{"id":21067,"date":"2026-02-02T13:06:39","date_gmt":"2026-02-02T18:06:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.collierclerk.com\/?p=21067"},"modified":"2026-02-02T13:06:39","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T18:06:39","slug":"use-of-public-funds-to-maintain-private-roads","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/app.collierclerk.com\/collierclerkcom\/use-of-public-funds-to-maintain-private-roads\/","title":{"rendered":"Use of Public Funds to Maintain Private Roads"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Ordinance #2023-71 Adoption &#8211; Unpaved Road Emergency Repair Municipal Service Taxing Unit (MSTU)<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>At the December 12, 2023 meeting, the Board of County Commissioners (BCC) approved Ordinance 2023-71 creating the unpaved road emergency repair municipal service taxing unit (MSTU). The ordinance included the following: \u201cThis MSTU was created to provide emergency repairs to the unpaved, private roads in Collier County which the local fire districts, the Collier County Sheriff\u2019s Office, or Collier County have deemed impassable to emergency vehicles, and such disrepair is a danger to the health, safety, and welfare to the citizens of Collier County.\u201d The roads would be repaired only to the extent that they are made passable to emergency vehicles. Such repair did not designate acceptance of maintenance beyond the purpose stated herein, nor did it designate an ownership interest in the road by the County. Funding is to be generated from a tax levy of up to 1.000 mil annually. The tax levied was to be paid by property owners within the MSTU.<\/p>\n<p>The Clerk of Courts and Comptroller (Clerk) noted the following concerns:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The fundamental issue remains that these roads are private roads and not for public use. There are Attorney General Opinions that the repair of private roads, even if used by ambulances or school buses, are the responsibility of the owner.<\/li>\n<li>The levy of 1mil is insufficient to fund the estimated costs of the repairs.<br \/>\nIn Florida, Homeowner Associations (HOA\u2019s) are often created to fund maintenance of private roads.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Key Elements of December 10, 2024, Ordinance Amendment<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>On December 10, 2024, Ordinance No. 2024-53 amending the Unpaved Road Emergency Repair MSTU was adopted by the Board (Item #9D). The amended ordinance removed roadways that were no longer unpaved; added all unpaved, private roads in unincorporated Collier County not within gated communities or maintained by special districts, homeowners\u2019 associations, or like entities; and required emergency repairs to be identified by local fire districts or the Collier County Sheriff&#8217;s Office (CCSO). An opt-out provision was added for property owners able to show that their road is passable, there is a sustainable maintenance plan in place, and the road is unlikely to require maintenance within the next five years.<\/p>\n<p>The Clerk noted concerns:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The limited funding that would be generated by the tax levy appears insufficient to pay for the anticipated costs identified. Additionally, lime rock road repairs would likely lead to ongoing maintenance requirements of private roads that did not serve a public purpose.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Request to Declare a Public Emergency &#8211; December 9, 2025<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>On December 9, 2025, agenda item # 11E, the County Attorney brought forth an Executive Summary requesting that the Board declare a valid public emergency to bring the unpassable roads in the Private Road Repair Municipal Services Taxing Unit (MSTU) to a passable condition, approve a $1.5M loan from taxpayer capital funds, and approve a purchase order with Quality Enterprises to complete necessary repairs. The Board voted unanimously to continue this item pending the results of a joint BCC\/Clerk request for an Attorney General Opinion (AGO) regarding the legality of repairing private property.<\/p>\n<p>The Clerk continued to question the use of public funds to pay for private roadway improvements. The added element of \u201cloans\u201d of taxpayer funds to maintain private roads does not appear legal. The Board of County Commissioners (Board) directed the County Attorney\u2019s Office to work with the Clerk to draft a request for Attorney General Opinion regarding whether the Board can proceed with its proposed action to remedy the impassable private roads.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Approval of a Proclamation Declaring a Local State of Emergency \u2013 January 13, 2026<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>On January 13, 2026, (Agenda Item 12B\/16K9) the Board of County Commissioners approved a proclamation declaring: a local state of emergency to repair private, impassable roads within unincorporated Collier County that pose a threat to the health, safety, and welfare of Collier County citizens and finding a valid public purpose for expending public funds to immediately repair private, impassable roads.<\/p>\n<p>County Attorney staff noted that this agenda item was brought forward due to an existing Attorney General opinion that stated if there is a declared state of emergency, then public funds may be expended for private use. Attorney General Opinion #2012-33 noted that despite the extensive powers delegated to local government under the State Emergency Management Act, this authority to spend public funds to repair private roads would not extend to the county in the absence of a declared local state of emergency. As defined in Florida Statute 252.34(4), \u201cEmergency\u201d means any occurrence, or thereat thereof, whether natural, technological, or manmade, in war or in peace, which results or may result in substantial injury or harm to the population or substantial damage to or loss of property. This definition does not appear applicable to private roads\/driveways.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ongoing Concerns<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>There are many ongoing concerns associated with this MSTU. A principal concern is that public funds will be used to fund repair and maintenance of private roads and future ongoing repairs, contrary to law.<\/p>\n<p>The initial Unpaved Road MSTU ordinance was approved in December 2023. Discussion during January 13, 2026, Board meeting noted that the declared state of emergency would be effective following receipt of an AGO that would validate the legality of the MSTU and the associated roadway improvements. Seemingly, this delay in declaring an emergency would address the statutory requirement that only allows emergency orders on a relatively short-term basis. Florida Statute 252.38(4)(c) notes that an emergency order automatically expires 7 days after issuance but may be extended by a majority vote of the governing body of the political subdivision, as necessary, in 7-day increments for a total duration of not more than 42 days.<\/p>\n<p>Funding to be generated annually by the 1.0000 mill tax levy remains insufficient to fund the repairs. Current taxable value within the proposed MSTU generates only $142,451. After subtracting administrative costs and the 5% revenue reserve required by Florida Statutes, the net funding for roadway repairs\/maintenance is approximately $124,000. The low bid of $1,238,800 was submitted by Quality Enterprises, Inc. to repair roads deemed impassable. To perform necessary repairs and establish a reserve for future emergency repairs, the staff recommendation was to borrow $1,500,000 from County taxpayer capital funds.<\/p>\n<p>There is no mention of the useful life of the proposed improvements. The bids noted above included the cost to repair roads using FDOT grade lime rock. These repairs are subject to damage by subsequent storm events. The repayment period for the $1.5M loan is an estimated 15 years (at the current millage level) and would likely extend beyond the useful life of improvements. The use of funds from budgeted county capital projects erodes the ability to cover public capital projects. Borrowing from any source for a period longer than the life of the asset has been avoided in other funding plans (i.e., Beach Renourishment \u2013 the County has not borrowed for something that may be washed away in the next storm) and is part of the BCC debt policy, as well Government Finance Officers Association Best Practices guidance. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Future Actions<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>At the January 13, 2026 meeting, the Board voted unanimously to continue this item pending the results of a joint BCC\/Clerk AGO request regarding the legality of using public funds to repair private driveways\/roads.<\/li>\n<li>The Clerk offered that another process is available through code authority. An ordinance could be created for the requirement that individuals on these roads are required to maintain them passable for emergency vehicles, if found in violation the homeowners abutting the private road could be required to repair the road, or be fined to cover the costs of road repairs.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ordinance #2023-71 Adoption &#8211; Unpaved Road Emergency Repair Municipal Service Taxing Unit (MSTU) At the December 12, 2023 meeting, the &#8230; <\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more-container\"><a title=\"Use of Public Funds to Maintain Private Roads\" class=\"read-more button\" href=\"https:\/\/app.collierclerk.com\/collierclerkcom\/use-of-public-funds-to-maintain-private-roads\/#more-21067\" aria-label=\"Read more about Use of Public Funds to Maintain Private Roads\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":21056,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21067","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-announcements","infinite-scroll-item","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-25","resize-featured-image"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/app.collierclerk.com\/collierclerkcom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21067","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/app.collierclerk.com\/collierclerkcom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/app.collierclerk.com\/collierclerkcom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/app.collierclerk.com\/collierclerkcom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/app.collierclerk.com\/collierclerkcom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21067"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/app.collierclerk.com\/collierclerkcom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21067\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21068,"href":"https:\/\/app.collierclerk.com\/collierclerkcom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21067\/revisions\/21068"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/app.collierclerk.com\/collierclerkcom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21056"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/app.collierclerk.com\/collierclerkcom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21067"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/app.collierclerk.com\/collierclerkcom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21067"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/app.collierclerk.com\/collierclerkcom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21067"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}