The Hacienda Lakes Community Development District (“District”) was formed in 2012 by the Collier County Board of County Commissioners (Code of Ordinances: PDF | RTF). The District was formed to provide infrastructure and services to the Hacienda Lakes community. The District’s main powers are to plan, finance, construct, operate and maintain the community-wide infrastructure and services specifically for the benefit of its residents.

The District encompasses 391.06 acres within the Hacienda Lakes master planned community (District Map: PDF | RTF) located immediately east of the Collier Boulevard (County Road 951)/Rattlesnake Hammock Road intersection in Collier County, Florida.

The District is governed by a 5-member Board of Supervisors, which is elected initially by the landowners then ultimately by the residents of the District after initial residents begin living within the community. Like all municipal, county, state and national elections and once transition has taken place, the Collier County Office of the Supervisor of Elections oversees the vote.

The District Supervisors are subject to state ethics and financial disclosure laws. The District’s business is conducted in the Sunshine, which means all of the meetings and records are open to the public. Public hearings are held on District Assessments, and the District’s budget is subject to annual independent audit.

Residents within the District may expect to receive three major classes of benefits.

• First, the District provides landowners consistently high levels of public facilities and services managed and financed through self-imposed fees and assessments.

• Second, the District ensures that these community development facilities and services will be completed concurrently with other parts of the development.

• Third, landowners and electors in the District choose the Board of Supervisors and determines the type, quality and expense of District facilities and services.

Other savings are realized because a District benefits from the same laws and regulations that apply to other government entities. Just like cities and counties, the District is able to borrow money to finance its facilities at lower, tax-exempt interest rates. Many contracts for goods and services, such as annually negotiated maintenance contracts are subject to publicly advertised competitive bidding ensuring the lowest possible expenditure. The District also provides perpetual maintenance of the environmental conservation areas. This consistent and quality-controlled method of management helps protect the long term property values in a community.

The cost to operate a District is shared by those who benefit from its services. Property owners in the District are subject to a non-ad valorem assessment, which appears on their annual property tax bill from the county tax collector and may consist of two parts: (i) an annual assessment for operations and maintenance, which can fluctuate up and down from year to year based on the budget adopted for that fiscal year; and (ii) an annual capital assessment to repay bonds sold by the District to finance community infrastructure and facilities, which annual assessments are generally fixed for the term of the bonds.