Santa Rosa County Municipal Services Benefit Unit (MSBU)
Program Policies 

Cost Definition:          

Road Paving:               
Cost of road materials only. (Applies to County maintained dirt roads only)

Street Lighting: 
Full cost of poles, lights & monthly maintenance.

All other MSBUs:
Full cost of project.

History:
In the past, the methodology for determining how much an individual property owner was going to pay as their fair share of paving their road or to have street lighting installed under the Municipal Service Benefit Unit (MSBU) program created shortages in actual revenue.  On paving requests, the cost was spread over each property by the amount of front footage they had on their property.  For street lighting requests, the cost of installation of poles, lights and the monthly maintenance fee was spread over each property owner equally.  What wasn’t considered was the fact a four (4) percent discount is realized by property owners who pay their taxes and special assessments in November and the two (2) percent administrative fee the Tax Collector assesses on all MSBU revenues.  Additionally, there is a first year audit charge of five hundred dollars for each new MSBU involving sewer installations which was being paid by the County.

Policy for Cost Allocation Methodology:

The following formula recognizes these additional costs that must be factored into the individual assessments on all MSBUs. Cost divided by 0.96 x 1.02 = Final Cost

Example:

Paving Request:

  • Road and Bridge estimate: $16,270.00
  • Number of Lots: 22
  • Total cost per lot: $739.55 (before county fees added)
  • $16,270 divided by .96=$16,947.91 - Recognizes 4% discount
  • $16,947.91 divided by .98=$17,293.79 Recognizes 2% fee to Tax Collector
  • $17,293.09 divided by 22 lots=$786.09 - Total cost identified to each property owner
  • $786.09 divided by 3 years=$292.03 - Yearly assessment amount

This formula will be used in determining final cost for road paving, street lighting, canal maintenance and neighborhood improvement projects.  It should be noted that if a bank loan is required to fund a particular project, the interest on that loan must be figured into the final cost to the property owners.