In 2014, Town residents who were living within special taxing districts expressed interest in transferring these services to the Town with the goal of receiving hometown services. At the April 14, 2014, town council meeting, a motion was made to request the transfer of special taxing districts to be managed by the Town of Miami Lakes.

On November 8, 2016, Miami-Dade County voters approved a Charter Amendment under Ordinance No. 16-14 authorizing a municipality to act as the governing body for special taxing districts located entirely within their municipalities. (Miami-Dade County, FL, Code, Chapter 18, art. I, §18-3.1.)

Subsequently, in March 2017, a workshop was held in collaboration with Miami Dade County to present an option to the residents to transfer the County Special Taxing Districts or create new special taxing districts to be managed by the Town in order to better serve our residents. The workshop explained the different types of districts, the process of the transfer and questions related to the process.

Currently, Miami Dade County operates special assessments for four security guard services, and two lake maintenance districts within the Town of Miami Lakes. The taxing districts are self-sustaining and no general revenue funds are going to be utilized.

The residents of the six special taxing districts presented a petition to transfer to the Town and the Town Council approved the request to transfer of these special taxing districts by resolution on September 5, 2017 and subsequently on January 21, 2018 an election was conducted via mail-in ballot to those within the district boundaries. All six districts received a majority vote ratifying the transfer to the Town.

Town of Miami Lakes Process

As a result of this election, all six districts will be transferred to the Town on October 1, 2018, therefore, we are now responsible for establishing the rate for next fiscal year. To be able to accomplish this, the Town has taken the following steps:

• Identify contracts that can be piggy-back to prevent a gap in services.
• Identify contracts will various price points
• Meet with residents on the various district to discuss service levels and contract pricing options
• Began the discussion about establish a representative residents group to provide feedback and direction
• Discuss the development of a customize RFP for guard services and a routine meeting with residents to get feedback
• Establish a management and overhead rate of 20% less than the County current year cost for budgeting purposes. Actual expenses will be monitor through-out the year.

The specific relevant information for each of the districts is outlined below:

Loch Lomond – Guard Gate District

This district has traditionally operated with one guard 24 hours a day every day of the year and a rover guard for 24 hours a day a total of 17,250 hours a year. As a result of a projected budget deficit by the County, the level of service reduced the rover to only 12 hours per day for the remaining of the year. The guards are provided by Kent Security via a County contract at a rate of $20.50/ hour.

The Town met with the residents of the district on two occasions (April 9 and May 15). At those meeting, we discussed restoring the rover guard both for 24 hours a day; maintain the current security guard company and having an entrance feature and landscaping at the guard gate. The proposed assessment rate of $2,726.40, which is the same as the current, will be able to fund these improvements.

Royal Oaks East and Royal Oaks Section 1

These districts are operated with two guards (one on each guard gate) 24 hours a day every day of the year for a total of 17,520 hours a year. The guards are provided by Kent Security via a County contract at a rate of $20.50/ hour.

On May 16, 2018 and subsequently on May 24, 2018, the Town held meetings with the residents of both districts., while there is an existing HOA within those districts, the concern was that almost half of the district residents were not being represented; therefore, we passed flyers and posted notices at the guard houses to increase participation.

At those meetings, the residents who participated indicated that they wanted to augment the services by including a rover guard which would be divided between Royal Oaks East and Royal Oaks Section 1 for an additional 4,380 hours/year per district for a total of 21,900 hours a year. The residents also agree to allocate $21.12 per guard hour, while leaving the decision as to which firm to select for later this summer.

The proposed assessment rate of $1,106.69 for Royal Oaks East and $1,006.14 for Royal Oaks Section 1 will fund the additional rover hours. If the service hours were to remain at the current level, the assessment rates for Royal Oaks East would be $894.51, which is lower than the current rate of $977.73 (since no deficit is expected from this Fiscal Year).

If the same hours of service are maintained for Royal Oaks Section 1, the rate would be $817.38, which is slightly higher than their current rate of $802.17. The reason is mainly because the security services line item will increase by approximately $21,000 per district due to a 3% rate increase included in the County contract. Even though, this would be partially offset by a savings of approximately $10,000 in administrative costs (20% reduction when compared to County budget), there would still be an increase in total budgeted expenses of approximately $11,000 (approximately a 2.5% increase in expenses.

Miami Lakes Section 1

This district operates with one guard 24 hours a day every day of the year for a total of 8,760 hours a year. The guards are provided via County contract assumes a rate of $21.12/ hour.

On May 16, 2018, the Town met with the residents of the district, however participation at that meeting consisted of only four residents. Over the next few months, we plan to work together with the seven HOA that exist within the boundaries of the district to improve the feedback process from the residents,

At those meetings, we discussed maintaining the same level of service with the same providers for budget purposes but add $1,500/ year for landscaping enhancements.

The current assessment rate of $285.86 and the proposed rate is $285.09.

Lake Hilda

This lake maintenance special taxing district is serviced 12 times a year by Solitude under a County contract.

On May 17, 2018, the Town met with the residents of the district. At that meeting, we discussed adding 6 additional service cycles for the summer months ($2,400 year). The proposed assessment rate of $159.00 includes the 18 cycles per year.

Lake Patricia

This lake maintenance special taxing district is serviced 12 times a year (treatment includes a blue dye that is added to the water) by Solitude under a County contract.

On May 17, 2018, the Town met with the residents of the district. At that meeting, we discussed adding 6 additional service cycles for the summer months ($2,400/year), testing the water for bacteria twice a year ($400 per year), and including and allocation of $1,000 for fish stocking of the lake. The proposed assessment rate of $235.99 includes the additional services discussed with the residents. It is important to note that all but one the proposed service improvement were supported unanimously, but a couple of residents were not in favor of the blue dye treatment.

Preliminary Assessments

The fiscal impact is only for those homeowners within the boundaries of the Special Taxing Districts.

These funds will accrue from the special assessments paid by the property owners of folios within the active Special Taxing Districts. A summary table with the budgets for each district and the rate is provided below.

Timeline

The folio and preliminary rates for each Taxing District must be submitted to the County by July 17, 2018 for the TRIM notices to be mailed to residents. Per Florida Statutes, changes to the folio and rates can be made before September 15, 2018. The final rate will appear on the Tax Bill. It should be noted that only reductions to the unit count can be made after November 1, 2018.