Charlotte ready to raise fees for taxing districts

CHARLOTTE COUNTY -- Depending on where they live, Charlotte residents will face a tax hike of as little as $5 or as much as $1,228 next year to pay for road, sewer and canal upgrades.

The county proposes to raise fees in 36 of its Municipal Services Benefit Units, special taxing districts that pay for local utility, street and canal projects.

The tax hikes add up to a more than $6,000 increase to the districts' annual fees.

Increases range from $5 in Harbor Heights to a whopping $1,228 in the Charlotte Ranchettes.

The extra money is needed to bring growing, remote areas of Charlotte up to service standards, said Public Works Director Tom O'Kane.

But staffers admitted at a meeting Wednesday that they expect the public to be upset with the new fees.

"It's an albatross around the county's neck," said Linda Free, fiscal supervisor.

Residents recently have questioned the usefulness of the special taxing districts, which are designed so people pay to upgrade only the roads and pipelines where they live.

The system prevents residents in the south from paying for new roads in the north.

But it also requires the county to levy massive tax increases every time residents want new roads or street lights.

The County Commission took heat last year for a proposal to raise fees in the Edgewater Drive area by $500 a year.

Outraged residents complained the fee would tax them out of their homes.

More recently, residents in Deep Creek and Tropical Gulf Acres expressed similar concerns about their $383 and $450 annual fee increases respectively.

The anger simmering in the community led county staffers to start a public relations effort to improve communications with residents about the reason for the tax hikes and how the money is spent.