What is a CDD in Florida, and how to find homes without one

What a CDD is, in the statute's own words

The Florida Statutes say a community development district “means a local unit of special-purpose government which is created pursuant to this act and limited to the performance of those specialized functions authorized by this act” (§ 190.003(6)). It is a government, with a board, a budget and public meetings. It is not a fee, and it is not a bond: a district issues bonds, and levies assessments to repay them and to maintain what it built.

The Legislature gives its reason in § 190.002(1)(a): on “a proper and fair determination of applicable facts”, “an independent district can constitute a timely, efficient, effective, responsive, and economic way to deliver these basic services, thereby providing a solution to the state’s planning, management, and financing needs for delivery of capital infrastructure in order to service projected growth without overburdening other governments and their taxpayers.”

Two limits are in the same chapter. On zoning, the chapter states “the purpose and intent of the Legislature that a district created under this chapter not have or exercise any zoning or development permitting power” (§ 190.002(3)). And its debts are its own: “A default on the bonds or obligations of a district shall not constitute a debt or obligation of a local general-purpose government or the state.” (§ 190.016(15)).

Who creates a district and who runs it

The statute gives two methods, by size. “The exclusive and uniform method for the establishment of a community development district with a size of 2,500 acres or more shall be pursuant to a rule, adopted under chapter 120 by the Florida Land and Water Adjudicatory Commission, granting a petition for the establishment of a community development district.” (§ 190.005(1)). And: “The exclusive and uniform method for the establishment of a community development district of less than 2,500 acres in size or a community development district of up to 7,000 acres in size located within a connected-city corridor established pursuant to s. 163.3246(13) shall be pursuant to an ordinance adopted by the county commission of the county having jurisdiction over the majority of land in the area in which the district is to be located granting a petition for the establishment of a community development district” (§ 190.005(2)). The same subsection has rules of its own for land that lies inside a city or in more than one county or city, and lets the county or the city pass a petition to the Commission; the whole of § 190.005(2) has them.

A district is run by a board of five supervisors (§ 190.006(1)). The petition that creates the district names the first five: “A designation of five persons to be the initial members of the board of supervisors, who shall serve in that office until replaced by elected members as provided in s. 190.006” (§ 190.005(1)(a)3.). Then the landowners elect: “Within 90 days following the effective date of the rule or ordinance establishing the district, there shall be held a meeting of the landowners of the district for the purpose of electing five supervisors for the district.” Each landowner casts “one vote per acre of land owned by him or her and located within the district for each person to be elected” (§ 190.006(2)); the same subsection says how a fraction of an acre and platted lots are counted. Later the seats pass to the “qualified electors”, a term the chapter defines as “any person at least 18 years of age who is a citizen of the United States, a legal resident of Florida and of the district, and who registers to vote with the supervisor of elections in the county in which the district land is located” (§ 190.003(17)), on a schedule and on conditions that § 190.006(3) sets out in full.

Its business is public. “All meetings of the board shall be open to the public and governed by the provisions of chapter 286.” (§ 190.006(9)). Each year, “On or before each June 15, the district manager shall prepare a proposed budget for the ensuing fiscal year to be submitted to the board for board approval.” and “The budget shall be adopted prior to October 1 of each year.” (§ 190.008(2)(a)). Before that there is a hearing, and at it “the board shall hear all objections to the budget as proposed and may make such changes as the board deems necessary” (§ 190.008(2)(a)).

What a district can charge

A district has the power “To borrow money and issue bonds, certificates, warrants, notes, or other evidence of indebtedness as hereinafter provided; to levy such tax and special assessments as may be authorized; and to charge, collect, and enforce fees and other user charges” (§ 190.011(9)). Two of the assessments the chapter names are these. A benefit special assessment repays what the district borrowed: the board levies each year “the annual installment of the total benefit special assessments for bonds issued and related expenses to finance district facilities and projects” (§ 190.021(2)). A maintenance special assessment pays for upkeep: “To maintain and preserve the facilities and projects of the district, the board may levy a maintenance special assessment.” (§ 190.021(3)). The district budgets quoted further down call the first debt service, or debt, and the second operations and maintenance, or O&M.

Both are a lien on the property: “Benefit special assessments and maintenance special assessments authorized by this section, and special assessments authorized by s. 190.022 and chapter 170, shall constitute a lien on the property against which assessed from the date of imposition thereof until paid, coequal with the lien of state, county, municipal, and school board taxes.” (§ 190.021(9)). An elected board may also levy an ad valorem tax on the taxable property in the district, within the limits of § 190.021(1).

How it reaches the tax bill, and what happens if it is not paid

The same subsection says how they are collected: “These non-ad valorem assessments may be collected, at the district’s discretion, by the tax collector pursuant to the provisions of s. 197.363 or s. 197.3632, or in accordance with other collection measures provided by law.” (§ 190.021(9)). When a district uses the county tax roll, its assessment “may be evidenced to and certified to the property appraiser by the board of supervisors not later than August 31 of each year and shall be entered by the property appraiser on the county tax rolls and shall be collected and enforced by the tax collector in the same manner and at the same time as county taxes, and the proceeds therefrom shall be paid to the district” (§ 190.021(3)). That is why, when a district collects this way, the charge is a line on the county tax bill and not a separate invoice.

It may not be on the notice of proposed property taxes. That notice, the TRIM notice, carries this warning in bold: “Your final tax bill may contain non-ad valorem assessments which may not be reflected on this notice such as assessments for roads, fire, garbage, lighting, drainage, water, sewer, or other governmental services and facilities which may be levied by your county, city, or any special district.” (§ 200.069(9)). The warning is left off when the notice already lists them all: “If the notice includes all adopted non-ad valorem assessments, the provisions contained in subsection (9) shall not be placed on the notice.” (§ 200.069(10)(b)).

An assessment collected under § 197.3632, which the statutes call the uniform method, is enforced through the tax system: “Non-ad valorem assessments collected pursuant to this section shall be subject to all collection provisions of this chapter, including provisions relating to discount for early payment, prepayment by installment method, deferred payment, penalty for delinquent payment, and issuance and sale of tax certificates and tax deeds for nonpayment.” (§ 197.3632(8)(a)). A tax certificate, in the same chapter's definition, is a document “representing unpaid delinquent real property taxes, non-ad valorem assessments, including special assessments, interest, and related costs and charges” (§ 197.102(1)(f)). A district may also foreclose its lien in court: “Such foreclosure proceedings may be brought at any time after the expiration of 1 year from the date any tax, or installment thereof, becomes delinquent; however no lien shall be foreclosed against any political subdivision or agency of the state.” (§ 190.026). What applies to one property is a question for an attorney.

The disclosure in the contract: § 190.048

The statute puts a warning in the contract for the initial sale. “Subsequent to the establishment of a district under this chapter, each contract for the initial sale of a parcel of real property and each contract for the initial sale of a residential unit within the district shall include, immediately prior to the space reserved in the contract for the signature of the purchaser, the following disclosure statement in boldfaced and conspicuous type which is larger than the type in the remaining text of the contract”: “THE (Name of District) COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DISTRICT MAY IMPOSE AND LEVY TAXES OR ASSESSMENTS, OR BOTH TAXES AND ASSESSMENTS, ON THIS PROPERTY. THESE TAXES AND ASSESSMENTS PAY THE CONSTRUCTION, OPERATION, AND MAINTENANCE COSTS OF CERTAIN PUBLIC FACILITIES AND SERVICES OF THE DISTRICT AND ARE SET ANNUALLY BY THE GOVERNING BOARD OF THE DISTRICT. THESE TAXES AND ASSESSMENTS ARE IN ADDITION TO COUNTY AND OTHER LOCAL GOVERNMENTAL TAXES AND ASSESSMENTS AND ALL OTHER TAXES AND ASSESSMENTS PROVIDED FOR BY LAW.” (§ 190.048).

§ 190.048 requires a disclosure statement, in boldfaced type, in each contract “for the initial sale” of a parcel of real property, or of a residential unit, within the district. The chapter does not define “initial sale”, and the section does not say that the statement must be in the contract when a home is sold again later; this guide does not say what a resale contract contains. The ways to check an address, by the tax bill, the State's list, the district's website and the recorded notice, do not depend on the contract.

Two more disclosures are in the public record. “Within 30 days after the effective date of a rule or ordinance establishing a community development district under this act, the district shall cause to be recorded in the property records in the county in which it is located a “Notice of Establishment of the Community Development District.”” (§ 190.0485), and that notice must include “the legal description of the district and a copy of the disclosure statement specified in s. 190.048”. And “The district shall take affirmative steps to provide for the full disclosure of information relating to the public financing and maintenance of improvements to real property undertaken by the district. Such information shall be made available to all existing residents, and to all prospective residents, of the district.” (§ 190.009(1)); the district files those disclosure documents “in the property records of each county in which the district is located”.

How to find a home without a CDD: check the address

No official list of homes without a CDD exists, and this page does not make one. What the State publishes is the reverse: the Official List of Special Districts, kept by FloridaCommerce, which names every district and its county. Its report of October 13, 2026 shows 1,103 districts statewide with the special purpose “Community Development”, and, among active districts that lie in a single county, 28 in Orange County, 61 in Osceola County, 91 in Polk County and 43 in Lake County (FloridaCommerce, Official List of Special Districts). The State's report for one county leaves out the districts that lie in more than one county. Those are counts of districts. They are not counts of communities or of homes, and a home is inside a district or outside it by where its lot lies.

First, the tax bill. A district that collects through the county appears on the parcel's tax bill among its non-ad valorem assessments. Orange County's Tax Collector says its records can be searched “by owner name, parcel ID, tangible ID, or location address” (Orange County Tax Collector, Property Tax). Polk County's Tax Collector lists the bodies that assess, community development districts among them, under “Other Non-Ad Valorem Assessing Authorities”, and tells owners to “direct their inquiries” to them (Polk County Tax Collector, Taxing Authorities). Osceola's and Lake's tax collectors have their own tax pages (Osceola County Tax Collector, Real Estate Taxes; Lake County Tax Collector, Property Taxes). The bill to read is the parcel's own, for the most recent year. A district may collect another way, “in accordance with other collection measures provided by law” (§ 190.021(9)), so a bill with no district on it is not proof by itself: the State's list, the district's own website and the recorded notice are the other checks.

Second, the State's list. The Official List can be searched by county and by special purpose, and each entry gives the district's legal name, its status and its website where one is listed (FloridaCommerce, Official List of Special Districts). The list tells you which districts exist in a county; the district's own boundary map, or the tax bill, tells you whether an address is inside one.

Third, the district's own website. The law requires one: “Beginning on October 1, 2015, or by the end of the first full fiscal year after its creation, each special district shall maintain an official website containing the information required by this section.” (§ 189.069(1)), and it must carry, among other things, “A listing of all taxes, fees, assessments, or charges imposed and collected by the special district, including the rates or amounts for the fiscal year and the statutory authority for the levy of the tax, fee, assessment, or charge” (§ 189.069(2)(a)). It must also carry “The budget of the special district and any amendments thereto in accordance with s. 189.016” (§ 189.069(2)(a)). Those two are where a district's assessments are read.

Fourth, the recorded notice. § 190.0485 has the district record a Notice of Establishment in the county's property records, with the legal description of the district; it is there to be searched. A search that finds none is not proof that there is no district.

What a CDD costs: four districts' own figures

What a district costs is set by its own board every year, so the only honest figures are a district's own, with their year. The table gives lines from four adopted budgets, one in each of four counties, exactly as each district prints them. They are examples of how different the amounts are, not a range: each is for one kind of home in one district in one fiscal year.

The amounts cannot be set against one another without reading each schedule. The Cascades at Groveland budget says its amount includes “all applicable county collection costs (2%) and early payment discounts”, and the Reunion East chart prints one gross figure per unit and does not split it. A district's own schedule is the place to read what a line includes.

How long it lasts

Chapter 190 does not say how many years a home's assessment for bonds will run. What it limits is something else, and in more than one place. § 190.022, whose first subsection lets the board levy special assessments by the procedures of chapter 170 or chapter 197, says in its second: “Notwithstanding the provisions of s. 170.09, district assessments may be made payable in no more than 30 yearly installments.” (§ 190.022(2)). A bond's maturity dates “shall not exceed 40 years from their respective dates of issuance” (§ 190.016(2)). The chapter has other limits of time on what a district borrows, among them: bond anticipation notes “mature at such time or times not later than 5 years from the date of issuance” (§ 190.014), and for assessment bonds “the maturities of such assessment bonds or other obligations shall not be more than 2 years after the due date of the last installment which will be payable on any of the special assessments for which such assessment liens, or the certificates of indebtedness representing such assessment liens, are assigned to or deposited in such special fund” (§ 190.023(3)). § 190.021(2), on the benefit special assessments levied for bonds, and § 190.021(3), on maintenance special assessments, give no number of years. The term of a given bond, and how long a given home's assessment runs, are in the district's documents, not in the statute.

Paying an assessment off early has rules of its own. For an assessment collected under § 197.3632: “Within 30 days following the hearing provided in subsection (4), any person having any right, title, or interest in any parcel against which an assessment has been levied may elect to prepay the same in whole, and the amount of such assessment shall be the full amount levied, reduced, if the local government so provides, by a discount equal to any portion of the assessment which is attributable to the parcel’s proportionate share of any bond financing costs, provided the errors and insolvency procedures available for use in the collection of ad valorem taxes pursuant to s. 197.492 are followed.” (§ 197.3632(8)(b)). And for one that funds a capital project: “The local government is not required to allow prepayment for capital project assessments as set forth in paragraph (8)(b); however, if prepayment is allowed, the errors and insolvency procedures available for use in the collection of ad valorem taxes pursuant to s. 197.492 must be followed.” (§ 197.3632(10)(b)3.). One district tells its own residents that its bond assessment “typically lasts about 30 years, does not change, and can be paid off early”, and of its maintenance assessment that “it never goes away” (Solterra Resort CDD, Understanding Your CDD Assessment Letter). Those are that district's statements about itself.

A district can end, on conditions: “If a district has no outstanding financial obligations and no operating or maintenance responsibilities, upon the petition of the district, the district may be dissolved by a nonemergency ordinance of the general-purpose local governmental entity that established the district or, if the district was established by rule of the Florida Land and Water Adjudicatory Commission, the district may be dissolved by repeal of such rule of the commission.” (§ 190.046(10)). That is one of the ways the section names. A district also ceases to exist when it is merged with another district or when all of its systems, facilities and services are transferred to a county or city (§ 190.046(2)); it is dissolved automatically in the case of § 190.046(8): “If, within 5 years after the effective date of the rule or ordinance establishing the district, a landowner has not received a development permit, as defined in chapter 380, on some part or all of the area covered by the district, then the district will be automatically dissolved and a judge of the circuit court shall cause a statement to that effect to be filed in the public records.”; and § 190.046(9) says what the county or city does when a district has become inactive. Each has its own conditions in the section.

Homes without a CDD in Lake Nona

The search that brings many readers here is for homes without a CDD in Lake Nona. The sources do not answer it by neighborhood. The State's list shows, among Orange County's 28, four districts named improvement districts (Boggy Creek, GreeneWay, Midtown and Myrtle Creek) and, beside them, districts named community development districts. The Narcoossee Community Development District names “Lake Nona Preserve” among its neighborhoods, and the Midtown Improvement District describes itself as “an independent special district, created pursuant to and existing under the provisions of Chapter 190, Florida Statutes, and established by Ordinance No. 2021-33, enacted by the City Council for the City of Orlando, Florida, on June 28, 2021” (Narcoossee CDD, home page; Midtown Improvement District, home page). None of those pages says which other Lake Nona communities are inside a district and which are not.

So the answer for Lake Nona is the same as for anywhere else: by address. A home is outside every district when its tax bill carries no district's assessment and its lot is in no district's boundaries, and that is checked parcel by parcel, not by the name of the community.

What this means when you are choosing a home

Whether a home inside a district suits a buyer is the buyer's decision. What the statute gives a buyer is the means to know, before signing, that the district exists, what it charges this year and that its assessments are a lien on the property.