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1. Fire Service Assessments
2. Stormwater Management Assessments
3. Community Redevelopment Related Assessments

***PUBLIC NOTICE***

COMBINED ANNUAL PUBLISHED NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARINGS CONCERNING NON-AD VALOREM ASSESSMENTS

IMPOSED WITHIN PANAMA CITY BEACH, FLORIDA, TO FUND ONLY IN PART THE COSTS OF BENEFITS RELATED TO:

1. FIRE SERVICE ASSESSMENTS

   (IMPOSED CITY-WIDE);

    

2. STORMWATER MANAGEMENT ASSESSMENTS

   (IMPOSED CITY-WIDE);

    

3. CERTAIN REDEVELOPMENT RELATED ASSESSMENTS
   (ONLY IMPOSED WITHIN THE FRONT BEACH ROAD COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AREA).

The property subject to the assessments lies within the City of Panama City Beach, Florida.

PUBLIC HEARING

The City Council has scheduled a public hearing to be held on July 25, 2024, at 9:00 a.m. in the City Council Chambers at City Hall, 17007 Panama City Beach Parkway, Panama City Beach, Florida, for the purpose of receiving comments on these proposed annual non-ad valorem assessments, and any associated resolutions. The City of Panama City Beach does not impose any ad-valorem property taxes.

You are invited to attend or appear at the public hearing, and/or to file written comments or objections with the City Clerk, indicating the particular assessment, if applicable, and addressed to the City Council within 20 days of this Notice. Please send your written comments in care of the City Clerk by email to specialassessments@pcbfl.gov.  

The individual dollar amount attributed to the proposed rate of assessment for each affected tax parcel in the City and other information concerning all three assessment programs is also available online at the City’s website (on interactive assessment rolls searchable by owner name, location and parcel number) or accessible by computer terminal upon inquiry at the office of the City Clerk, at City Hall.  Please go to http://www.pcbfl.gov/sa for more information.

FIRE SERVICE ASSESSMENT

The City’s annual non-ad valorem Fire Service Assessment finances a large portion of the annual operating and capital costs associated with the Panama City Beach fire department.  If approved by City Council, the rate of assessment for each tax parcel is proposed to be the sum of (i) seventy-eight cents ($0.78) per $1,000 of the value of improvements attributed to the tax parcel identified by the Bay County Property Appraiser (Tier 1), plus (ii) $95.66 per tax parcel (Tier 2).  

STORMWATER ASSESSMENT

The City’s annual non-ad valorem Stormwater Assessment finances a large portion of the annual operating and capital costs associated with the  City’s public works stormwater management responsibilities. If approved by City Council, the rate of assessment for each tax parcel is proposed to be the sum of (i) the sum of forty-nine cents ($0.49) per $1,000 of the value of improvements attributed to the tax parcel identified by the Bay County Property Appraiser (Tier 1), plus (ii) $48.30 per tax parcel (Tier 2).  

FRONT BEACH ROAD COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AREA ASSESSMENT.

This annual non-ad valorem assessment, unlike the Fire Service Assessment and Stormwater Assessment above, is NOT imposed city-wide and only encompasses areas enveloped in the associated community redevelopment plan for this area (see graphic above). This annual non-ad valorem assessment was determined by the local court to be proportional and to benefit  all lands within the community redevelopment area or “CRA”, as a valid function of the associated community redevelopment plan, and honors interlocal agreement to defray a  portion of the administrative, operational and maintenance expense of overseeing extraordinary community redevelopment activities within or related to this specific community redevelopment area by combining two (2) categories of charges for this special assessment. If approved by the City Council after the hearing, the rate of assessment for each tax parcel identified by the Bay County Property Appraiser is proposed to be the combination of the following:

Category A: Budgeted costs of a portion of administrative and ministerial activities (approximately $496,106) shared within this CRA equally per parcel among all parcels will be the sum of $38.95 per tax parcel; plus,

Category B: Budgeted costs of a portion of continued maintenance, upkeep and capital equipment for this CRA (approximately $481,751) weighted and shared based upon a combination of three (3) relative attributes or factors:

1. the heated or air-conditioned square footage reported in the public records of the local property appraiser (approximately 60% weight, or approximately $191,510) will be nine-tenths of one cent ($0.009) per square foot;
2. the improvement value for each parcel, which is the result of the reported just value minus the reported land value in the public records of the local property appraiser (approximately 30% weight, or approximately $218,490 will be four cents ($0.04) per $1,000 of improvement value; and,
3. the land value for each parcel reported in the public records of the local property appraiser (approximately 10% weight, approximately $71,751) will be six cents ($0.06) per $1,000 of land value.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

This published Notice is intended to inform you of the maximum rates the City may impose in FY 2024-25 for these three non-ad valorem assessments. The rates of these non-ad valorem assessments for the Fiscal Year beginning October 1, 2024, will be considered in the context of not exceeding the average annual growth rate in Florida personal income over the previous 5 years from 2019 to 2024, which is 7.47%, and forms a cognizable indexing feature judicially approved as fair and reasoned in the manner provided for by law and the City’s ordinances. However, the City is only considering such increases be the lesser of the index or 4%. Accordingly, for the purposes of the public hearing all of the three (3) assessment program rates noticed above reflect and are proposed to be increased by 4% over those assessment rates adopted for FY 2023-24. The City Council has previously determined and individually noticed that maximum rates should 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, or similar successor index. to account for growth, inflation, the change in purchasing value of money, or similar purchasing or cost increase variables. 

The amount of net revenue the City expects to collect using the specific assessment rates described in this Notice, after accounting for statutory early payment discounts necessarily associated with the use of the uniform method of collection, commissions and fees charged by the County or its constitutional Tax Collector and Property Appraiser Offices (by law actual costs), and the City’s charge to defray associated program development, advertising, implementation and administrative costs ($5 per tax parcel for each assessment) for each of the three (3) programs, is estimated to be (1) $7,530,885 for the Fire Service Assessment, (2) $4,487,690 for the Stormwater Management Assessment, and (3) $977,857 for the Front Beach Road Community Redevelopment Area Assessment. For each specific assessment such revenues collected must be used exclusively to respectively fund the associated budget for each of these respective programs in our City.

Payment of the assessments will be due and collected as special assessments on the same bill as taxes to be mailed around November 1, 2024.  General law requires that affected property owners be reminded that: Until paid, each of the Fire Service Assessment, the Stormwater Management Assessment, and the Front Beach Road Community Redevelopment Area Assessment will constitute liens against assessed property equal in rank and dignity with the liens of all state, county, district, or municipal taxes and other non-ad valorem assessments. Assessments become delinquent in the same manner as for unpaid taxes, and failure to pay the upcoming assessment will cause a tax certificate to be issued against the property which may result in loss of title.

If you decide to appeal any decision made by the City Council with respect to any matter considered at or after the hearing, you will need a record of the proceedings and may need to ensure that a verbatim record is made, including the testimony and evidence upon which the appeal is to be made. This published Notice is compliant with the requirements of law, and at the same time shares and directs the reader to further overview or information.

PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES NEEDING ASSISTANCE TO PARTICIPATE IN THE HEARINGS SHOULD CONTACT THE CITY CLERK AT LEAST 48 HOURS IN ADVANCE OF THE MEETING AT (850) 233-5100.