Can a Florida community development district divide itself into voting zones, with each zone electing one board member to ensure each subdivision within the district gets representation?
Subject
Whether the Dunes Community Development District (a CDD in Flagler County encompassing four distinct residential communities) may, by administrative action, create voting zones within the district so that each zone elects one supervisor to the Board of Supervisors, in order to ensure equal representation across the District's geographic subdivisions.
Currency note
This opinion was issued in 2019. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule about CDD elections.
Plain-English summary
Community development districts (CDDs) in Florida are special-purpose local governments under Chapter 190 that finance and operate community infrastructure (roads, water, sewer, drainage, recreation) in master-planned communities. The CDD's governing body is a five-member elected Board of Supervisors. After an initial period during which the developer-owner controls the seats, the board transitions to election by "qualified electors of the district."
The Dunes CDD encompassed about 2,200 acres and contained four residential communities: Hammock Dunes, Ocean Hammock, Hammock Beach, and Yacht Harbor Village. Two-thirds of the population lived in the southern communities (Hammock Dunes and Yacht Harbor Village); one-third lived in the northern communities (Ocean Hammock and Hammock Beach). Each community had its own homeowners' association and its own service issues. Because of the population imbalance, the southern communities could routinely elect their candidates, and the northern communities had little chance of getting a representative on the board.
The District wanted to create voting zones, with each zone electing one supervisor, to ensure each community got representation. They argued the general powers in § 190.011 implied the authority to do so. AG Moody disagreed.
Section 190.006 prescribes the election structure. Subsection (3)(a)1 says: "All elected board members must be qualified electors of the district." Section 190.003(17) defines "qualified elector" as a U.S. citizen at least 18 years old who is a legal resident of Florida and of the district and who registers to vote with the supervisor of elections in the county. Subsection (3)(b) says elections are conducted "in the manner prescribed by law for holding general elections." So board members must be qualified electors of the district as a whole, not of any particular zone within it.
Adding a zone-residency requirement creates a new qualification. To be eligible to serve on the board under the proposed zone structure, a candidate would also need to be a "qualified elector of the zone" he or she sought to represent. Florida law generally treats voter or candidate qualifications as a matter of legislative determination, not administrative discretion. Imposing a new qualification, even a benign one designed to ensure geographic representation, would exceed the District's express grant of power in § 190.011.
Sections 190.011(5) and (15) (general powers). The District argued these gave it implied authority. Subsection (5) lets a district "adopt rules and orders" prescribing officer powers, conducting business, maintaining records, and so on. Subsection (15) lets a district "exercise all of the powers necessary, convenient, incidental, or proper in connection with any of the powers, duties, or purposes authorized by this act." The AG read those provisions as letting the district implement the existing election structure, not redesign it. The "structure of political accountability" set by the Legislature could not be modified by district rule.
The merger provision (§ 190.046(4)(b)). The District also pointed to § 190.046, which lets up to five CDDs created by the same government merge into one. After a merger, the resulting board has up to five members, with one member from within the boundaries of each former district and any remainder at-large. That looks like voting zones. The AG distinguished it: the Legislature had expressly authorized this geographic-distribution rule for the merger context only. Under the canon expressio unius est exclusio alterius (citing Thayer v. State, 335 So. 2d 815 (Fla. 1976)), the explicit authorization in one context excludes implied authorization in others.
The general rule on special-district powers. Florida law treats special districts as having only the powers the Legislature has expressly delegated, citing Hernandez v. Trout Creek Development Corp., 779 So. 2d 360 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000), and Halifax Hospital Medical Center v. State, 2019 WL 1716374 (Fla. 2019). A CDD cannot invent zones the Legislature did not authorize.
The AG closed: the change the District wanted was a matter for the Legislature.
Common questions
Q: What is a "community development district"?
A special-purpose local government under Florida Chapter 190, used to finance and maintain infrastructure in master-planned communities. CDDs can issue bonds, levy assessments, and operate community amenities (pools, gates, landscaping). They are common in Florida new-construction developments.
Q: Why does the geographic imbalance matter?
In a CDD covering multiple subdivisions with very different population sizes, the larger subdivision can routinely elect all the supervisors, leaving the smaller subdivisions with no representation on the board that taxes, regulates, and maintains their community. The Dunes CDD's solution (zones with one supervisor each) was designed to address that imbalance, but the AG concluded it had to come from the Legislature, not the District.
Q: Could the Dunes CDD be merged with another CDD to create the zone structure?
Section 190.046(4) allows up to five CDDs created by the same government to merge into one. After merger, each former district gets one board seat, and remaining seats are at-large. That structure could approximate zones. But the merger has to be of formerly separate CDDs created by the same government, not a subdivision of one existing CDD into voting zones.
Q: What is "expressio unius est exclusio alterius"?
A statutory-interpretation canon that the express mention of one thing implies the exclusion of others. The AG used it to read § 190.046(4)(b) as a deliberate choice to limit the zone-like geographic distribution to the merger context, not extend it to single districts by implication.
Background and statutory framework
Chapter 190 of the Florida Statutes governs community development districts. Section 190.003(6) defines a CDD as "a local unit of special-purpose government." Section 190.006 sets up the Board of Supervisors and election procedures. Section 190.011 lists the general powers of a district. Section 190.046 governs contraction, expansion, and merger of districts.
The principle that special districts have only the powers the Legislature has granted them is well established in Florida case law. Hernandez v. Trout Creek Development Corp., 779 So. 2d 360 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000), and Halifax Hospital Medical Center v. State, 2019 WL 1716374 (Fla. 2019), confirm that doctrine. The AG also relied on the canon of construction articulated in Thayer v. State, 335 So. 2d 815 (Fla. 1976), and on a parallel 1978 AG opinion (Op. Att'y Gen. Fla. 78-115) holding that an Industrial Development Authority could not appoint seven members when the statute authorized only five.
Citations
Florida Statutes:
- § 190.003; § 190.003(6); § 190.003(17)
- § 190.006; § 190.006(1); § 190.006(3); § 190.006(3)(a)1; § 190.006(3)(b)
- § 190.011; § 190.011(5); § 190.011(15)
- § 190.046; § 190.046(4)(b)
Florida Cases:
- Hernandez v. Trout Creek Dev. Corp., 779 So. 2d 360 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000)
- Halifax Hosp. Med. Ctr. v. State, 2019 WL 1716374 (Fla. 2019)
- Thayer v. State, 335 So. 2d 815 (Fla. 1976)
Other AG Opinions:
- Op. Att'y Gen. Fla. 78-115 (1978)
Source
- Landing page: https://www.myfloridalegal.com/ag-opinions/community-development-district-board-voting-zones
- Original PDF: https://www.myfloridalegal.com/print/pdf/node/1478
Original opinion text
Mr. Michael D. Chiumento III
Counsel for Dunes Community Development District
145 City Place, Suite 301
Palm Coast, Florida 32164
RE: SPECIAL DISTRICT – COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DISTRICT – ELECTIONS -authority of community development district to create voting zones to elect Board of Supervisors. 190.003, 190.006, 190.011, 190.046.
Dear Mr. Chiumento:
This office has received your request for an Attorney General opinion on behalf of the Dunes Community Development District asking essentially the following questions:
-
Are community development districts permitted to create voting zones within the district and to have an elector residing in each such zone be elected by the district’s qualified electors to
the Board of Supervisors? -
If so, may the Community Development District take the administrative action of establishing such voting zones?
In sum:
There are no provisions in Chapter 190 that authorize a district to develop its own election procedures or modify the procedures set forth in section 190.006, Florida Statutes (2018). Section 190.006(3)(a)1 only requires elected board members to be “qualified electors of the district,” whereas the procedure you propose would also require at least some of the board members to be qualified electors of a particular zone within the district, and therefore is not authorized.
The Dunes Community Development District in Flagler County was created by administrative rule in 1985. It encompasses approximately 2,200 acres and contains four residential communities: Hammock Dunes, Ocean Hammock, Hammock Beach, and Yacht Harbor Village. You state that each community has its own homeowners’ association, its own social characteristics, and distinct governmental service issues.
For example, Ocean Hammock and Hammock Beach are forced to resolve unique stormwater management and dune preservation issues, and Hammock Beach is more commercial than the other communities.
Two-thirds of the population of the District resides in the southern communities of Hammock Dunes and Yacht Harbor Village, and one-third resides in the northern communities of Ocean Hammock and Hammock Beach. As a result, the southern communities have an advantage over the northern communities in being able to elect their own candidates to the District’s Board of Supervisors. Because of this, the District would like to establish voting zones. Qualified electors from each zone would elect a supervisor to represent that zone. This would ensure fair representation of all residents, regardless of the neighborhood in which they reside.
Section 190.003(6), Florida Statutes (2018), defines a “community development district” as:
[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; the governing head of which is a body created, organized, and constituted and authorized to function specifically as prescribed in this act for the purpose of the delivery of urban community development services; and the formation, powers, governing body, operation, duration, accountability, requirements for disclosure, and termination of which are as required by general law. (Emphasis supplied.)
Section 190.006(1), Florida Statutes (2018), provides: “The board of the district shall exercise the powers granted to the district pursuant to this act.”
The District’s Board of Supervisors consists of five members. Section 190.006 provides detailed procedures for electing members of a board of supervisors. These procedures make clear that, after an initial period of time, board members must be elected by “qualified electors,” which is defined to mean, “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.” §§ 190.006(3), 190.003(17), Fla. Stat. Section 190.006(3), Florida Statutes, provides in subsection (a)1: “All elected board members must be qualified electors of the district.” Subsection (3)(b) provides: “Elections of board members by qualified electors held pursuant to this subsection … shall be conducted in the manner prescribed by law for holding general elections.”
The general rule regarding the powers of special districts is that such districts may exercise only those powers the Legislature has delegated to them, either expressly or by necessary implication.[1] You suggest that sections 190.011(5) and (15) provide the necessary authority to the District to adopt voting zones. Section 190.011, Florida Statutes, sets forth the general powers of a district, such as to sue and be sued, to contract for various services, to borrow money, etc. Sections 190.011(5) and (15) provide:
The district shall have, and the body may exercise, the following powers:
-
- *
(5) To adopt rules and orders pursuant to the provisions of chapter 120 prescribing the powers, duties, and functions of the officers of the district; the conduct of the business of the district; the maintenance of records; and the form of certificates evidencing tax liens and all other documents and records of the district. The board may also adopt administrative rules with respect to any of the projects of the district and define the area to be included therein. The board may also adopt resolutions which may be necessary for the conduct of district business.
(15) To exercise all of the powers necessary, convenient, incidental, or proper in connection with any of the powers, duties, or purposes authorized by this act.
You contend that the express power to conduct the business of the district implies the administrative authority to make “the express power effective,” which would encompass the power to establish voting zones to “alleviate the suggested voting disparity” between the northern and southern communities. On the contrary, the quoted provisions authorize the District to adopt rules and exercise powers to implement the existing voting procedures articulated in section 190.006, but the District may not by rule alter the structure of political accountability of its board established by the Legislature in the act. Each board member must be elected by the “qualified electors” residing in the district, and those qualified electors are permitted to vote for each board member who governs the District. The creation of voting zones would contravene the district-wide procedure established by the law. Any change to that procedure is a matter for the Legislature.
To qualify to run for the Board of Supervisors, a person must be 18 years old, a resident of the district and of the state, a citizen of the United States, and registered to vote in the county where the community development district is located. §§ 190.003(17), 190.006(1) & (3)(a)1, Fla. Stat. To establish a new qualification – to be a resident of a particular voting zone – would exceed the legislative powers expressly granted in section 190.011, Florida Statutes.
You also contend that section 190.046(4)(b), Florida Statutes (2018), essentially creates voting zones when two or more community development districts merge, and that this “effectively authorizes” a single district to create voting zones. Generally, section 190.046 details the procedures to be followed when a community development district wishes either to contract or expand its boundaries, or to merge with one or more other districts. Subsection (4) provides that up to five districts that were established by the same government may merge into one district, and that the resulting district will still have only five members in its Board of Supervisors. One member must be from within the boundaries of each of the former districts involved in the merger, and any remainder within the allowable total of five will be at-large members from anywhere within the entire geographic area of the resulting district. The Legislature expressly outlined the new voting procedure to be followed in the case of a merger but did not authorize a change in voting procedure under any other circumstance. When the Legislature directs how a certain thing shall operate, “it is ordinarily to be construed as excluding from its operation all those not expressly mentioned.”[2]
It is my opinion that the grant of powers in chapter 190 does not encompass an implied administrative authority to create zones within the District and to require supervisor candidates to reside in particular zones in order to qualify for election to the Board of Supervisors.
Sincerely,
Ashley Moody
Attorney General
AM/ebg
[1] See Hernandez v. Trout Creek Dev. Corp., 779 So. 2d 360, 362 (Fla. 2d DCA 2000). See also Halifax Hosp. Med. Ctr. V. State, 2019 WL 1716374, at 1 (Fla. 2019).
[2] Thayer v. State, 335 So. 2d 815, 817 (Fla. 1976). See also Op. Att’y Gen. Fla. 78-115 (1978) (statute authorized the county commission to appoint five members to Industrial Development Authority, and thus it could not instead choose to appoint seven members).