REAL Exclusive Magazine

Lakewood Ranch Incorporation Study Group Newsletter #6.

How Does Incorporation Benefit the Residents of LWR?

Prepared by the Lakewood Ranch Incorporation Study Group

When the LWR Civic Action Forum set out to study the feasibility of incorporation, the overriding question was, “Even if feasible, will it benefit the people who live and work here?”  When feasibility was confirmed, the LWR Incorporation Study Group was formed to focus on the value of incorporation to individuals, families, and businesses. We have concluded the benefits to everyone, both today and tomorrow, are numerous:

• As a city, we will immediately begin to receive tax revenues which are currently being collected by the state and county (estimate at $3.5 million for 2011).  These are not additional taxes, but rather tax dollars collected here that are being used to fund projects all over the county and elsewhere.  Over ten years we project a budget surplus of $37 million dollars.  Imagine what we can do with that:  repair our own roads when we want them repaired, replace infrastructure, promote economic development to attract businesses and create jobs, rebuild if there is a hurricane, etc.     

• In addition to these revenues, as a city we would be eligible to receive grants, incentives, and other monies for economic development, master planning, technology, and disaster recovery.  Today our access to these dollars is either zero or very, very limited.   

• The second–and maybe most important–reason to incorporate is the ability to have local control over our community.  Right now decisions on zoning, building codes and permits, roads, stoplights, business, land use, industry, economic development, etc  are made at the county level.  None of the county commissioners live east of I-75; so our political power is very limited.    

• Having this local control is very important, and it’s easy to understand when you see how local government works today. 

Take a look at these charts:

Click on chart to download pdf

As a city, we have the ability to develop a unified vision for the community and use it as the template for managing growth.  Today LWR has a limited voice in these important decisions, which is expressed individually by each neighborhood through their HOAs and CDDs-an approach that will only become more cumbersome as more neighborhoods are built.  This concept actually promotes disunity rather than unity, and creates a very parochial and isolated view.  We need to understand that it is not good if one community thrives while another deteriorates.

The bottom line is simple:  today many decisions that directly impact us are being made well outside our community boundaries, and the decisions we make are very limited and have little to do with a comprehensive vision for all of LWR.

WHAT YOU CAN DO TO GET INVOLVED

Forward this email to your friends and neighbors within LWR to ensure they are informed.

If your neighborhood or group has not yet attended a charter draft presentation meeting, please contact us via email at IncorpStudy@lwrdv.com. We will be happy to arrange a presentation.

If you are interested in joining the Lakewood Ranch Incorporation Study Group, please contact us via email at IncorpStudy@lwrdv.com

If you want more detailed information on the pros and cons of incorporation, the incorporation process, FAQs, the charter, etc. visit our website at www.lwrdv.com/incorp.

Posted as  a public service announcement by REAL Magazine. REAL Magazine takes no position on the incorporation of Lakewood Ranch.