roll shall be maintained on file in the offices of the County Administrator and open to public inspection. The foregoing shall not be construed to require that the Assessment Roll be in printed form if the amount of the Assessment for each Tax Parcel can be determined by use of a computer terminal available to the public. The Assessment Roll shall reflect that each Tax Parcel be assessed the same amount as assessed against that parcel for Fiscal Year 2012-2013. A copy of the updated Assessment Roll for Fiscal Year 2013-2014, this Resolution, and a copy of the Feasibility Study shall be made available for public inspection at the office of the County Administrator for 20 days prior to the public hearing. SECTION 7. PUBLIC HEARING. There is hereby established a public hearing to be held by the Board at 6:30 p.m. or as soon thereafter as the matter can be heard, on September 3, 2013 at the First Floor County Commission Chambers, 101 E. James Lee Boulevard, Crestview, Florida 32536, and also at 6:30 p.m., or as soon thereafter as the matter can be heard, August 20, 2013 at the Okaloosa County Courthouse, Third Floor, County Commission Chambers, at the Water and Sewer Building, 1804 Lewis Turner Boulevard, Suite 400, Ft. Walton Beach, Florida 32547, to accept public comment on the Assessments and the collection of such Assessments pursuant to the Uniform Method of Collection. SECTION 8. NOTICE BY PUBLICATION. The County Administrator shall publish a notice of the public hearing. The notice shall be published no later than twenty (20) days prior to the public hearing, in substantially the form attached hereto as Appendix B. 9 Packet Pg. 24  SECTION 9. NOTICE BY MAIL. To the extent required, the County Administrator shall also provide notice of the public hearing by first class mail to the Owners of any assessable properties, only in the event circumstances described in Section 11 of the Ordinance so require. Such notices shall be in substantially the form attached hereto as Appendix C and shall be mailed no later than twenty (20) days prior to the public hearing. SECTION 10. IMPOSITION OF ASSESSMENTS. Assessments shall be imposed against property located within the Destin Subarea of the MSBU, less the Excluded Properties, for each Fiscal Year of the Assessment Period, the amount of which shall be computed in accordance with the methodology set forth in the Feasibility Study. The apportionment methodology contained in the Feasibility Study is hereby approved and found to be a fair and reasonable method of apportioning the