Murdock Village Redevelopment Initiative

6. What tools will the County employ in the redevelopment process for Murdock Village?

The Murdock Village redevelopment initiative involves several innovative tools in its implementation:

•  Community Redevelopment Agency : The County has created the Murdock Village Community Redevelopment Agency and the Murdock Village Community Redevelopment Area to use many of the statutory tools available to local governments in Florida for redevelopment purposes [Click here to learn more about the Murdock Village Community Redevelopment Agency.]

•  Redevelopment Partner : The County has sought creative talent and energy of willing and capable redevelopment partners. [Click here to learn more about the process the County is using to attract redevelopment partners.] Involvement of a redevelopment partner comports with the dictates of Florida law that a community redevelopment initiative of this nature attempt to afford maximum opportunities, consistent with the sound needs of the community as a whole, for the redevelopment of any redevelopment area by private enterprise.

•  A Competitive Request for Proposals : The County has worked to create a competitive process in which qualified and willing redevelopment partners, or development teams, can demonstrate their qualifications and compete to provide the County with focused and detailed proposals relating to redevelopment and the acquisition and disposition of the real property involved. [Click here to learn more about the County's request for proposals process.] To date, the County has received statements of interest from several potential redevelopment partners or development teams. On February 24, 2004 the County Commission confirmed that all proposals from qualified development teams are encouraged and that equal consideration will be given to all proposals received. [Click here to view the required qualifications.] As well, the County Commission has provided that proposers may also seek to be pre-qualified before submitting a response to the request for proposals. [Click here to view a list of firms or development teams that have already been pre-qualified].

•  Determining Vested Land Use Entitlements : Because of the excessive platting over the last several decades, much of the area could be incrementally developed without regard to modern growth management or planning regulations. The County has applied to the Department of Community Affairs for a Binding Letter of Vested Rights which will set the parameters of what development is vested from a development of regional impact review. This will provide certainty and confidence for the community and any redevelopment partners as to how the area is viewed by State regulations. A specific response is expected shortly. Once the final uses and development totals for the Murdock Village Community Redevelopment Area are established through the selection of a redevelopment partner in the request for proposals process, appropriate changes to the vested rights can be approved through the submission of application for modification of the Binding Letter of Vested Rights. It is anticipated that the future plan for the Murdock Village Community Redevelopment Area will create fewer impacts than the original "Port Charlotte Subdivision" plats and, therefore, the redevelopment proposals resulting from the request for proposal process will not be subject to development of regional impact review. [Click here to view current correspondence and response from Department of Community Affairs.]

•  Acquisition of Lands Within the Community Redevelopment Area: Because of the inability of the private marketplace to cure the ills of excessive platting decades later, one of the significant tools in any redevelopment initiative is the power of the local government to assemble the property for redevelopment. The County is committed to acquiring the entire Murdock Village Community Redevelopment Area for redevelopment purposes. This commitment to acquire property involves both voluntary acquisitions and, as required, the use of the power of eminent domain (sometimes referred to as condemnation powers). While it is painful for families and businesses to relocate, the County is committed to being professional, fair and courteous to all affected property owners. [Click here to learn more about the power of eminent domain for redevelopment purposes.]

The County has embarked upon acquiring the Murdock Village Community Redevelopment Area concurrently with the request for proposal process to solicit willing and capable redevelopment partners. [Click here to learn more about the County's acquisition strategy and progress to date.]

•  Redevelopment Financing Tools : The County anticipates using several potential redevelopment financing tools to recover its investment in redevelopment within the Murdock Village Community Redevelopment Area:

Purchase Price Paid By Redevelopment Partner . The County expects that a portion, but most likely not all, of the cost to acquire lands within the Murdock Village Community Redevelopment Area for redevelopment purposes will be recovered through the purchase price to be offered by a redevelopment partner as a result of the request for proposal process. [Click here to learn more about the request for proposal process.] The purchase price will be paid in cash as a result of a Redevelopment Agreement to be negotiated with the redevelopment partner providing the most attractive response to the County's request for proposals.

Tax Increment Financing . Tax increment financing allows the County to commit substantially all, or a portion, of the increased tax revenue resulting from the Murdock Village redevelopment initiative to the Murdock Village Community Redevelopment Area. Tax increment financing essentially involves establishing a base year for valuation purposes and then in each succeeding year determining the difference between the tax revenues in the base year and the additional tax revenues resulting in each subsequent year as a result of increased assessed values resulting from redevelopment. [Click here to view an estimate of tax increment revenues which might be derived from the Murdock Village redevelopment Initiative.] This redevelopment financing tool will not affect the local school boards tax revenues or taxes of any other taxing authority other than the county.

Whether the County releases all of the tax increment revenues back to the Murdock Village Community Redevelopment Area, or some lesser portion, is expected to be a function of the purchase price offered by the successful proposer in the County's request for proposal process. To date, the County has reserved the right to commit less than all of the tax increment revenues to the redevelopment area. Future incremental tax revenues from the Murdock Village Community Redevelopment Area not committed for redevelopment purposes would go into the County's general fund and could provide a means to repay the County for its investment in the community redevelopment initiative.

Because a certain amount of tax increment revenue is expected to be expended by the County within the redevelopment area, the County Commission on February 24, 2004 made a policy determination to commit a minimum contribution of $15 million in tax increment revenues to the Murdock Village redevelopment initiative. These dollars would not be delivered directly to any selected developer, but rather would represent the County's minimum share in paying for capital projects and associated expenditures within the redevelopment area (e.g. water, sewer, drainage, etc.). This does not prevent the County from committing additional tax increment revenues derived from the redevelopment area; it only sets a minimum to be relied upon by potential proposers in preparing their proposal and purchase price offers.

County staff and advisors have suggested that such a minimum commitment be clearly communicated to provide confidence to the proposers in the process. This amount represents future tax increment revenues derived solely from the Murdock Village Community Redevelopment Area and constitutes roughly about 30% of the projected tax increment revenue expected to come from the Murdock Village Community Redevelopment Area over a thirty (30) year period. The specifics of this general commitment will be further memorialized and negotiated in a Redevelopment Agreement to be negotiated with the successful proposer. [Click here to learn more about the anticipated Redevelopment Agreement.]

Community Development District : A community development district is a local unit of special purpose government used by both the private and public sectors to deliver, finance and manage basic services and infrastructure for community development. Community development districts are independent special districts established pursuant to general law provisions in Chapter 190, Florida Statutes. The County is prepared to favorably receive a petition from its redevelopment partner to create and establish a community development district and expects to enter into one or more interlocal agreements which provide for the delivery of infrastructure and essential services by a community development district to be located wholly within the Murdock Village Community Redevelopment Area. The County reserves the right to retain substantial control of this process in exchange for the contribution and financial support (e.g. providing tax increment revenues) in underwriting a portion of the infrastructure involved. By "substantial control" the County means that it maintains an expectation that any community development district would be accountable to the expenditure of tax increment revenues and assessments in the redevelopment area; any selected proposer should be prepared, for example, to document such accountability through the Redevelopment Agreement and one or more interlocal agreements with the County, the County's redevelopment agency, and the independent redevelopment district.

It is quite possible that all of the infrastructure to be financed and delivered would be actually constructed by the community development district. Community development districts are subject to all applicable government in the sunshine and open record laws for governments in Florida . Bonds issued by community development districts are typically repaid through assessments imposed on the landowners and, to a lesser extent, revenue sharing arrangements through interlocal agreements with local governments and their community redevelopment agencies.

Educational Facilities Benefit District : The County's request for proposals assumes that the selected developer will provide budgets and proposals which contemplate, among other things, the dedication of a school site (estimated not more than 20 acres), depending on the demographics and needs, for a middle school or elementary school. In order to avoid the circumstance where a school site is dedicated, but a school is not developed concurrently with the Murdock Village redevelopment initiative, proposers have been encouraged to consider the use of educational facilities benefit districts.

Educational facilities benefit districts are created pursuant to Chapter 1013, Florida Statutes, specifically Sections 1013.355 and 1013.356, with the stated purpose of authorizing public cooperation amongst district school boards, affected local general purpose governments, and benefited private development interests in order to implement financing for timely construction and maintenance of school facilities. The intent of such statutory authorization is to provide efficient alternative mechanisms and incentives to allow the sharing of costs of educational facilities necessary to accommodate new growth among district school boards, affected local general purpose governments and benefited private development interests.

With the concurrence of the local school board, the County will consider establishing an educational facility benefit district to assist in the construction and delivery of an elementary or middle school within the redevelopment area, the presence of which is expected to help to achieve a family oriented environment in Murdock Village . Essentially, an educational facilities benefit district possesses a statutory authorization to impose non-ad valorem assessments for school facilities upon residential properties within such a district. Such assessments provide real and substantial benefits to the residential lands involved by advancing timely construction of educational facilities, taking advantage of efficient alternative mechanisms to accelerate the relief of burdens and demands on the Charlotte County public school system created by the new growth and development, and assuring the opportunity for students residing in Murdock Village to attend a school located within the redevelopment area. Whether or not such a financing mechanism is used is absolutely within the discretion of a local school board.

Municipal Service Taxing Unit : In addition to all other financing mechanisms, the County may also consider establishing a municipal services taxing unit authorized by Chapter 125, Florida Statutes. A municipal service taxing unit is purely a mechanism by which a county can fund a particular service through the levy of ad valorem taxes, not countywide, but only within the redevelopment area. In the nature of a tax equity tool, a municipal service taxing unit can limit the taxes imposed to just the redevelopment area. A municipal service taxing unit could be used to segregate additional ad valorem taxes levied only within the redevelopment area to ensure that funds derived from such additional levy are used to provide a myriad of essential services and capital facilities to Murdock Village . Again, a mechanism to assure that the county's investment in the redevelopment area is ultimately repaid from taxes and assessments paid by landowners within the Murdock Village Community Redevelopment Area.

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Web Site of the Charlotte County Board of County Commissioners
Administrative Complex * 18500 Murdock Circle * Port Charlotte, Florida 33948 * 941.743.1200