This item is before the City Council to solicit public comment on the street lighting assessment fee levied against all developed property in the City and to adopt Resolution No. 2016-28, which approves the assessment and allows for certification to Pasco County.

In September 2003, the City Council adopted an ordinance establishing a Street Lighting Assessment in the City of New Port Richey. The ordinance created a means of recovering costs incurred by the City in providing street lighting services to properties in the City. These fees are collected each year as non-ad valorem assessments to the property owners, under the provisions of Chapter 197, Florida Statutes. These fees are chargeable to the property owner, regardless of whether or not a property is tenant occupied.

The City has found that the use of a non-ad valorem assessment is the most equitable method of providing the necessary funding for providing street lighting services within the City. Each year the City must certify its street light non-ad valorem assessment roll with Pasco County. As part of that process, parcel owners who did not pay a street light non-ad valorem assessment in the previous year, or whose street light non-ad valorem assessment changed from the previous year, are given an opportunity to make public comment and address the City Council concerning the street light non-ad valorem assessment.

Property owners who have been added to the non-ad valorem assessment roll or whose assessments have changed since last year were noticed by mail on August 3, 2016. Those property owners have been advised of the Public Hearing being held this evening, September 20, 2016.

Examples of properties or parcels which may have been added or changed since last year:

• Properties annexed into the City of New Port Richey
• Properties whose ERUs (Equivalent Residential Unit) changed (went up or down) due to corrections to the building(s) square footage or classification change
• Properties which were added to the roll because of new construction on the parcel
• Properties which were missed last year and now corrected

The billing of the street lighting assessment fee is administered by Pasco County and can be seen as a line item in the non-ad valorem portion of the County tax bill. All property owners receive notice of their non-ad valorem assessments on their Notice of Proposed Property Taxes (TRIM Notice).

The street lighting fee is established by City ordinance; the dollar amount of the street lighting fee schedule has not changed from last year ($36.24 per ERU or Equivalent Residential Unit).