WINTER SPRINGS, Fla. – An assessment fee fight in Winter Springs is growing contentious. Usually, when assessment fees spike, it’s at condo associations.
But this potential hike would double fees in one of the oldest and largest subdivisions in Seminole County: Tuscawilla.
A third of the people who live in Winter Springs live in Tuscawilla, nearly 4,600 families.
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It was first organized in 1969 and adorned with picture-perfect landscaping.
One of the most noticeable features, the cascading fountains and sprayers, mark the entrance to Tuscawilla at Tuskawilla Rd.
But they are aging, as is much of the landscaping infrastructure in the community.
The fountains were struck by lightning and called for costly repairs.
The street lights lining Winter Springs Blvd. are up for updating.
And the median, once meticulously manicured, could use some care.
But all of these things, of course, cost money to maintain - more so every year, according to the City of Winter Springs and the Tuscawilla Lighting and Beautification District (TLBD) Advisory Committee which oversees the maintenance.
The TLBD is requesting City Commissioners approve hiking homeowners’ fees to pay for the rising cost of maintenance.
“Nobody wants a fee increase,” a TLBD Advisory Committee member said at its most recent meeting. “I don’t want one, you don’t want one. But our community is really aging.”
People who live in Tuscawilla have been paying for the maintenance in their tax bill since 1999 with a yearly assessment.
Currently, the annual assessment cap is $128 per household, raised from $120 last year.
But before that the fee had not changed since 2009, when it was actually lowered to $120.
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Now, the TLBD is asking city commissioners to double the assessment cap to $255 per year.
Tuscawilla residents received notification of the proposed increase in their mailboxes over the past several weeks.
In a 130-page packet, the City explained the purpose of the proposed increase:
“Over the years, maintenance costs have increased beyond the maximum allowable rates, and the fund balance is depleting,” the packet reads. “Therefore, the city desires to increase the assessment to appropriately fund the ongoing maintenance and administrative costs.”
Landscaping, according to the city, makes up the majority of the maintenance budget, followed by upgrading the street lights.
And there are no reserves, according to the Advisory Committee.
“Our operating account is almost $300,000 in the hole,” an Advisory Committee member said. “That’s a lot of money.”
But after the notice showed in mailboxes, more than half a dozen posts showed up on Facebook, generating, collectively, hundreds of comments, most of them strongly opposing any fee increase.
The Winter Springs Community Association organized a petition, protesting the hike.
Even the Advisory Committee acknowledged the blowback at its most recent meeting.
“[The landscaping] year after year, it just looks bad,” an Advisory Committee member said.“People are thinking what am I paying into at all? But we sure have some fountain situation going on here. And I can’t tell you how many people have said screw the fountains. Nobody cares about them anymore, just be done with them, because everything is going into the fountains.”
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Winter Springs Mayor Kevin McCann acknowledged the tension.
“Thank you all for everything you’re doing, I know it’s frustrating,” McCann told the Advisory Committee. “This is going to get a lot heavier.”
McCann said when he was asked to speak about the proposed assessment increase at a recent Homeowners’ Association Meeting, organizers requested the presence of police.
The Winter Springs City Commission is expected to discuss and then vote on the proposed fee hike Tuesday beginning at 5:30pm at City Hall at a special meeting.
You can watch the meeting here.