Benefits
What types of things can the new municipality do?
Last Updated: July 5, 2023Municipalities are a form of self-government. Citizens make local decisions locally. Municipal governments can do anything not explicitly prohibited under state law. What they want to do is up to the citizens and elected town leaders. Being a municipality also means holding intergovernmental meetings and a seat at the table in conversations with other levels...
Would we get our own zip code, post office, and new addresses?
Last Updated: July 5, 2023ZIP codes and postal designations are established at a federal level. Modifications to mailing addresses require representatives in US Congress to make the change at that level. The part of the address that matters is the ZIP Code + 4 (9 digits total), which identifies a specific address. If the current city on the address...
How can we return a more significant share of our tax dollars to our local community?
Last Updated: October 28, 2023If municipal boundary lines are drawn and the Town of Perdido is established, Escambia County loses the authority to collect many existing revenues from within the boundaries (MSTUs, franchise fees, communication services tax, business licenses, state-shared revenues, and potentially other gas tax revenue, to name a few). By state statute, those revenues belong to the...
How does becoming a municipality give us more power to address local issues?
Last Updated: July 5, 2023Municipalities have the power to address local issues both directly and indirectly. Local town administration can directly address any issue within their jurisdiction and any services they deliver or for which they manage the service delivery contracts. Elected leaders can also indirectly address local issues through intergovernmental negotiations and by having a seat at the...
How many employees does a typical government-lite municipality require?
Last Updated: July 5, 2023There is no “typical,” as every city is unique in its own right and has a distinct mix of service needs. Government-lite municipalities have anywhere from five to twelve employees. Every municipality needs, at a minimum, an attorney, a clerk, and a manager/administrator. Beyond those three, the employment needs depend entirely on the scope of...
How can we, as a municipality, ensure the proper delivery of services?
Last Updated: July 5, 2023Locally elected town leaders would oversee the government-lite municipality, a responsive, agile local administration that manages all service contracts. If services are lacking in an area, leaders can more quickly address the need. If the provider fails to deliver the service as contracted, the local government has the voice and means to rectify the situation...
Can municipalities work with the school district to ensure a safe, quality education?
Last Updated: July 5, 2023Locally elected town leaders can work with Escambia County’s school district to ensure the community’s needs educational needs are addressed. In Florida, a school district is a distinct governmental body that operates under state law. A municipality, itself a governmental body, has a seat at the table for discussions regarding school access and quality. Municipalities...
Can incorporation address overdevelopment and destruction of the Gulf Coast and Perdido’s wetlands?
Last Updated: July 5, 2023Yes, but with a few caveats. Under Florida law, any open development order approved at the county level before incorporation stands. And while a new town is working on its own 20-year comprehensive plan, it must administer local zoning and planning services in accordance with the county’s comprehensive plan. However, within two years of incorporation,...
What are some of the issues we expect to resolve through municipal incorporation?
Last Updated: October 26, 2023By incorporating Perdido as a municipality, we could directly address local concerns and build value in our community while having a local voice, a local choice, and a seat at the table. We could return a large portion of existing tax revenue to Perdido and control our own destiny. Early on in the process, local...
What does becoming a town mean for law enforcement, fire, EMS, and search and rescue?
Last Updated: July 5, 2023The recommendation is to contract these services back out to the existing providers, allowing us to adjust service levels to safeguard our community.
Will becoming a city affect public services like water, sewer, trash, gas, and electricity?
Last Updated: July 5, 2023Existing public services would continue as they currently do, with the added benefit of being able to negotiate directly with providers. Note that our county presently collects franchise fees for utility companies’ use of the right of ways, which would turn over to the municipality.
What municipal services and benefits can the government-lite model provide Perdido?
Last Updated: July 5, 2023Under the government-lite model, municipalities contract out the bulk of municipal services. This allows service levels to be locally managed while avoiding the duplication of services. Fire, EMS, and law enforcement would be contracted directly with existing service providers through the county. Based on the needs identified so far, the focus would be on fixing...
Could becoming a town help Perdido find its identity?
Last Updated: July 5, 2023This is something only the citizens of Perdido can ultimately decide. Municipal incorporation does offer the Perdido community a chance for a local unified voice, but it is not something that happens overnight. This is perhaps best expressed by Marsha Segal-George, the first Town Manager of Fort Myers Beach, with uncanny similarities to our own...
Can becoming a municipality help simplify or streamline our current bureaucratic situation?
Last Updated: July 5, 2023Yes. Forming a municipality transfers ownership of the local government functions to the local community, simplifying and localizing the administration. Voters elect local citizens as leaders to manage and oversee these functions. Government lite aims to simplify the delivery of services to support these functions by contracting most of these services to the existing providers...
How will emergency response services be affected?
Last Updated: July 26, 2023By contracting directly for fire, law enforcement, and EMS services, the local municipality can work to increase service levels where necessary and ensure better staging of services (placement of parked emergency vehicles) for faster response times. Because of our remote location, it can easily take 45 minutes to an hour for an ambulance to arrive...
Can a town address road maintenance and traffic issues, even on roads the municipality does not own?
Last Updated: October 26, 2023Yes. A local municipal voice and seat on transportation planning organizations (TPOs) help prioritize state and county transportation projects in a way that benefits the community. Infrastructure dollars (sales tax and gas tax) are provided to the town for roads and streets that the municipality decides to own and repair. The distribution of gas tax...
How might homeowners be affected?
Last Updated: October 26, 2023Local zoning and planning would address the issue of development outpacing infrastructure and help protect our community’s charm ― our wildlife and way of life. Local code enforcement will help protect property values. Locally managing traffic issues and road repairs will ensure homeowners have an easier time getting around. Based on the boundaries, local law...
How quickly will improvements be made?
Last Updated: July 5, 2023Rome wasn’t built in a day. There are many challenges to address, and the town’s first elected leaders will have much to accomplish in their first term. They will be responsible for hiring the first town administrator, overseeing the setup of intergovernmental relationships and contracts, starting the process of drafting a 20-year comprehensive plan, and...
How can citizens ensure their leaders are held accountable?
Last Updated: July 17, 2023The municipal charter is a good start. Defined in the charter, municipalities in Florida offer citizens powerful tools such as the right to recall elected officials, as well as referendum and initiative. These don’t exist for citizens of unincorporated Escambia County, a non-charter (constitutional) county. The charter committee has considered language to prevent elected officials...
How do citizens assess the risks and benefits of becoming a town?
Last Updated: July 5, 2023Florida statutes provide the framework for a feasibility study that looks at all aspects of a proposed municipality. This study helps communities like ours determine if incorporation is the right fit and if it would be feasible. Benefits and risks assessment is an essential part of this feasibility study. BJM Consulting utilizes a SWOT (Strengths,...
Would the new town be eligible for state-shared revenues?
Last Updated: October 13, 2023As proposed, the Town of Perdido would qualify for these funds. State-shared revenues come from sales tax (the 1% and half-cent county sales taxes) and a portion of other state tax revenue. These funds go into a pool at the state and are distributed to local governments according to a complex formula, as determined by the...