Residents angered at $4,500 a year assessments kill Hogpen Creek special district
David Bauerlein
If nothing is certain but death and taxes, that adage didn't apply to the Hogpen Creek special district wiped out Tuesday by Jacksonville City Council.
City Council member Rory Diamond introduced legislation in 2023 that council approved creating the special district. He then filed legislation killing the district and council this week approved that as well.
Here's how the unusual turn of events will affect more than 100 property owners in the boundaries of the district and what the impact might be for all taxpayers if the city were to step in and dredge Hogpen Creek.
Jacksonville created district to dredge Hogpen Creek for boaters
Residents in neighborhoods along the creek between San Pablo Road and the Intracoastal Waterway told council members in 2023 they wanted to tax themselves so they could pay for dredging the creek flanked by boat docks along its shoreline.
Council unanimously approved creation of the Hogpen Creek Dependent Special District, overseen by a seven-member board, with the power to levy annual assessments on 111 property-owners at $4,500 per year. The district's board could increase the assessment by up to $200 per year to a cap as high as $7,500 to pay for debt for dredging.
The assessments technically are not taxes but they function in the same way because a property owner who doesn't pay them faces penalties up to foreclosure.
Homeowners feared being taxed out of their homes
When tax bills arrived with the mandatory $4,500 assessment on it, property-owners who don't support the district reacted angrily.
Diamond, who was on excused leave from his City Council duties for much of 2023 because of a military deployment, said the amount of opposition came as a surprise. He said he and City Council members had been told last year there was wide support for the assessment, but many property owners weren't aware at the time about the financial impact of the assessments.
"Fast forward and neighbors still don't know what's going on until all of a sudden they're getting notices that there's a $4,500 special assessment in order to do a dredge," Diamond said.
He said for some homeowners on fixed incomes, the amount of the special assessment, which would have lasted 15 years, is higher than their regular property taxes. "People are worried about losing their homes," he said.
Dissolving district eliminates assessment
City Council's unanimous support Tuesday for abolishing the district will remove the assessment from the tax bills so property owners no longer must pay it.
The district will wind down by paying off any of its financial obligations. The city will have no financial liability.
Diamond said he met with dozens of property owners to see if there was a "middle ground" for changing the boundaries of the district. "I don't think there's a middle ground right now," he said.
How dredge would be financed in future is unclear
The special district had been planning to borrow $4 million and use most of it to pay for maintenance and dredging, according to its first-year budget that council approved in May.
Diamond said he will come back later to City Council and ask it to approve spending city money on the dredging.
Mayor Donna Deegan's administration doesn't support using city dollars for the creek dredging.
"I want to make it very clear that we have not agreed and we do not plan to agree to provide any city resources to dredge the creek in the future," said Scott Wilson, the mayor's liaison to council. "So I want to make sure the residents understand that and I want to make sure City Council understands where the administration stands on the question."
City Council still could agree to use city money even if Deegan doesn't favor it. Diamond said property-owners along Hogpen Creek also can go back to the drawing board and see if there is another way to raise money for the dredging.