-
-
Loading
Loading
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARINGS TO CONSIDER IMPOSITION OF SPECIAL ASSESSMENTS AND ADOPTION OF ASSESSMENT ROLL PURSUANT TO SECTIONS 170.07 AND 197.3632(4)(b), FLORIDA STATUTES, BY THE BABCOCK RANCH COMMUNITY INDEPENDENT SPECIAL DISTRICT AND NOTICE OF MEETING OF THE DISTRICT
The Babcock Ranch Community Independent Special District (“District”) Governing Board (“Board”) will hold public hearings and a regular meeting on August 28, 2025, at 4:00 P.M., at Babcock Ranch Field House Cafeteria, 43281 Cypress Parkway, Babcock Ranch, Florida 33982, to consider the adoption of an assessment roll, the imposition of special assessments (“Residential Solid Waste Assessments”) to provide residential solid waste services (“Residential Solid Waste Services”) on certain benefited lands within Charlotte County portion of the District, the streets or other areas to be serviced and assessed and a geographic depiction of the property subject to such assessment is shown below, and to provide for the levy, collection and enforcement of the Residential Solid Waste Assessments. The Residential Solid Waste Services to be provided are described in the District’s most current version of the Supplemental Solid Waste Services Special Assessment Methodology Report (“Assessment Report”). The original Operating Budget was previously approved by the Board on January 25, 2018 and is supplemented annually. The public hearing is being conducted pursuant to Chapters 170, 189 and 197, Florida Statutes, and Chapter 2007-306, Laws of Florida, as amended. A description of the property to be assessed and the amount to be assessed to each piece or parcel of property may be ascertained at the office of the District’s Local Records Office located at The Hive, 42891 Lake Babcock Drive, Room 211, Punta Gorda, Florida 33982 or by contacting the “District Manager’s Office” at 2300 Glades Road, Suite 410W, Boca Raton, Florida 33431, (561) 571-0010.
The District is a unit of special-purpose local government responsible for providing infrastructure improvements and services for lands within the District. The Residential Solid Waste Services include the provision of single-family residential household trash and recycling services, all as more specifically described in the Assessment Report, on file and available during normal business hours at the addresses provided above.
The District intends to impose assessments on benefited lands within the District in the manner set forth in the District’s Assessment Report. The Assessment Report identifies the maximum rate schedule for Residential Solid Waste Assessments per each Developed Single-Family Residential Unit (as described in the Assessment Report) that is currently expected to be assessed, projected out to Fiscal Year to end on September 30, 2029. The methodology is explained in more detail in the Assessment Report. Also as described in more detail in the Assessment Report, the District’s assessments will be levied against all Developed Single-Family Residential Unit within the Charlotte County portion of the District. Please consult the Assessment Report for more details.
The proposed annual schedule of assessments is as follows:
FY 2026 Annual Assessment Rate
FY 2027 Annual Assessment Rate
FY 2028 Annual Assessment Rate
FY 2029 Annual Assessment Rate
Per Developed SF Residential Unit
$340.58
$357.61
$375.49
$394.26
NOTE: THE DISTRICT RESERVES ALL RIGHTS TO CHANGE THE LAND USES, NUMBER OF UNITS, EQUIVALENT ASSESSMENT UNIT OF DEVELOPED SF RESIDENTIAL UNIT FACTORS, AND ASSESSMENT AMOUNTS AT THE PUBLIC HEARING, WITHOUT FURTHER NOTICE.
The proposed Residential Solid Waste Assessments as stated include collection costs and/or early payment discounts imposed on assessments collected by the Charlotte County (“County”) Tax Collector on the tax bill. Moreover, pursuant to Section 197.3632(4), Florida Statutes, the noticed amount shall serve as the “maximum rate” authorized by law for Residential Solid Waste Assessments, such that no public hearing on Residential Solid Waste Assessments shall be held or notice provided in future years unless the Residential Solid Waste Assessments are proposed to be increased or another criterion within Section 197.3632(4), Florida Statutes, is met. Note, the Residential Solid Waste Assessments do not include operation and maintenance assessments or debt service assessments previously or to be levied by the District, as applicable.
The District intends to have the County Tax Collector collect the Residential Solid Waste Assessments imposed on certain developed property. It is important to pay your O&M Assessment because failure to pay will cause a tax certificate to be issued against the property which may result in loss of title. The District’s decision to collect Residential Solid Waste Assessments on the County tax roll does not preclude the District from later electing to collect those or other assessments in a different manner at a future time.
Additional Provisions
The public hearings and meeting are open to the public and will be conducted in accordance with the provisions of Florida law. A copy of the Assessment Report, proposed assessment roll, and the agenda for the public hearings and meeting may be obtained at the District Manager’s Office during normal business hours. The public hearings and meeting may be continued in progress to a date, time certain, and place to be specified on the record at the public hearings or meeting. There may be occasions when staff or board members may participate by speaker telephone.
Any person requiring special accommodations at the public hearings or meeting because of a disability or physical impairment should contact the District Manager’s Office at least forty-eight (48) hours prior to the public hearings and meeting. If you are hearing or speech impaired, please contact the Florida Relay Service by dialing 7-1-1, or 1-800-955-8771 (TTY) / 1-800-955-8770 (Voice), for aid in contacting the District Manager’s Office.
Please note that all affected property owners have the right to appear at the public hearings and meeting and may also file written objections with the District Manager’s Office within twenty days of publication of this notice. Each person who decides to appeal any decision made by the Board with respect to any matter considered at the public hearings or meeting is advised that person will need a record of proceedings and that, accordingly, the person may need to ensure that a verbatim record of the proceedings is made, including the testimony and evidence upon which such appeal is to be based.
District Manager
RESOLUTION 2025-48
A RESOLUTION OF THE GOVERNING BOARD OF THE
BABCOCK RANCH COMMUNITY INDEPENDENT SPECIAL
DISTRICT DECLARING SPECIAL ASSESSMENTS;
INDICATING THE LOCATION, NATURE AND ESTIMATED
COST OF THOSE SERVICES WHOSE COST IS TO BE
DEFRAYED BY THE SPECIAL ASSESSMENTS; PROVIDING
THE PORTION OF THE ESTIMATED COST OF THE SERVICES
TO BE DEFRAYED BY THE SPECIAL ASSESSMENTS;
PROVIDING THE MANNER IN WHICH SUCH SPECIAL
ASSESSMENTS SHALL BE MADE; PROVIDING WHEN SUCH
SPECIAL ASSESSMENTS SHALL BE PAID; DESIGNATING
LANDS UPON WHICH THE SPECIAL ASSESSMENTS SHALL
BE LEVIED; PROVIDING FOR AN ASSESSMENT PLAT;
ADOPTING A PRELIMINARY ASSESSMENT ROLL;
PROVIDING FOR PUBLICATION OF THIS RESOLUTION.
WHEREAS, the Babcock Ranch Community Independent Special District (the “District”) is a local unit of special purpose government created and existing pursuant to Chapter 2007-306, Laws of Florida, as amended, (the “Act”) being situated in Charlotte
County and Lee County, Florida; and
WHEREAS, as provided in the Act, the special purpose of the District is to plan, construct, maintain, operate, finance, and improve the provision of systems, facilities, and services necessary to meet the infrastructure needs of the District, including among
other things, provision of solid waste services; and
WHEREAS, the District has entered into an Interlocal Agreement with Charlotte County, (the “Interlocal Agreement”) under which Charlotte County has amended Article II, Section 4-4-10 of its Code of Laws and Ordinances to delete the Charlotte County portion of the District from the Charlotte County Sanitation Unit and the District agreed to provide solid waste and recycling collection and disposal services for the District lands within Charlotte County; and
WHEREAS, pursuant to the Act and the Interlocal Agreement, the District entered into the Solid Waste Disposal System Lease/Option to Purchase Agreement (the “Solid Waste Agreement”) with Ecologic Waste Management, LLC, (“Ecologic”) for the operations collection, management, transportation, disposal, recycling and other processing services related to non-hazardous solid waste (the “Solid Waste Services”); and
WHEREAS, the Solid Waste Agreement provides that the District will impose fees and assessments for the provision of the Solid Waste Services; and
WHEREAS, pursuant to District Resolutions 2018-16, 2018-17, and 2018-22, as supplemented annually, the District previously levied a special assessment on developed single family residential properties (the “Residential Solid Waste Assessments”) for the annual cost of the single-family residential household trash and recycling services (the “Residential Solid Waste Services”); and
WHEREAS, because of the varying amount of solid waste generated by the multifamily residential and non-residential properties, the District has determined to adopt solid waste fees for services to those properties, rather than levying a special assessment; and
WHEREAS, the District will likewise impose any charges for additional services for single family residential properties by fee; and
WHEREAS, the District desires to update the Residential Solid Waste Assessments to provide for further extensions of projections of the Solid Waste Assessments from the Fiscal Year 2018 found in the Solid Waste Services Special Assessment Methodology Report dated February 20, 2018, (the “Original Solid Waste Assessment Report”) to Fiscal Year 2029; and
WHEREAS, the Governing Board (the “Board”) of the District hereby determines to provide the Solid Waste Services for the developed property within the Charlotte County portion of the District; and
WHEREAS, the District is empowered by Chapter 2007-306, Laws of Florida, as amended, Chapter 170, Supplemental and Alternative Method of Making Local Municipal Improvements, and Chapter 197, the Uniform Method for the Levy, Collection and Enforcement of Non-Ad Valorem Assessments, Florida Statutes, to finance, fund, plan, and establish the Solid Waste Services and to impose, levy and collect the Assessments; and
WHEREAS, the District hereby determines that benefits will accrue to the developed single family residential property improved, the amount of those benefits, and that special assessments will be made in proportion to the benefits received as set forth in the Preliminary Supplemental Solid Waste Services Special Assessment Methodology Report dated June 6, 2025, attached hereto as Exhibit A (the “Supplemental Solid Waste Assessment Report”) and incorporated herein by reference and on file at 2300 Glades Road, Suite 410W, Boca Raton, Florida 33431 (the “District Records Office”) and 14750 SR 31, Punta Gorda, Florida 33982 (the “District Local Records Office”); and
WHEREAS, the District hereby determines that the Residential Solid Waste Assessments to be levied will not exceed the benefit to the property improved.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE GOVERNING
BOARD OF THE BABCOCK RANCH COMMUNITY
INDEPENDENT SPECIAL DISTRICT:
1. Residential Solid Waste Assessments shall be levied to defray the cost of the Residential Solid Waste Services.
2. The Residential Solid Waste Services are described in Exhibit A, which is on file at the District Records Office and District Local Records Office.
3. The total estimated cost of the Solid Waste Services is as described in the proposed operating budget adopted by the Board on June 26, 2025 as Resolution Number 2025-46 and attached hereto and made a part hereof as Exhibit B (the “Estimated Cost”). Exhibit B is also on file and available for public inspection at the District Records Office and District Local Records Office.
4. The Residential Solid Waste Assessments will defray the cost of the Residential Solid Waste Services in an amount not to exceed $394.26 annually per single family residential property.
5. The manner in which the Residential Solid Waste Assessments shall be apportioned and paid is set forth in Exhibit A.
6. The Residential Solid Waste Assessments shall be levied, within the District, on developed single family residential properties specially benefitted thereby and further designated by the assessment plat hereinafter provided for.
7. There is on file, at the District Records Office, an assessment plat showing the area to be assessed, with certain plans and specifications describing the Residential Solid Waste Services and the Estimated Cost of the Services, all of which shall be open to inspection by the public.
8. The Residential Solid Waste Assessments may be payable at the same time and in the same manner as are ad-valorem taxes and collected pursuant to Chapter 197, Florida Statutes and Chapter 2007-306, Laws of Florida, as amended; provided, however, that in the event the uniform non ad-valorem assessment method of collecting the Residential Solid Waste Assessments is not available to the District in any year, or if determined by the District to be in its best interest, the Residential Solid Waste Assessments may be collected as is otherwise permitted by law.
9. The District Manager has caused to be made a preliminary assessment roll, in accordance with the method of assessment described in Exhibit A hereto, which shows the lots and lands assessed, the amount of benefit to and the assessment against each lot or parcel of land and the number of annual installments into which the assessment may be divided, which assessment roll is hereby adopted and approved as the District’s preliminary assessment roll.
10. The Board shall adopt a subsequent resolution to fix a time and place at which the owners of property to be assessed or any other persons interested therein may appear before the Board and be heard as to the propriety and advisability of the assessments or the provision of the Solid Waste Services, the cost thereof, the manner of payment therefore, or the amount thereof to be assessed against each property as improved.
11. The District Manager is hereby directed to cause this Resolution to be published twice (once a week for two (2) weeks) in a newspaper of general circulation within Charlotte County and Lee County and to provide such other notice as may be required by law or desired in the best interests of the District.
12. This Resolution shall become effective upon its passage.
PASSED AND ADOPTED this 26th day of June, 2025.
ATTEST: BABCOCK RANCH COMMUNITY
INDEPENDENT SPECIAL DISTRICT
/s/ Andrew Kantarzhi /s/ William Vander May
Assistant Secretary Chairman, Governing Board
Exhibit A: Supplemental Solid Waste Services Special Assessment Methodology
Report dated June 6, 2025
Exhibit B: Operating Budget
August 1, 8, 202525-02868L
View the PDF of the publication this ad appeared in