Last May, the City Council created the Hogpen Creek Dependent Taxing District. It soon will be abolished.
The sponsor of the bill creating the district – according to council records — was Councilman Rory Diamond. The sponsor of the bill abolishing the district also is Councilman Rory Diamond.
But Diamond, the council member for the area containing Hogpen Creek, says he didn’t exactly sponsor the bill and did not vote for the bill.
Diamond, an Army National Guard officer, was deployed out of town when his staff called about the request for the taxing district status. Although Diamond routinely votes against such districts, he told his staff to make sure his constituents wanted it and then file the bill.
There are about 45 special taxing districts in Jacksonville, including some of the independent authorities and community development districts. Each has an elected board.
The Hogpen Creek bill was introduced in April and sailed through committee, being approved a month later on the council’s consent agenda, a collection of non-controversial bills passed with one vote. Diamond was not at the meeting.
Hogpen Creek is east of Hodges Boulevard, between Beach and Atlantic boulevards. It is a collection of higher priced homes, most of them on water connecting to the Intracoastal Waterway.
The expressed purpose of the taxing district was to dredge and maintain the waterway.
Then the district’s board voted to approve a special assessment on each homeowner for his share of the cost: nearly $4,500.
Suddenly, the idea of a special taxing district didn’t seem so appealing to some of the 111 homeowners.
After complaints to council members, a bill to repeal the taxing district was introduced by Diamond. It is likely to pass on the consent agenda in a matter of weeks.
