Item M2
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY
Meeting Date: April 18, 2001
Division:
County Attorney
Bulk Item: Yes 0 No 0
AGENDA ITEM WORDING:
Attached is a report summarizing the procedure for increasing the residential solid waste
non-ad valorem assessments.
ITEM BACKGROUND:
The summary was requested by the County Administrator to inform the Board on the time line
and procedure to increase the residential solid waste assessments.
Past hurricane costs, and current and expected future costs are exceeding revenues;
shortfall last year was over $2 million; rates have not been increased since 1996.
PREVIOUS RELEVANT BOCC ACTION:
The County has been using the statutory non-ad valorem method to collect solid waste
residential assessments since 1990. Statutory reference is Sec. 197.3632, FS.
CONTRACT I AGREEMENT CHANGES:
STAFF RECOMMENDATIONS:
TOTAL COST: BUDGETED: Yes No
COST TO COUNTY
APPROVED BY: County Attorney 0 OMB/Purchasing 0 Risk Management 0
DOCUMENTATION:
Included ~
Q~~
~A~~N~CK (
To Follow 0 Not Required 0
DIVISION DIRECTOR APPROVAL:
AGENDA ITEM #
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RESIDENTIAL SOLID WASTE NON-AD VALOREM ASSESSMENT
The residential solid waste non-ad valorem assessment method allows for the collection of
those assessments in the same manner as ad valorem taxes. Put simply, do not pay the
assessment and a tax certificate will be sold against the real property of the recalcitrant taxpayer.
Although the non-ad valorem method for collecting residential solid waste assessments
has been in place for a number of years, a recent Florida court decision requires that an increase
in the assessment be implemented as if the assessment were being levied for the first time.
Florida law (Sec. 197.3632(4)(a), FS) allows for the increase to be adopted by the BCC anytime
between June 1 and September 15 but, as a practical matter, the public hearings on the solid
waste non-ad valorem assessments have usually been held in conjunction with the September
public hearings on the rest of the budget. Note, however, that while the final County budget is
usually adopted in late September, the solid waste non-ad valorem assessment final hearing must
be held on or before September 15.
The notice and hearing requirements for adopting an increase in the non-ad valorem
assessment are:
At least 20 days prior to the public hearing, the local government shall notice the
hearing by first-class United States mail and by publication in a newspaper generally
circulated within each county contained in the boundaries of the local government. The
notice by mail shall be sent to each person owning property subject to the assessment
and shall include the following information: the purpose of the assessment; the total
amount to be levied against each parcel; the unit of measurement to be applied against
each parcel to determine the assessment; the number of such units contained within
each parcel; the total revenue the local government will collect by the assessment; a
statement that failure to pay the assessment will cause a tax certificate to be issued
against the property which may result in a loss of title; a statement that all affected
property owners have a right to appear at the hearing and to file written objections
with the local governing board within 20 days of the notice; and the date, time, and
place of the hearing. . . . . The published notice shall contain at least the following
information: the name of the local governing board, a geographic depiction of the
property subject to the assessment; the proposed schedule of the assessment; the fact
that the assessment will be collected by the tax collector; and a statement that all
affected property owners have the right to appear at the public hearing and the right to
file written objections within 20 days of the publication of the notice. Sec.
197.3632(4)(b), FS.
The County Administrator intends to have three public hearings on the residential solid
waste non-ad valorem rate increase. However, the twenty day notice runs before the date of the
first hearing, not the last (although obviously the dates, times and places of all the hearings to be
held should be in the notice).
While not explicit in the statutory language quoted above, I believe the notice should
contain an explanation that the assessment is being increased, i.e., do not just list the new
assessment amount without further explanation.
Therefore, the Bee needs to arrive at an amount of the proposed increase in a sufficient
amount of time in advance to allow the increase to be in the notices. This should be done in a
tentative rate resolution adopted at the June Bee meeting. (The Bee may change the amount of
the increase at the public hearings, Sec. 197.3632(4)(c), FS). Public Works will prepare a
proposed notice and public hearing schedule which should allow for sufficient time for both the
notice preparation and the notification of the taxpayers in advance of the hearings. At the final
hearing the Bee would adopt the final rate resolution containing the increased amount, if any,
decided by the Board.
The commercial and governmental rates are the amounts the Bee authorizes the solid
waste collection franchisees to charge commercial and government accounts. They are not
collected as non-ad valorem assessments and, hence, the notice and procedural requirements
described above do not apply to them. The notice required to increase those rates is set forth in
Sec. 8-84(b), Mee, published notice in a quarter page nonclassified section ad twenty days in
advance of the final hearing.
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