Supervisors beef up budget

Future roadway and irrigation line repairs will be a financial focus for residents of Heritage Harbour heading into 2018.

Supervisors on the Heritage Harbour South Community Development District, comprised of the Lighthouse Cove and Stoneybrook neighborhoods, plan to bulk up reserves, money set aside to cover costs for future roadway and irrigation line repairs or other costs, in the 2017-2018 fiscal year

budget. 

Supervisors set the operating budget at $461,682 in May, at which time they added in $50,000 for reserves based on findings from a reserve study conducted by Florida Reserve Study and Appraisal, Inc. for the district. 

“The study shows the CDD has a budget deficit for roads and irrigation,” Supervisor George Mosinskis said. “These two are prone to failure. What this means is that we can’t ignore roads or the accumulation of reserves for the roads.”

Homeowners will see an average increase of $36 per year per household for what otherwise would have been a flat budget compared with fiscal year 2016-2017.

Assuming the budget remains flat in future years, the increase will be a one-time event, although the $50,000 will be allocated for reserves each year going forward. 

At that rate, it will take nine years to reach 50% of reserve levels recommended by the consultant for roads and irrigation infrastructure.

“We are currently funded at about 32% of what is fully needed,” Mosinskis said. 

Supervisor Michelle Patterson noted reserves were depleted from 2011 through mid-2013 due to litigation, when Lighthouse Cove at Heritage Harbour and Stoneybrook Investors, owner of the Stoneybrook Golf Club, challenged the new methodology the CDD used to calculate property assessments.

“We would have had plenty,” she said. “Our reserves are depleted.”

District Manager Greg Cox said, in his experience, generally reserve studies generally not precise, but they provide justification to residents for proposed increases in assessments. 

Supervisors will formally adopt the budget in August.