Owners at Avenir might see $1,800 added to tax bills
Residential-commercial project plans district to fund infrastructure.
PALM BEACH GARDENS — Homeowners in Avenir, a 3,250-home community being built off Northlake Boulevard, will likely pay roughly $1,800 in fees on top of their regular property taxes.
The question: Will it be financially beneficial in the long run?
The developers say there’s an initial savings and a long-term benefit to having professionally managed infrastructure. They’ve asked Palm Beach Gardens to approve a special taxing district to pay for roads, drainage, water distribution, recreation, common-area landscaping and conservation.
I f a pp rove d , h o meowners would be required to pay an as yet undetermined annual fee in addition to standard property taxes. The average homeowner would pay about $1,800 a year, according to early estimates. Commercial property owners would pay by the square foot.
A communit y development district would allow the developer to issue tax-exempt bonds to build and maintain infrastructure for Avenir, which also includes roughly 2 million square feet of commercial space.
S u c h a d i s t r i c t w i l l a l l o w “growth to pay for itself,” said Ken Tuma, a planner for Avenir and principal of Urban Design Kilday Studios.
“It is a financing tool and also a maintenance tool,” he said.
Florida law requires each contract for the initial sale of residential property in the district to contain a statement disclosing the fees in bold, conspicuous type immediately before the signature line.
The developers pay the fees until the homeowner takes over,