What is a “NON-AD VALOREM Assessment”? 

A Non-Ad Valorem Assessment is “a legal financing mechanism or method wherein the County establishes a special district to allow a group of citizens to fund a desired improvement, such as utilities or roads, by majority consensus (51%) of the approval of the property owners contained in the assessment area”.  The assessment boundary is determined by those properties that will derive a benefit from the improvements.  This boundary by definition is called the “benefit unit”.

 This process allows the property owner to finance the amount of the assessment over a period of time, generally ten (10) to fifteen (15) years depending on the project cost and type of improvements.  The assessment will appear annually on the property tax bill as a non-ad valorem assessment.

 NON-AD VALOREM Process 

The steps in bringing a project to fruition is very time consuming. Petition validation, engineering design, permitting, land acquisition, construction, bond validation, financing and the Non-Ad Valorem "legal process" will usually take about two years.  The conception of the Non-Ad Valorem Program began approximately seventeen years ago

This is an assessment district project, wherein, you as the property owner will be assessed and asked to pay for a fair share of the project costs, which include:  Construction Costs, Engineering and Design Costs, Surveying Costs and Administrative and Financing Fees associated with the Non-Ad Valorem Assessment.

 Method of Assessment

The cost of the improvements would be distributed among each property owner, based on the method of assessment derived for the project.

 The most common method of assessment for paving and drainage improvements is based upon a per lot basis.  However, because each project is unique, methods may vary with each individual project.

 Method of Financing

YOU HAVE THE OPTION TO …

Finance through the County or

Pre-pay the assessment within thirty (30) days of the final public hearing, and avoid the finance and interest charges.

 If you elect to finance through the County:

1)      Project would be financed over a ten (10) or fifteen (15) year period to make the payments more affordable.

2)      Payments are made annually – added to your property tax bill, and shown as a special assessment.

3)      This assessment is treated in the same manner as your tax bill.  If you do not pay your property taxes, the Tax Collector files a tax lien and a tax certificate is sold to pay the taxes on your property.

4)      Assessment runs with the property, not the property owner, therefore the assessment would NOT have to be paid off if you sell your property.