Making Hobe Sound an official town

Hobe Sound is not a Town Even though everyone thinks we are a town, we were never incorporated so an actual town was never created. Our way of life, our businesses, our zoning and lifestyle are all at the mercy of an ever changing County Commission.

Who is behind this? Initially, long time residents of Hobe Sound who have served on Community Boards promoting and protecting our quiet way of life behind the scenes for years. They have collectively served on the following boards: CRA, NAC, PHS, Banner Lake, Chamber of Commerce past presidents, Hobe Sound Early Learning center as well as coaching, soccer, little league and boy scouts among others.

Why incorporate? Tax dollars collected here will be kept here, in Hobe Sound, to be allocated for projects IN Hobe Sound, BY Hobe Sound elected officials. Local representation – Town council made up of 5 local residents from each district Affordability – Other towns have actually lowered their tax burden by using the “lite” approach to government. Preservation, opportunity – We can contain residential sprawl in rural areas while encouraging investment and job opportunities within town.

What is ‘Government Lite’? Government lite is simply scaled down government. It is a small staff using private companies or other nearby governments to perform necessary services. It saves the town from having to pay benefits, insurance and retirement on employees and offers the ease of negotiating contracts and changing vendors quickly if services suffer.

Weston, government lite working! Weston has 64,000 residents and operates a $100 million budget providing all of their services on a grand total of nine city employees. Nine. Weston is as fully contracted out a city as is possible. All nine employees are directors of a department of the city by title, but largely act as contract control agents with the 30 major private contractors handling the work of the city. The entire city staff includes the city manager, assistant city manager, chief financial officer, chief operating officer, treasurer, city clerk, director of communications, director of parks and recreation and director of landscaping. Everyone else is a private-sector employee on contract with the city. But there is more. A recent study for Broward County found that when all taxes, fees and other governmental assessments on citizens are combined, Weston becomes the cheapest place in the county to live — at least as far as government expenses go. cite: Business Observer Newspaper

Incorporation – The Process 1. Completed – determine if it is possible within the law and current regulations to incorporate as a town 2. Ongoing - Conduct informational meetings 3. Completed - Undertake initial feasibility study 4. Completed - Undertake in-depth feasibility study 5. Completed - Gain support of local legislative delegation (Sen. Joe Negron, State Rep. MaryLynn Magar) to sponsor Bill of Incorporation. 6. Completed - Gain support of Martin County Commission. 7. If Bill of Incorporation maintains Legislature support, it goes to public referendum (vote) 8. Registered voters in proposed area of incorporation take part in special election to vote on becoming a town. 9. If successful, any interested citizens can come forward to run for the Town Council of Hobe Sound.

Will My Services Suffer? No. The professional outside analysis ensured NO change in any of the service levels presently being provided by Martin County to Hobe Sound. You will continue to get service from Martin Sheriff and Fire Rescue, among others, utilizing interlocal (between government) agreements. The Sheriff and Fire Departments have advised us that they can provide the same level of service we now receive.

The Town of Hobe Sound Boundaries of the Town of Hobe Sound Note: These boundaries stop at the secondary urban service boundary to the west.

Will My Taxes Increase? No. BJM Consulting examined ALL existing levels of taxation and fees currently charged by Martin County. The findings in the both feasibility reports show ZERO increase in current tax load. Studies with other towns that have incorporated like us have actually saved tax dollars by reducing costs for services by utilizing private companies at lower costs.

So, Where Will Town Revenue Come From? The value of all the real estate in the proposed area is 1.1 billion dollars. We pay 17.09 million in real estate taxes to the county. As a town we can get back 3 million dollars from the real estate taxes. As a town, we can also qualify for a share of sales tax and franchise fees plus other taxes already collected by the state. This is calculated to be an additional 3.1 million. We are estimated to have 6.3 million dollars toward our expenses in our first full year.

Town of Hobe Sound ‘Government Lite’ enables contracting key services, but in addition to electing a town commission, the Town of Hobe Sound would need a small staff.

Town of Hobe Sound So far, this process is encouraging. Not only does the proposed area meet the initial requirements, it’s very positive that the first year in operation—where the Town of Hobe Sound is not even able to collect revenue from property taxes—shows some monies left over.

Get Involved To find out more or interact with others interested in establishing the Town of Hobe Sound. Please visit us on Facebook www.facebook.com/FutureTownOfHobeSound Or our webpage at www.townofhobesound.com