Commissioners decided not to take action. They will bring the matter back for discussion at their next board meeting.

County Attorney Anne Baste Brown said the board should notify their consultants in Nabors Giblin and Nickerson if they want changes to the special assessment collections. The law firm has developed all of the county’s special assessments.

The problem is that RV parks and resorts are allowed to report the number of vacancies without anyone from the county verifying the accuracy of the information. The county doesn’t collect a special assessment if an RV lot is reported as being vacant. Brown believes solid waste and emergency medical services special assessments are collected from RV businesses, but she wasn’t sure about fire assessments.

Special assessments are flat fees collected on property for the purpose of funding certain government functions. The special assessment for solid waste pays for some of the landfill operations; the special assessment for EMS pays for the ambulance service; the fire special assessment pays for fire protection services in the unincorporated areas of the county.

Commission Chairman John Meeks brought the issue to the board. He said he feels the board is doing a good job overall trying to be equitable, but he said there appears to be a problem.

“I see this is a loophole we developed,” Meeks said.
The commission chairman said the method for RV parks and resorts to report their vacancies may appear to be based strictly on an honor system, but he said there is a way to audit the books.

It’s unclear at this point how much money the county may have lost by not having a more reliable way of determining how many vacancies occurred in RV businesses.

Levy Board of County Commission Regular Meeting May 22, 2018
Posted May 24, 2018