Links to my previous updates:
8/17/25 CDD 2026 Fiscal Year Budget Analysis
2018: $3,715,772
2019: $3,759,032
2020: $4,276,389
2021: $3,303,047
2022: $3,854,557
2023: $4,216,223
2024: $4,584,556
2025: $4,582,771
2026 plan: $5,274,282
Listed above are the non-debt assessments charged to Mirabay homeowners from fiscal 2018 through the plan for fiscal 2026.The fiscal 2026 plan is listed here. In fiscal 2020, there was an off-cycle special assessment to put money away for potential seawall failures. Once the seawall contract was signed and the bond was obtained, the special assessment money was no longer needed and returned to the Mirabay owners by reducing the assessments in fiscal 2021. I am proud to say that I served on the Board and was involved with the assessments for fiscal 2018 to fiscal 2021. The average assessment for the years 2020 and 2021 is $3,789,718. Since 2021 and based on the 2026 plan, rates have gone from $3,789,718 to $5,274.282 or a total increase of 39.17% or a compounded average annual growth rate of 6.73%.
It is actually much worse than that. When my term expired in October 2020, the reserve fund was fully funded. You can see the reserve fund study here. The reserve fund is an account to put money away for future expenses of fixed assets. Items such as paving the roads, maintaining the seawall, painting of buildings, new gym equipment, updating the irrigation system, etc. have planned expenditures. A certified engineer looks at the useful life of various assets and determines the estimated replacement cost when the useful life of the asset is over. You put a consistent amount of money away each year to have the funds available in the future. It is like putting money away for a college fund for your children. You put money away each year to make sure you have the funds when needed.
Unfortunately, this Board has refused to follow the reserve study, and Chairman Daniel Leventry continues to falsely state that the reserve fund is fully funded. For fiscal 2026, the reserve fund study indicates $782,000 should be contributed to the fund. The Board is only planning to contribute $698,196 to the reserve fund. Let’s do a reconciliation of the reserve fund. You can see it here. The available balance in the reserve fund, as of the July 30th, 2025 financial statements, is $2,366,773. The anticipated interest to be received is $19,582, leaving us a total available of $2,386,355 if there are no unknown expenses in August or September. The reserve study plan says we should have $1,868,564 at the end of this year, which is $518,000 less than the current balance—so you would think everything is in great shape. However, the problem is that there are $1,664,059 worth of repairs that should have been done but were not.
But wait there’s more. In 2026, the Board has no plan to do any of the past-due repairs from 2023 through 2025, with the exception of phase 1 of the 6-year road repair plan which should have started last year. In 2026, the Board is not planning on spending $291,038 on necessary seawall maintenance. The reserve study says, “However, based on the history of partial replacements, the District should plan to conduct periodic sea wall maintenance every three years to maximize the useful life of up to 55 years. This maintenance includes repairing concrete spalls and cracks and applying a sealer to the concrete cap.” We spent $16.8M on the seawall, and this Board doesn’t think maintaining it is worthwhile.
Taking into account the $291,038 for seawall maintenance that isn’t being planned for 2026 and the difference between the road repairs of $288,822 of phase 1 being planned vs the phase 3 needed plan of $432,585 ($143,763), we face a shortfall of $1,664,873.
That deficit will be funded by an increase in your tax bill to be received in November 2026.
This is what happens when you have a Chairman who is grossly incompetent and allows the reserve fund to be used for items never contemplated in the reserve fund. Hurricane repairs, pickleball courts, landscaping maintenance for Park Square conveyed properties should not be paid with reserve fund monies. While it would be alright to borrow money for the necessary hurricane repairs and clean up, those funds must be replaced in the reserve fund.
But Chairman Leventry has previously stated at a CDD meeting that the reserve fund is free money.