Indian River County Ordinance NO. #92-28 contains procedures by which the Board of County Commissioners may provide for local services or improvements on a special assessment basis by it own initiative or upon petition by owners to be benefited thereby. The ordinance encompasses: requirements and form of petitions, publication and adoption of the services or improvements, preliminary assessment rolls and hearing, notice to owners of final assessment rolls, payment of assessments, assessments to become liens and providing authority to borrow funds.

Services and improvements include: streets and roads, water and sewage systems, water and sewage treatment plants, drainage, street lighting, sidewalks, and such other services or facilities which may be deemed essential as determined by the Board of County Commissioners.

The procedure authorized by the Board of County Commissioners for the Department of Utility Services is (although not limited to) the square foot method of assessment of properties. This is the only method of assessment which has been upheld by the Florida Supreme Court.

A State statute mandated the adoption of a Comprehensive Plan, which Indian River County adopted in 1990. The comprehensive Plan requirements set forth in objective 2 of the Water Sub-Element, requires the installation of water facilities to serve the urban service areas, giving priority to subdivisions having undersized lots and/or health problems.

The Department developed a phased plan to meet the Comprehensive Plan requirements. The plan requires that new lots utilizing well and septic systems be a minimum one-half acre. Lots not meeting these minimum standards are called "undersized lots." The majority of lots in the water expansion planned phases are substandard, or "undersized," according to Indian River County’s Comprehensive Plan and the County Public Health Unit, a Division of Environmental Health. The objective of the phased water expansion plan is to make available safe, healthy, potable drinking water to those areas with undersized lots and potential health problems in a planned, effective, and efficient manner.

In 1990, Indian River County Board of County Commissioners gave conceptual approval of the installation of water facilities as part of the water main extension growth plan. The Department of Utility Services continues meeting the Comprehensive Plan requirements.

Ordinance 206 Special Assessments