Community Survey Fact Sheet #4

Adding Hillsmere Court to Hillsmere Shores and to the

Hillsmere Estates Special Community Benefit District

 

Introduction:

Hillsmere Court is the first street on the left as you enter our community (just behind the library).  There are six houses on the street.  Since they did not exist when Hillsmere Shores (Hillsmere Estates) was subdivided, they were not included in the legal description of our subdivision.  Since they are physically part of our community a case can be made to formally include them.  They are currently not permitted to join HSIA, get HSIA stickers, use our beach, join the Pool Association, get a slip in the marina, or use any community facilities.  The earliest this process could probably be completed is July 1, 2007.

 

Process:

The steps required to make Hillsmere Court part of our subdivision are as follows:

 

  1. The community association, HSIA, must formally endorse having them added to the Special Community Benefit District.

  2. All property owners in the current subdivision, plus the owners of the six properties in Hillsmere Court, must be given the opportunity to sign a petition requesting the change. 

  3. More than 50% of the property owners given the petition must sign approving the change.

  4. Once the required number of signatures have been validated, the Special Taxing District Coordinator prepares a request for legislation.  The County Executive sends the proposed legislation to the County Council for action.

  5. The County Council holds a hearing on the proposed legislation.  The legislation must be passed by the County Council and signed by the County Executive. 

Considerations:

  1. The six homes are physically located in our community.

  2. The six homes would share the Special Tax burden by having the Special Tax added to their real estate tax bill annually.

  3. HSIA would, potentially, get $60 per year in additional revenue from memberships plus additional revenue from ramp keys, etc.

 

  1. The property value of the six homes would likely immediately increase as they become part of a water-privileged community.

 

  1. There would be six additional families that could use our community facilities, such as the beach.  There would potentially be more people using the facilities.

Additional Note:

The Hillsmere Court residents would need to pay for any costs associated with their annexation.  The Hillsmere Court street is privately owned and maintained by the six homes.  The HSIA board would likely only approve Hillsmere Court joining the subdivision if the county took over the ownership of the road or the Hillsmere Court homes continued to be responsible for it’s maintenance.   If HSIA became responsible for road maintenance then this could be a significant financial burden.