Agenda

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Public Hearings 8.

BCC Regular Meeting

Meeting Date:	07/23/2015
Issue: 5:31 p.m. Public Hearing to Adopt the Lincoln Park Homeowners Area Street Lighting MSBU Ordinance
From:	Amy Lovoy
Department:	OMB
CAO Approval:

RECOMMENDATION:

5:31 p.m. Public Hearing for consideration of adopting an Ordinance creating the Lincoln Park Homeowners Area Street Lighting MSBU.

Recommendation: That the Board adopt, and authorize the Chairman to sign, the Ordinance creating the Lincoln Park Homeowners Area Street Lighting Municipal Services Benefit Unit (MSBU), and all related documents, and make the following findings of fact:

A. Lots in the District are specially benefited since street lighting not only increases the market value of an individual Lot, but also increases safety in the District surrounding individual Lots and the ability of Lot owners to use their individual Lots after dark;

B. The benefit from improved street lighting varies according to the relative size of the affected Lots. Residential Lots benefit from improved street lighting uniformly because of the small variation in size throughout the District;

C. The non-ad valorem special assessments levied represent a fair and reasonable apportionment of the cost of the special benefit received by each Lot and do not represent a fair share of the cost of general governmental service provided to residents in the unincorporated areas of Escambia County; and

D. Lots which do not receive a special benefit have been and shall be excluded from the non-ad valorem special assessment for street lighting.

BACKGROUND:

The owners of the property contained in Lincoln Park Homeowners Area have met the criteria established by the Board of County Commissioners for an MSBU, and the Board has reaffirmed its intent to use the uniform method of collection of non-ad valorem special assessments levied for street lighting projects. Now the property owners wish to establish the MSBU for the purpose of providing street lighting to the district.

Petitions for creating the MSBU district were circulated in the subdivision. There are an estimated 1024 properties, and of these, 56% of the property owners signed the petition in favor. This meets the 55% approval requirement specified in the MSBU Guidelines and Procedures. The estimated cost per residential lot will be $33.90 for the first assessment which will cover approximately 12 months and a 10% reserve.

Subsequent assessments will vary from amounts presented on the original petition. This is necessary due to an error in the cost estimate provided by Gulf Power when the lighting plan was originally prepared for the neighborhood. The error was discovered after requesting an updated cost estimate for the adoption of the MSBU. The changes in the annual assessment are necessary to reflect the true cost of providing lighting services in the affected areas. If the Lincoln Park MSBU is approved the assessments per property owner are expected as follows over the next 5 years excluding any rate increases by Gulf Power:
$33.90   2015
$33.90   2016
$37.28   2017
$41.01   2018
$45.11   2019

BUDGETARY IMPACT:

The MSBU will generate revenues for the purpose of providing street lighting, as well as administrative fees and a reserve for contingencies.

LEGAL CONSIDERATIONS/SIGN-OFF:

This Ordinance has been reviewed by the County Attorney's Office and found to be legally sufficient.

PERSONNEL:

N/A

POLICY/REQUIREMENT FOR BOARD ACTION:

The Board of County Commissioners must approve and adopt all Ordinances.

IMPLEMENTATION/COORDINATION:

N/A

Attachments
Lincoln Park Ordinance