The document discusses special assessment options for funding transportation projects. It provides examples of existing special assessment districts in Miami-Dade County that fund services like street lighting and security. It also summarizes past special assessment districts created to provide local funding matches for capital costs of the Metromover system expansions and a wave transit project in Fort Lauderdale. Potential revenue amounts from new special assessment districts focused on urban areas within SMART Plan corridors are estimated.

1. SMART Plan
Special Assessment Option
Fiscal Priorities Committee
June 4, 2018

2. Summary of Special Assessments
• Authorized and accessed by Local Governments
• Normally approved by local government board
for public purpose uses under “Home Rule
Authority”
• Public purpose must benefit those properties
being accessed
• Normally collected as part of the annual
property tax and then distributed for the
authorized uses

3. County Assessment Districts
• Miami-Dade County routinely approves special
assessment districts for public purposes based on
requests from entities like homeowner’s association
or developer (for new development projects).
• As of April 2018, there were 1070 special
assessment districts covering almost 390,000
properties for items such as:
 Street Lighting (majority of special assessment districts)
 Security Guard (20 districts)
 Multi-Purpose Maintenance (47 districts)
 Capital Improvements (2 districts)

4. Metromover Assessment District
• County Ordinance 86-44, created an Assessment
District for Metromover – Omni and Brickell
Extensions
• Designed to yield $23 million toward local share for
Metromover capital costs in 1986
• Total Project cost was $154 million at the time of the
Federal Grant Agreement in 1989 – Special
Assessment share at $23 million was 15% of the
project capital cost
• Funds advanced via bond financing backed by the
Assessment District

5. Metromover Assessment District
• Term of Assessment District was 15-Years
• Expected Assessment District annual revenue was
$3.8M to $4.4M per year
• Expected annual rate per square foot of property
being accessed was 18 cents to 20 cents
• City of Miami and the State made up the amount
above the Assessment District to reach 25% Local
Share to match 75% Federal Share

6. Metromover Assessment District
• Business Community expressed support for the
Special Assessment:
 Brickell Area Association (Brickell Extension)
 Biscayne Blvd Association (Omni Extension)
 Independent Feasibility Analysis Supports Economic
Benefit to the property owners of Metromover exceeds
the amount of the annual assessment

7. Wave Special Assessment
• Special Assessment in Downtown Fort Lauderdale to
support Wave Project
• Designed to achieve about $21 million for Wave
Project capital costs
• Financed advanced via Florida State Infrastructure
Bank Loan and cash
• Began in 2014 for a term of 25 years
• About 11% of the current Wave Project budget of
$195 million

8. Special Assessment Hybrid
• City of Orlando funded the “Gateway Interchange on
I-4” with a Hybrid Approach:
 Special Assessment was instituted for a select
“development” area around the new interchange
 Special Assessment reduced or eliminated by “tax
increment” (TIF) generated by the new development as
the property values increased (a portion of the
increment)
 Special Assessment was eliminated by the TIF in less than
five years after it was accessed
 Helps ensure debt can be issued timely

9. Special Assessment
• Must be developed and accessed by local
government
• Consider for highly urban areas – examples in
SMART Plan Corridors:
 Downtown segments of Beach Corridor
 Select urbanized segments of other Corridors – could be
station area focused
 Must have majority support of those being accessed to be
effective
 Normally for capital cost, but could be more flexible if
needed for Operations and Maintenance

10. Sample Amount for Assessments
• As an example the CITT study of 2016 shows 38.1
million of square feet for properties in a possible
Metromover expansion area for the area south of
Miami River, East of I-95 and north SW 15th Road
• Using a similar approach to prior Metrorail
Assessment District:
 10 cents per square foot - $3.81M per year
 15 cents per square foot - $5.72M per year
 20 cents per square foot - $7.62M per year

11. Sample Downtown Office Rents
(Loopnet.com 4/29/2018)
• Southeast Financial Center - $29 -$44/sq ft
• Wells Fargo Center - $43 - $48/sq ft
• 999 Brickell - $35 sq ft
• 800 Brickell - $39.50 - $42.50/sq ft
• 150 W. Flagler (Museum Tower) - $39/sq ft
• 111 SW 3rd (McCormick Place) - $21 - $37/ sq ft
• 1395 Brickell - $55 - $60/sq ft

12. www.miamidadetpo.org