Delegation advances University Town Center improvement district bill; developers, presenters say residents won't be assessed

The Manatee County legislative delegation on Friday voted 4-0 to advance a local bill that would recognize University Town Center as an improvement district and provide a mechanism to assess and fund shared commercial infrastructure such as stormwater, irrigation, roadway lighting, landscaping and security.

David Ramba, who presented the measure, told the delegation the district would cover "just over 823 acres" of commercially owned property and would create a single, comprehensive mechanism to permit and maintain stormwater systems and other shared multi-county infrastructure. Ramba said residential parcels would be excluded: "If land does become residential, that residential land would be extracted from the district."

Ramba also clarified that county-owned parcels would not be assessed and that the district was intended to place assessment responsibility on commercial property owners who would vote on levies and related actions. Delegation members pressed for that clarification during questions and were told the current owners have agreed to the conditions described in the legal description and that typical ad valorem taxation of the county would not be applied to the district's commercial assessments.

The delegation recorded a unanimous 4-0 vote to advance the bill; Representative Buchanan was identified as the House sponsor to carry the measure in his chamber. Delegation members noted the bill will still require committee hearings in Tallahassee, floor votes and the governor's signature to become law.

Provenance: David Ramba's presentation and the ensuing clarifying exchange are recorded in the meeting transcript (see transcript 15:52to18:31).