RIVERVIEW - The Hillsborough County Commission will review the concerns of residents in Riverview's Lake St. Charles subdivision, following a contentious meeting Thursday night about a proposed refinancing of a community bond.
About 200 homeowners attended the public hearing, many wearing "Vote No" stickers. Lake St. Charles is a community development district, called a CDD, which is a mini government overseen by five paid supervisors. Homeowners expressed concern that the proposed refinancing was advertised as a savings to residents, but to realize that savings the bonds would have to be extended 10 years.
Some residents calculated that nearly 800 households in the CDD would pay more than $1.2-million in total additional charges over the extended life of the bonds.
The scenario changed Thursday night when Rizzetta & Co., the CDD's manager, announced that more favorable financing could be found. Some residents demanded to see the paperwork, and were skeptical of the last-minute change, loudly booing a representative from Prager, Sealy and Co., the company that underwrites the bonds. No decision about the refinancing was made Thursday night. County Commissioner Pat Frank, a candidate for clerk of Circuit Court, attended the meeting, and said she shared residents' concerns about whether the CDD board properly followed legal requirements. She said she would bring the issue before the County Commission Sept. 2.
