FloridaHB 40612026HouseWALLET

Hillsborough County

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Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

25 provisions identified: 13 benefits, 3 costs, 9 mixed.

District Can Take Private Property

The district can use the property-taking powers available to Florida counties for district purposes. It cannot take municipal, county, state, or federal property. Taking property outside district borders requires prior approval by resolution from the county or city where the property lies.

District Owners Face Taxes And Assessments

The district can levy authorized assessments and user charges; maintenance taxes require separate authority under general law. Property taxes require all five supervisors to be qualified district voters elected by district voters, plus majority referendum approval at a general election. Operating property taxes are capped at 3 mills: $300 yearly per $100,000 of taxable value. Bond debt payments fall outside that cap. Special assessments can run for up to 40 years, with fixed or variable interest and possible prepayment discounts. Taxes and assessments become liens; county-collected special assessments are enforceable like county taxes. Actual household charges depend on district decisions, and initial buyers must receive a bold warning about additional district taxes and assessments.

District project bonds can raise taxes

The district can issue general obligation bonds to fund capital projects or refinance debt. Except for refunding bonds, issuance requires voter approval at an election meeting Florida Constitution requirements. Outstanding principal is generally capped at 75% of the assessed value of taxable district property. Bonds also backed by sufficient confirmed assessments, water or sewer user fees, or both are excluded from that cap. Subject to the law's taxing-authority prerequisites, the district can tax all taxable property without a rate or amount limit to repay these bonds.

District buyers get clearer cost notices

Initial-sale contracts for district parcels and homes must carry a bold notice immediately before the buyer's signature space. It warns that district taxes and assessments can come on top of other government charges. The district must disclose financing and maintenance information to current and prospective residents, supply copies to developers, and record required documents and updates. Developers must include the disclosure in public offering statements when general law requires those statements. The district must maintain an official website by the end of its first full fiscal year.

District bond investors gain legal protections

Each district bond issue must have a trust agreement or resolution with one or more corporate trustees to secure it. Florida pledges not to impair bondholders' rights or the district's listed project and revenue-collection powers. To the extent general law allows, district bonds, bond interest, and project revenues are exempt from Florida and local taxes. Bond interest, income, and profits remain subject to Florida chapter 220 tax; the district still owes chapter 212 sales tax. The pledge does not make district debt a state debt or require local governments to assume it.

District voters must approve property taxes

The district cannot use its property-value tax authority until all board members are eligible district voters elected by district voters. A majority of qualified district voters must also approve the levy in a referendum during a general election. Once authorized, the operating tax rate cannot exceed 3.000 mills, or $3 per $1,000 of taxable property value. That operating limit does not cap taxes used to repay general obligation bonds.

District Can Add Patrols And Pest Control

The district can provide security systems and patrol cars when the proper government agencies authorize them. It can contract with local governments for added services inside district borders. It can also control mosquitoes and other pests important to public health. The law sets no required service level, coverage, or funding amount.

District Can Build Parks And Libraries

The district can provide parks and indoor or outdoor recreation, cultural, and educational facilities. It can also provide libraries, public offices, substations, and other facilities counties or cities can provide. District offices, maintenance buildings, meeting spaces, and town centers are authorized. The law does not require a particular building or set facility fees.

District Can Fund Cleanup And Renewables

The district can fund investigations and cleanup of actual or suspected contamination under government supervision. It cannot cover costs benefiting a district landowner who caused or contributed to the contamination. It can create wetlands and wildlife habitat and support renewable energy, recycling, lower energy demand, and low-impact development. Partnerships and needed easements are allowed. The district cannot sell electricity directly to retail customers or impair utility franchise agreements.

District Can Provide Utilities And Transportation

The district can build and operate water, sewer, wastewater, reclaimed-water, reuse, and irrigation systems. It can also provide waste collection and disposal. Transportation authority covers roads, bridges, crossings, lighting, buses, trolleys, rail access, transit shelters, ridesharing, and parking. Roads must meet or exceed county standards, and transportation projects must follow applicable laws. These powers do not require particular projects or set household rates.

District Can Support Clinics And Colleges

The district can provide health care facilities through public-private partnerships and related agreements. The board can also approve interlocal agreements with public or private entities to provide higher education institutions. The law does not guarantee a facility, health coverage, enrollment, or tuition help.

Public Budget Hearings And Independent Audits

A Florida-resident treasurer holds district funds, and payments need board approval and required signatures. An independent certified public accountant must audit financial records under state law. The manager submits the next year's budget by July 15; the board holds a public hearing and adopts it before October 1. Hillsborough County receives the proposal at least 60 days before adoption and an annual public facilities report. Hearing notices run once weekly for two consecutive weeks, starting at least 15 days before the hearing.

New Hillsborough district keeps county zoning

The law creates the Land Reserve Stewardship District within Hillsborough County to provide public infrastructure and services. Its listed parcels cover about 3,707 acres. The district cannot control comprehensive planning, zoning, or development permits. Hillsborough County's land-use and permitting rules still apply.

District can provide local school buildings

The district can provide school buildings and related structures for educational use. It can lease, sell, or donate them to the school district when the school board authorizes that use. The law does not require construction or set a funding amount.

District Can Build Communications Infrastructure

The district can build and operate communications infrastructure through partnerships and needed easements. It can contract with providers for resale purposes. It cannot directly serve retail customers or impair existing provider franchise agreements. The law guarantees neither retail service nor lower household prices.

District can transfer development fee credits

The district can make impact-fee, mobility-fee, and similar credit agreements with Hillsborough County, other governments, or landowner-developers. It can sell or transfer those credits on terms it sets. The law does not set credit values or guarantee lower fees or housing prices for households.

District landowners face possible maintenance taxes

The district may levy an annual maintenance tax on each tract or parcel when general law authorizes it. This tax is not based on property value or a millage rate. It can pay for facility upkeep, repairs, restoration, and current district expenses. Charges can begin after the board's engineer certifies that related facilities or improvements are partly or fully complete. The law sets no charge amount.

Public District Facilities Can Charge Fees

District-owned property and infrastructure are public, as are facilities funded with district-issued federal tax-exempt bonds. The district can regulate use and charge reasonable fees. Its rules and fees cannot deny reasonable access. The law sets no fee amounts.

Residents Gradually Gain District Board Votes

The five-member board has four-year terms, with elections every two years. Landowners hold the first election within 90 days after the law takes effect. They get one vote per acre, rounding each fractional acre up, and may vote by written proxy. Qualified district voters elect 1, 2, 3, 4, then all 5 seats at counts of 14,000, 21,000, 28,000, 35,000, and 40,000. These seats shift at the first November general election after each threshold; elections are districtwide and nonpartisan. All supervisors must be U.S. citizens and Florida residents; voter-elected members must live in the district. The board determines voter counts by June 1, using April 15 counts. Initially, three top vote-getters serve until November 26, 2030, and two others until November 28, 2028.

District can enforce homeowners' deed restrictions

The district can adopt rules to enforce qualifying deed restrictions on property appearance or use. Restrictions must meet the board's stated community-benefit criteria or match a development order or agency permit. Enforcement generally requires that no homeowners' or property owners' association already has enforcement power. A member-controlled homeowners' association can instead agree in writing to district enforcement. This supports community standards but can limit owners' property use or changes.

District improvements bring charges for landowners

The district can provide water management and irrigation systems and charge benefited land for improvements. Assessment-funded water management requires an adopted plan, a noticed public hearing, and public access to inspect the plan. The board must set annual assessment installments for improvement bonds and related costs, based on an engineer's report and parcel benefits. Assessments become liens until paid, and collection can occur with county taxes. Payments can run up to 40 years with interest; the board may allow early payment.

District Projects Need Contracts And Approvals

The district can manage property, contracts, grants, loans, and rules to carry out its work. Professional-service contracts must follow applicable bidding or competitive-selection rules, and district rules follow state administrative law. Additional projects inside or outside its borders require an agreement with the county or another applicable entity. Outside-border powers also need charter or general-law authority. Within Hillsborough County, outside-border activity needs an interlocal agreement, applicable development order, or authorization under county land-development rules. Zoning, comprehensive planning, and development permits remain with Hillsborough County.

New Hillsborough District With County Safeguards

The law creates the Land Reserve Stewardship District over about 3,707 acres in Hillsborough County, without a creation referendum. Compatible powers added for community development districts after January 1, 2026, also apply; other charter changes require a special law. The board needs the required county resolution or official statement before seeking legislative boundary changes, merger, or termination. The district can absorb community development districts wholly inside its borders through written requests, debt-transfer agreements, hearings, and approval resolutions. Merger hearings must occur within 45 days after all parties sign, with newspaper notice at least 14 days beforehand. Hillsborough County dissolves the absorbed districts by ordinance; the stewardship district survives. Joining a municipality does not end its authority; it continues until legislative dissolution or statutory inactivity.

Public Board Oversight With Landowner Exceptions

Board meetings must be open, permanent records available for public inspection, and supervisors subject to state ethics rules. However, work or ownership ties to district landowners or their affiliates do not alone count as conflicts under the cited law. The board must hire a manager, set the manager's pay, and authorize staff hiring or firing. Supervisor pay follows state limits, with travel and daily expenses allowed. The board can create supervised departments and committees at noticed meetings, with clear limits and written reporting duties. Remaining supervisors fill ordinary vacancies; the Governor can remove elected supervisors for specified misconduct or failure to perform duties.

District Borrowing Funds Projects With Limits

The district can borrow for expenses and projects, pledging revenues, taxes, assessments, or fees for repayment. Revenue bonds have no stated amount limit; voter approval is required when they also pledge full credit and taxing power. General borrowing instruments cannot sell below 95% of face value, and interest must follow general-law limits. After bond authorization, short-term notes cannot exceed the authorized bond amount and must mature within five years. Repaying those notes from current revenues, taxes, or assessments reduces the remaining bond authority by the same amount. Additional bonds can finish underfunded projects under the original bond rules. Refunding bonds can replace debts due or callable within 10 years, or debts surrendered at a board-approved price; constitutional voting requirements still apply. Bond proceeds cannot fund ongoing operations, and state or general-purpose local governments need not assume district debts, finish projects, or provide services after default or dissolution.

Sponsors & Cosponsors

Sponsor

Michael Owen
Republican • House

Cosponsors

Intergovernmental Affairs Subcommittee
Affiliation unavailable

Roll Call Votes

All Roll Calls

Yes: 146 • No: 4

Senate vote • 3/11/2026

Senate Floor Vote

Yes: 36 • No: 0

House vote • 2/25/2026

House Floor Vote

Yes: 110 • No: 4

Actions Timeline

Chapter No. 2026-212
7/1/2026
Approved by Governor
6/16/2026
Signed by Officers and presented to Governor
6/15/2026
Ordered enrolled
3/11/2026House
In Messages
3/11/2026House
CS passed; YEAS 36 NAYS 0 -SJ 791
3/11/2026Senate
Read 3rd time -SJ 791
3/11/2026Senate
Read 2nd time -SJ 791
3/11/2026Senate
Placed on Calendar, on 2nd reading
3/11/2026Senate
Withdrawn from Rules -SJ 785
3/11/2026Senate
Placed on Local Calendar, 03/11/26
3/9/2026Senate
Received
2/26/2026Senate
Referred to Rules
2/25/2026Senate
In Messages
2/25/2026Senate
CS passed; YEAS 110, NAYS 4
2/25/2026House
Read 3rd time
2/25/2026House
Added to Third Reading Calendar
2/25/2026House
Read 2nd time
2/25/2026House
Bill added to Special Order Calendar (2/25/2026)
2/19/2026House
Added to Second Reading Calendar
2/10/2026House
Bill released to House Calendar
2/10/2026House
Reported out of State Affairs Committee
2/10/2026House
Favorable by State Affairs Committee
2/10/2026House
Added to State Affairs Committee agenda
2/6/2026House
Now in State Affairs Committee
2/2/2026House

Bill Text

er
7/1/2026
PDF
c1
1/28/2026
PDF
Filed
1/5/2026
PDF

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