§ 94-16. Payment of assessment.

(a)

Assessments made hereunder shall become due and payable to the board of county commissioners 33 calendar days after the date of the initial billing following the completion of the improvements for the property benefited by the special assessment project as set forth in this paragraph (a), unless an alternative collection method is adopted by the board pursuant to paragraph (c) below. All assessments due under this section not paid within such period shall thereupon become payable in equal annual installments in each of the ten succeeding years with interest not to exceed that authorized by law from the expiration of such 33 days, payable annually, unless the commission shall fix a shorter or longer period of time for the payment of annual installments or a lower rate of annual interest; but any assessment becoming so payable may be paid in full at any time, together with interest accrued thereon to the date of the payment. At a minimum of at least once a year, the board shall have the discretion to adopt by resolution an interest rate applicable to special assessment projects.

(b)

The board of county commissioners is authorized by resolution, in its discretion, to reduce interest rates or waive interest otherwise payable on special assessments pursuant to paragraph (a) of this section, or otherwise to extend, up to a maximum of 20 years, the time for payment of special assessments in installments, with respect to owners of assessed property whose income meets or falls below the low-income or very low-income thresholds established by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in effect at the time the final assessment roll is adopted. At a minimum of at least once a year, the board, by resolution may adjust rates of interest to a rate not to exceed that which would otherwise have been imposed under paragraph (a) of this section at the time of adoption of the final roll, may impose or re-impose interest, or may alter the time for payment to a period not to exceed that which would have otherwise been imposed under paragraph (a) of this section, in the event the board determines the income of the owner has increased above the applicable threshold, or if the ownership of the property has changed.

(c)

The board of county commissioners may also elect to collect any assessments due as a result of the board's adoption of a final assessment roll for a special assessment project by such alternative methods as may be defined by resolution of the board adopted at a public hearing. Such alternative methods may include collection of such assessments subject to the uniform method of collection for non-ad valorem assessments as set forth in F.S. ch. 197, including adoption of an initial annual non-ad valorem assessment roll for an assessment project at a public hearing between June 1 and September 15 of each year, placement of the assessment on the tax bills for the specially benefitted properties, the adoption of non-ad valorem discounts for early payment, prepayment by installment method, deferred payment, penalty for delinquent payment, and issuance of sales tax certificates and tax deeds for nonpayment, as provided by law. If such alternative collection method under F.S. ch. 197 is selected, the assessment may become a lien against homesteads, as well as other property, as provided in Section 4, Article X, Florida Constitution.

(Ord. No. 97-08, § XV, 6-10-97; Ord. No. 02-17, § 1, 7-30-02; Ord. No. 06-34, § 1, 10-24-06; Ord. No. 13-24, § 4, 11-5-13)