Panama City Reporter

City of Panama Beach issued the following announcement on August 12.

The following information concerns how the City of Panama City Beach budgets and funds only a portion of its annual budget with non-ad valorem special assessments. Please keep in mind, Panama City Beach is one of a few municipalities statewide that does not levy any ad valorem property taxes. 

Please read this information, as the City has limited staff to man phone lines at this time. We hope this webpage will answer many of your questions about the City’s non ad valorem assessment programs, and ask that you review this information first before calling.

This is annually occurring process. After this year, however, it may be possible to budget for these programs earlier using the indexing approaches employed by the City. This indexing feature has been explained in detail in the City’s published and mailed notices, is similarly used by the Legislature, and has been approved by the circuit court. The index used by the City reasonably accounts for growth, inflation, the change in purchasing value of money, or similar purchasing or cost increase variables, and may only be increased from year to year in an amount not to exceed the average annual growth rate in Florida personal income over the previous 5 years.

Our City has three (3) special assessment programs. Each of these programs use cost sharing methods which serve as tools to achieve equity and fairness, and together are collectively employed (i) to avoid going to ad valorem taxation, (ii) to share costs and benefits in several ways – in order to (iii) achieve equity by diversity of approach. Please read the following notice:

COMBINED NOTICE FOR PUBLICATION OF ANNUAL HEARINGS CONCERNING NON-AD VALOREM ASSESSMENTS 2021-22

How can I find out the amount(s) to be assessed? Individual mailed notices have been sent which identify the specific amount to be paid for the proposed stormwater assessment. (These notices were sent to the addresses on file at the County; and also included a copy of the above published notice for all three programs.) However, on your smartphone or any computer connected the internet, you can view how any property in each to the three (3) special assessment programs is proposed to be assessed in the coming Fiscal year below, by clicking on the link below for each program. Each link takes you to a search engine which is searchable by (1) owner name,  (2) parcel location, or (3) parcel number, so you can view how any property assessed in the City is expected to be affected by each of these three (3) non-ad valorem assessment programs.

Go ahead, give it a try and search your property or any other property in the City:

FIRE SERVICE ASSESSMENT

FRONT BEACH ROAD COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AREA ASSESSMENT

STORMWATER ASSESSMENT

As you know, these three annual assessment programs have been in place for several years. The City however is updating its Stormwater assessment to use a more equitable method of sharing these costs. Because assessments must (1) benefit property, and (2) must be reasonably apportioned under Florida law the City has been careful to follow these and all other legal requirements, to make these charges proportional and reasoned for all three programs. The graphic on the above notice is important because the Fire Service Assessment and Stormwater Assessment are imposed citywide. The Front Beach Road CRA Assessment is only imposed in the shaded Front Beach Road community redevelopment area.

How can I learn more?  In the coming weeks, the proposed ordinances and resolutions involved will be included in the upcoming Agenda for the City Council meeting on August 26, 2021, and copies will also be placed on this website. Please check back to read those documents as they are posted.

• Annual Report on Fire Service Assessment [to come] 
• Proposed Annual Assessment Resolution for Fire Service Assessment [to come]
• Annual Report on Front Beach Road CRA Assessment [to come]
• Annual Assessment Resolution for Front Beach Road CRA Assessment [to come]
• Report (using simplified approach) for Stormwater Assessment [to come
• Proposed Ordinance for (Second Reading of new/alternative) Stormwater Assessment [to come]
• Proposed Annual Assessment Resolution for Stormwater Assessment [to come]

Remember, you can conveniently submit comments and objections to the City Council before the upcoming public hearing by sending an email to the City Council in care of debbie.ward@pcbfl.gov as soon as possible. Please do this before by August 24, 2021, so your input can be received and shared with the City Council members in advance. Information sent in advance will be shared with the Council members, given equal weight to that spoken or shared in person at the hearing, and the Council members and City staff will individually be able to better review your comments and objections prior to the hearing date as they prepare. Thank-you.

Original source can be found here.