SUMMARY:
Property
Owned by the CDD.
The HOA owns no land (and would not be expected to own any land).
Here are handy links:
ON THIS PAGE:
THREE CATEGORIES OF LAND OF
INTEREST TO LSC RESIDENTS
CATEGORY 1
NON-LOT LAND AND WATER OWNED BY
THE DEVELOPER OR NONRESIDENT ENTITIES
CATEGORY 2
LAND SOLD TO RESIDENTS
HOW CAN I SEE MY LOT AND PROPERTY AROUND WHERE I LIVE?
CATEGORY 3
LAND OWNED BY A GOVERNMENTAL ENTITY
WHAT DOES THE CDD OWN?
PROPERTY
APPRAISER'S OFFICES -- WHERE TO GET HANDY REFERENCE BOUNDARY MAPS
FOR FUTURE
WORRY
HOW
YOU CAN HELP THE LSC COMMUNITY
During the process by which a developer (like Brandon Properties Partners, LTD who is developing Lake St. Charles) plats an area for a subdivision and houses are built by home builders (like American Heritage, Morrison, or Custom Touch), the land typically ends up in one of three ownership categories. The three categories are: 1) land remains in the ownership of the developer or is sold to another nonresident entity
(such as the home builders -- like AHH or Custom Touch), 2) land is sold to private residents, or 3) land is dedicated or transferred to Hillsborough County or a community development district (the "CDD") (or other governmental entity) and is therefore either immune or exempt from ad valorem taxation.
Land in category 1 can cause problems for residents in several ways. A developer might not pay taxes and tax certificates can be sold on the property. After a tax certificate is two years old, the property might be sold at a tax deed sale. Or a developer might force a CDD to buy essential land. Or a developer might sell the property to another non-resident entity who can cause problems for residents. Sometimes non-lot parcels are not subject to an HOA's requirements. Dealing with a quality developer like Brandon Properties Partners, LTD and quality home builders like
the several builders who have worked in LSC are the best protection for residents because most residents do not have the time to learn and follow all the potential problems that can develop. However, because of the recent stories in the news about what has occurred in other areas of the state, the following may allow residents to know more about how to find out who owns land and water in LSC.
CATEGORY 1
NON-LOT LAND AND WATER OWNED BY
THE DEVELOPER OR NONRESIDENT ENTITIES
According to the internet records of the Hillsborough County Property Appraiser, the Lake St. Charles (the lake), the conservation areas, walking paths, and large parts of the
northern section of LSC are owned by Brandon Properties Partners, LTD. To see a map of the
major folio parcel:
Zoom out several times to see all of
99.5 acres owned by Brandon Properties in LSC.
One of the things LSC residents should know is how the lake and conservation areas will be disposed of when the Brandon Properties Partners, LTD leaves LSC, whether the taxes are paid on the property, whether any tax certificates have been sold on the property, and whether this land and water will or has been transferred without cost to the CDD.
To search for all land owned by Brandon Properties, go to:
and search for: Brandon Properties
Do not put in any more of the name. (When I searched, the Property Appraiser's system would not return any results when I used the full name Brandon Properties Partners LTD.)
CATEGORY 2
LAND SOLD TO RESIDENTS:
One of the main purposes of platting an area is to sell individual lots to residents who will live on the property. Each resident probably knows that you live on Lot "x," of Block "x" in LSC Unit "x." On the LSC plats these lots are the little rectangles spaces on the plat, each abutting a street that you hope is owned by Hillsborough County. The roads should be owned by the county because the developer must dedicate the roads to the County as part of getting the plat approved by the Board of County Commissioners.
Your lot is taxable unless you have successfully formed your own religion with your house serving as its headquarters or seceded from the United States and formed your own tiny kingdom. If either of these strategies has worked, please let me know. But, most of us pay both ad valorem and special assessments each year to the Hillsborough County Tax Collector. Part of the special assessments you pay on your tax bill are paid to the LSC CDD and used to pay on the bond sold by the CDD to construct improvements on the land owned by the CDD, like the community center and the tennis courts.
We also paid for our lots and houses and hope to see our property increase in value through the years. Most residents have strong incentives to know about all things that can affect property values and are willing to take action to voice concern about matters that might lower property values. Therefore, most residents take care of their property and do not use their property in ways that lower the property values of their neighbors. In fact, the HOA was established by the developer to help maintain a quality community. All lots are subject to the HOA requirements which prevent many of the activities that bother residents. In other words, if a resident does not pay his or her taxes, a person buying a tax deed is going to be subject to all HOA requirements and has a strong economic incentive to sell the lot to someone who will live on the lot and take care of their property just like all the other residents. It is the potential for non-lot parcels to be owned by nonresidents that can cause serious problems.
Go to:
You can type in just your street name, and set "Return a Maximum of ____ Parcels" to 200 to get all the parcels on your street.
To see the map, click on a Parcel ID. Then click on MAP.
It takes about 60 seconds for the Map to load using a cable modem.
Once the Map loads (on a black background) there is a menu bar on the left. In the third row of icons, you will see a Pointer-shaped icon. When you place your mouse pointer over that icon you will see a small box stating "Select Tool." Click on the Pointer-shaped icon and then click on any part of the map for which you want to see the ownership information. That parcel to which you pointed and clicked with the Select Tool will be highlighted with green stripes and all the ownership information will be shown in the box to the right of the map.
It takes a long time for the maps to load with a cable modem. Be patient.
CATEGORY 3
LAND OWNED BY A GOVERNMENTAL ENTITY:
The third category is land that we would say is "off the tax rolls" The recent news stories are not about this category of land because this type of land is not taxed, thus, there are never any delinquent taxes that trigger the tax-sales process.
The CDD is a governmental entity. Currently, the Hillsborough County Property Appraiser classifies land owned by CDDs as nontaxable. Thus, currently, any land owned by the CDD will not be sold for taxes because the land is not taxed.
The CDD owns the LSC Community Center, the tennis courts, the median near the entrance, at least some of the circles of land in cul-de-sacs, and about 10 other small parcels. According to the internet records, the CDD does not own the lake or the conservation areas, or the walking path.
Here is the link to the 14
parcels owned by the CDD:
Or you can do your own search at the Hillsborough County Property Appraiser's web site at:
and search for: Lake St Charles
Do not put in any more of the name because the Property Appraiser uses different names for the LSC CDD!
Then click on the Parcel ID. The click on MAP. You will have to zoom-in on some maps because the areas are so small.
DOWNTOWN TAMPA AT COUNTY CENTER on Kennedy Blvd. 16th Floor County Center 601 E. Kennedy Boulevard Tampa, Florida 33602-4932 Phone: (813) 272-6100 Fax: (813) 272-5519
MAPS. ONLY the downtown office can make GIS boundary maps. You might find
a map to be handy reference identifying the folio numbers for tracking
all the land that interests you.
Just about everything (except
getting maps) that can be obtained from the downtown office, can also be
obtained at the branch offices near LSC:
BRANDON: Bay Plaza I, Building 9225 Suite 424, Ware Blvd. South of Highway 60 Tampa, Florida 33619 Phone: (813) 272-6100 Fax: (813) 635-8036
SOUTH COUNTY: Sun Point Shopping Center Suite 2B 3018 S.R. 674 Ruskin, Florida 33570 Phone: (813) 272-6100 Fax: (813) 672-7835
It is possible that the Property Appraiser will, in the future, seek to tax the CDD's community center (the pool). LSC residents should be aware of this potential and stay alert to any news reports or statements by public officials that might indicate taxation of the recreational areas in subdivisions is being studied.
If the Property Appraiser's
records are correct and the CDD does NOT own the lake and large
conservation areas, and if contracts do not already provide for the
future transfer of the lake and conservation areas to the LSC CDD,
residents should follow the ownership of these large areas in LSC.
If any of the information on this
page is incorrect, please let me know either by e-mail at jbakas@aol.com
or by phone 677-2599. If you know of additional information about
ownership issues, let me know and I will post it here.
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