Longboat residents soon to receive utility project fees

Longboat Key residents could receive a letter from the town within weeks about how much a project to put all the neighborhood overhead wires underground will cost, officials say.

About one in five of the letters sent will ask residents to pay $1,000 or less. Those assessments Financial Director Sue Smith said, would likely be paid  outright by many owners.

Smith said that could mean another $5.61 million that the town would not have to borrow to complete this project. The town has already collected $5.8 million in assessment prepayments for a project to put all Gulf of Mexico Drive overhead wires underground.

Residents also have the option to accept the assessment as an addendum to their property tax bills over 30 years.

And since the project was approved in two separate referendums — one for Gulf of Mexico Drive properties and the other for neighborhood properties — the funds for each project must be kept separate. That means two separate bonds to finance each project, Smith said.

“This is one of the most difficult projects I’ve ever seen, from an accounting prospective,” Smith said.

The town is proceeding with its efforts to hire contractors to bury the island’s overhead wires. Once those procurement documents are filed and a contractor is hired, the town hopes to begin construction by October.

Town officials said construction should not cause lane closures on Gulf of Mexico Drive. Construction could close lanes on neighborhood streets, officials said, but the town plans to work with residents to avoid adverse impacts.

The town estimates the project will be complete by July 2021.