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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1989 09 06 Minutes COUNCIL OF LOCAL GOVERNMENTS IN SEMINOLE COUNTY September 6, 1989 The regular meeting of the Council of Local Governments in Semi- nole County was held in the County Commission Conference Room, County Services Building, Sanford, Florida on September 6, 1989 at 7:00 p.m. MEMBERS PRESENT Commissioner Lee Constantine, Altamonte Springs Mayor Owen Sheppard, Casselberry Commissioner Thomas K. Mahoney, Lake Mary Commissioner Hank Hardy, Longwood Councilperson Jane Dees, Oviedo Commissioner Whitey Eckstein, Sanford Commissioner Jennifer Kelley, Seminole County Nancy Warren, Seminole County School Board Mayor Leanne Grove, Winter Springs x X X X X X ALSO PRESENT Bill Suber, Seminole County Property Appraiser CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by Chairman Lee Constantine. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE APPROVAL OF MINUTES Moved by Commissioner Kelley, second by Mrs. Warren to approve the minutes of August 2, 1989. Carried unanimously. TREASURER'S REPORT Commiss ioner Mahoney reported that the balance remains unchanged as of the last 24 months at $366.68. Upon questioning by Commissioner Kelley, Commissioner Mahoney said the money was not earning interest; normally a fee would be paid to keep an account of this size, but the fee had been waived. Commissioner Constantine pointed out the account had drawn inter- est when he was Treasurer. Commissioner Mahoney pointed out that since then the account had changed banks. Commissioner Constantine confirmed with members present that dues were not charged last year. Each year a decision is made whether or not to charge. Two years ago $25.00 was charged; however, the decision is dependent upon how depleted the account is and what expenditures may be necessary throughout the year. He pointed out that the paper was getting low an order would be forthcoming. COUNCIL OF LOCAL GOVERNMENTS IN SEMINOLE COUNTY September 6, 1989 P ag e 2 OLD BUSINESS a} Update on Dispute Resolution Commissioner Constantine stated the Dispute Resolution has been signed and passed. Mayor Sheppard asked if the blanks were filled in. Commissioner Constantine stated they were not but he was going to have to do that at the City with their Attorney and it would be kept at the City and passed on to the next Chairman. The effec- tive date was September 6, 1989. b} Discussion - Group Insurance Mayor Sheppard gave an update indicating that the cities are looking to pool their health insurance due to the large increase in premiums. In the meeting he attended the idea was presented that instead of the cities and the county dealing individually with these entities they should pool and perhaps get better rates, and perhaps the ul timate would be to be self-insured at some point. He indicated that this is all discussion at this point, that consultants would be brought the next meeting to discuss options. There was a discussion on whether or not motorcycle policemen were still needed. The general consensus was that they were still needed but the insurance question needed to be addressed. NEW BUSINESS a} Host Presentation Bill Suber, Seminole County Property Appraiser, addressed the Council on non ad valorem tax assessments. Of the members, Lake Mary has some non-ad valorem assessments and the County has many of them. Non-ad valorem assessments are also known by other names such as paving districts, lighting districts, drainage districts, MSBU's, MSTU's, MSTD's or anything that serves a special benefit. Mr. Suber explained that when special assessments first came out and were first presented on the ad valorem tax rolls, there was no other way for a city or the county to collect that special assess- ment and end up with a lien against the property except for something like a mechanics lien. Altamonte Springs probably still has some old pav ing I iens recorded that have not been collec ted and won't be collected until the people in the homes either pass away or the property changes hands and then supposedly the title company will pick it up and it will get paid. That has been the law for a number of years since first special assessments went on the ad valorem roles in this county in 1971. COUNCIL OF LOCAL GOVERNMENTS IN SEMINOLE COUNTY September 6, 1989 P ag e 3 Because of abuse with the money that was supposed to have used to run these special districts, the legislature got involved. The changes in the law were brought about through recommendations on accountability as it relates to these special districts by a number of organizations. Until this leg islation was passed last year, there was no way for either the county or the municipalities to place a special assessment in the position of running with the land now we can do that so the bill has accountability in it for the districts and to the tax payers. The new law states that there will be no new non-ad valorem assessments allowed after January 1, 1990. Seminole County has had a mixture of ad valorem and non-advalorem taxes or assessments on the roll, which is fine as long as no new districts are created after 1989. However, according to the County Manager not only will the MSBU come on next year but there are plans for additional non-ad valorem taxes that will be levied in the future. Currently we are operating under Option "A", the Optional Method described in the attached. Because of the way the law is struc- tured, if the Property Appraiser agreed to keep the ad valorem tax and the non-ad valorem tax through 1989 and carry it forward, he would end up with ad valorem and non-ad valorem rolls plus another set of just non-ad valorem rolls, plus the County and the munici- palities would have to contract with him to maintain them. Option "B", The Uniform Method has two separate rolls, an ad valorem roll and a non-ad valorem roll which are put together into one bill by the Tax Collector. The Property Appraiser prepares the ad valorem roll, the tax authority, whoever it may be, pre- pares the non-ad valorem roll. Once that is done (and it is procedurally written out in the law how the rolls are done) the roles are then merged back together by the tax collector so he can send out one bill. That is how the law has changed, there can be two rolls, but one bill. The Al ternative Method is described on Page 3 of the attached. According to Mr. Suber, if you read the law, you will know it is not an alternative, it just says you can do it any way you want to as long as to follow certain procedures within the statute. Under this method the non-ad valorem assessments again cannot be on the ad valorem tax rolls and they cannot be on the ad valorem tax bill. They have to be billed separately so what you end up with is the Tax Collector sending out the ad valorem tax bill and may or may not send out the non-ad valorem tax bill, but it would be an entirely different form. Under that process the non-ad valorem assessments or taxes do not become a lien on the property. They become something like a mechanics lien. A copy of these laws are attached and are fairly self-explanatory. The only method he sees available for 1990 and after is the Uniform Method where you have two rolls certif ied by the tax ing authorities and one bill. Under the law for the uniform method on June 1, 1990 and thereafter the Property Appraiser I s off ice is responsible for providing each taxing authority using the uniform COUNCIL OF LOCAL GOVERNMENTS IN SEMINOLE COUNTY September 6, 1989 P ag e 4 method with the following information, by either a list or compa- tible electronic medium: a legal description for each property located within the boundaries of the district, the current names and addresses of the owners of each of the properties within the district and along with that will provide the parcel ID number which is the way you link that back to the tax collector's rolls so that he can merge those two together on a bill. They propose to provide each taxing authority using the uniform method with a magnetic tape or a list, however you want to get it. The information will contain the following information on every parcel in the district: parcel number, special district number, the name and address of the current owner, current legal descrip- tion and if the legal was changed from the prior year they are going to flag it for you (for example, if a taxpayer owned two lots and he was being charged for them together and sells one of them off, we will let you know that one has been sold so you will know that you have a new owner and new tax payer. They can also issue any other information requested. For 1990 only they will provide the number of units assessed on a particular parcel during 1989. In addition, they will provide a hard copy summary which will serve as an index and a recap for everything provided on the tape. This index and recap will contain the following infor- mation: district name, district number (which we will assign...in the County's case there are 250 to 275 districts so they will have to renumber the districts and provide those numbers to you), total number of parcels in each district (they will note by a "yes" or "no" whether there is a legal description change from the prior year) . A lengthy question and answer period followed which provided the following information: ** In a d istr ic t wi th more than one non-ad valorem tax assess- ments such as paving, drainage and/or lighting, it will go on the roll as one figure, you would break it out when it goes to the tax collec tor. ** The next big one will probably be the recycling program, and if treated like an MSBU it would be up to the County Commission to determine which jurisdiction gets what and how it is assessed. ** The function of the Property Appraiser is to do an appraisal on all the real or personal property in the county, and to secure a fair and just valuation. In the courts, "just valuation" means market value but not market value like you would look at it. They have criteria that they must look at and abide by which includes the cost approach, the income approach and the market approach to value. With residential properties they use sales to do a market analysis. The cost approach in our case it is replacement cost less depreciation. Under the income approach whether or not it is an income producing property has very little bearing on their consideration. Apartments are done that way, as are shopping centers. Most commercial properties are not done that way but a lot of them are. COUNCIL OF LOCAL GOVERNMENTS IN SEMINOLE COUNTY September 6, 1989 p ag e 5 They have to consider property as being its equivalent in cash so its absolutely free and clear of liens or encumbrances or anything else. That is the kind of market value we try to reach. ** If a subdivision is built with 100 units and every house sells for $100,000 at the same time, the appraisal would depend on several things. The cost of money that is generally used in the market, what real estate agents charge to sell the house, anything that would be a cost has to be taken...it could be 7% to 15%. So the appraisal would be around $85,000 to $93,000. ** Appraisals can't be done on every property every year, they generally try to look at areas with bad equity problems. ** The downscaling of condominiums is not a depreciation factor, it is more of a market factor. Condos that once sold for $80,000 to $90,000 you have to practically pay somebody to take on off your hands today. ** The question of mid-year assessments was discussed and Mr. Suber indicated that the problem is that the constitution does not separate real and personal property, it speaks to ALL property, and when mid-year assessments come before the leg islature, the lobbyists immediately go to work and it dies. ** A new house goes on the tax roll when it is issued a Certifi- cate of Occupancy or a final building inspection is performed. For example, if a house is not occupied or ready for occupancy on December 31, 1989, it is not put on the roll that year. July, 1991 is the first time it will appear on the tax roll. The tax bill is not sent until November of that year and it is not due until March, 1992, so it is 27 months (conceivably) before a house will begin paying taxes. ** In a commercial undertaking where all of it is not completed simultaneously, they pick up phases as they are completed. ** When a permit is issued for a house improvement that is a flag that sends an appraiser to a property to check for improvements. There was a discussion on how concurrency has effected other parts of the state. Mr. Suber indicated that although concurrence has not come down the pike yet, we can plan for it. The areas along the Wekiva and along S.R. 46 will probably be the most critical areas. He feels it may slow growth, but won't effect us greatly. There was further discussion concerning Homestead Exemption and particularly the properties that are off the tax rolls because of it. He is providing each city with a summary of those properties which will be attached to the minutes when received. The meeting adjourned at 9:40 p.m.