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Parkland hears methodology to assess Ranches homeowners for $4.77M roads work; residents urge alternatives
Summary
City staff and consultants presented a proposed non-ad valorem special assessment methodology to pay for roadway and drainage work in the Ranches subdivision; consultants estimated a $4.77 million roads portion of a larger $15.2 million project and said the resident-funded portion could average about $2,570 annually for a typical 2.5-acre assigned parcel under preliminary assumptions. Residents raised concerns about easements, fairness and use of ARPA funds.
City of Parkland commissioners received a detailed presentation on Wednesday about a proposed non-ad valorem special assessment to fund roadway improvements in the Ranches subdivision, and then heard more than an hour of residents’ questions and objections.
Kelly Schwartz, the city’s finance director, told the commission that staff hired Governmental Management Services South Florida LLC and the law firm Neighbors, Giblin & Nickerson, P.A. to develop a fair-apportionment methodology and provide legal guidance. Consultant Rich Hans described the approach the consultants recommend: define a bounded assessment area, calculate an assigned acreage for each parcel (rounding acreage to the nearest half acre), and apportion costs based on that assigned acreage. Hans said the roadway portion of the project is estimated at $4,768,830; the larger Ranches project that includes drainage and other work is currently estimated just under $15,200,000.
The consultants provided preliminary finance assumptions—a placeholder 5.5 percent interest rate and a 20-year amortization—and an example of how the numbers map to property owners. Using the consultants’…
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