If you do not know, there are many houses in Pinecrest that exclusively utilize well water, not city water, because the infrastructure to bring county water to these 742 homes was never put in place. What I learned by visiting PinecrestWaterVote.com is that there is a special ballot being mailed out to Pinecrest residents so that they can vote on whether they will shoulder a special ad valorem tax to pay for the necessary Miami-Dade County Water and Sewer lines. Ballots go out on March 6th and voters have until March 26th to return them.
No one wants to pay more taxes, and these have a millage rate of 0.23, meaning that home owners would pay an additional $0.23 per $1,000 of their home’s assessed value annually to pay for this every year for 20 years. The site claims that the median assessed value of a Pinecrest home is $687,200, and a payment on a house with that value would be $158 per year for 20 years. That does not seem like a huge amount in the grand scheme of things, but every penny does count, so I am sure that there will be some heated debates about this topic!
If the vote passes, then residents who are not currently connected to water mains will be required to connect within 10 years of the project’s completion or within 90 days of the sale of their home. Connection is estimated to cost “approximately $2,500 to $5,000 (but may be more depending on the site conditions) for a plumber and Miami-Dade County Water and Sewer Department water meter and impact fee, plus a Village permit fee of $151,” according to the website.
So you know, water mains that are already in place were built in two phases and were paid for with grant money, so this is not a “double dip” situation where residents have been taxed for this infrastructure and are now being taxed again.
What do you think about the proposed ad valorem tax? You do not have to tell me how you are voting, but I would love to hear Pinecrest residents’ opinions on this matter.
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