Viera Stewardship District and CDDs

The Viera Stewardship District is a special-purpose local government that funds and maintains public infrastructure for the planned West Viera development in Brevard County (Viera Stewardship District, About the District).

The Viera Stewardship District says it was set up to provide efficient funding and a long-term maintenance mechanism for the public infrastructure tied to the West Viera Development of Regional Impact (Viera Stewardship District, About the District). The district says that development plan now calls for 18,023 homes, along with 546,129 square feet of commercial space, 476,368 square feet of office space and assorted recreational and institutional facilities (Viera Stewardship District, About the District).

District land totals approximately 13,441.6 acres; the Eight-Mile Canal forms its northern line, the River Lakes Conservation Area its western and southern lines, and the Viera Development of Regional Impact and I-95 its eastern line (Viera Stewardship District, Required Reporting of Information). Viera East has a separate community development district, described further down this page (Viera East CDD, CDD Info).

The Viera Stewardship District is not a city and has no planning or zoning role: its charter says it does not have the power of a general-purpose local government to adopt a comprehensive plan or land development regulations, so land use in Viera stays with Brevard County (Chapter 2006-360, Laws of Florida).

The Viera Stewardship District was created by a special act of the Florida Legislature, Chapter 2006-360, Laws of Florida, which the act itself says may be cited as the Viera Stewardship District Act (Chapter 2006-360, Laws of Florida).

The Viera act began as House Bill No. 1559 and was approved by the Governor and filed with the Secretary of State on June 23, 2006 (Chapter 2006-360, Laws of Florida). The district's own reporting page describes the same origin differently: it calls the Viera Stewardship District a local, special-purpose government authorized by Chapter 190 of the Florida Statutes and established on June 23, 2006 by the Brevard County Board of County Commissioners, Chapter 2006-360 (Viera Stewardship District, Required Reporting of Information). Both descriptions are posted by official sources and are stated here as written.

The Legislature's findings explain why Viera got one large district instead of several smaller ones. The act finds that setting up several community development districts over lands this large would be an inefficient, duplicative and needless proliferation of local special purpose government, and that one coordinated entity for the Viera lands is in the public interest (Chapter 2006-360, Laws of Florida). The findings also name long-term stewardship of environmental and conservation resources, including habitat protection and management plans, as a public purpose (Chapter 2006-360, Laws of Florida).

Two more points shape how the Viera Stewardship District works. Most of the act took effect only after a majority vote of landowners at a landowners' meeting, where each assessable acre counted as one vote (Chapter 2006-360, Laws of Florida). The act can be amended only by another special act of the Legislature, and the district's reporting page lists a later law, Chapter 2009-249, among its charter documents (Viera Stewardship District, Required Reporting of Information).

Day to day, the Viera Stewardship District pays for drainage, lighting and habitat upkeep (Viera Stewardship District, About the District), and its reporting page lists special powers for parks, security and waste services (Viera Stewardship District, Required Reporting of Information).

The district names four maintenance jobs: aquatic weed control in the drainage system and community canal, upkeep of preferred-cover type areas, street lighting, and wetland and habitat work in the Viera Wilderness Park (Viera Stewardship District, About the District). Its reporting page says the district may also exercise special powers for parks and recreation services and facilities, security services and facilities, and waste collection and disposal services under sections 190.012(2)(a), (d) and (f) of the Florida Statutes (Viera Stewardship District, Required Reporting of Information).

The Viera act lists further powers, including control and elimination of mosquitoes and other arthropods, waste collection and disposal, impact fee credit agreements, and buildings for district offices, maintenance facilities, meeting facilities and community centers (Chapter 2006-360, Laws of Florida). Any system or facility the Viera Stewardship District owns is public; the district may set reasonable fees for its use, but not to the point of denying reasonable access (Chapter 2006-360, Laws of Florida).

The Viera Stewardship District is run under contract: a district manager firm serves as its chief administrative official, and the board also uses legal counsel, an environmental professional and a staff engineer who work at the board's direction (Viera Stewardship District, About the District). The district's listed contact is 2300 Glades Road, Suite 410W, Boca Raton, Florida 33431, phone (561) 571-0010, email info@vierastewardshipdistrict.org (Viera Stewardship District, About the District).

Viera Stewardship District maintenance charges are non-ad valorem assessments that may be certified to the Brevard County Property Appraiser, placed on the county tax roll and collected by the Tax Collector at the same time as county taxes (Chapter 2006-360, Laws of Florida).

Under the Viera act, the board may levy a maintenance special assessment to maintain and preserve district facilities; it is certified to the property appraiser no later than August 31 of each year, entered on the county tax rolls, and collected and enforced by the tax collector in the same manner and at the same time as county taxes, with the proceeds paid to the district (Chapter 2006-360, Laws of Florida). The amount is set by the board based on a report of the district's engineer (Chapter 2006-360, Laws of Florida). The act declares benefit special assessments, maintenance special assessments and special assessments to be non-ad valorem assessments, and every assessment is a lien on the property from the date it is levied until paid (Chapter 2006-360, Laws of Florida).

State law on the uniform collection method explains how the charge appears on a Viera tax bill. Non-ad valorem assessments collected that way are included in the combined notice for ad valorem taxes and non-ad valorem assessments, with a separate mailing allowed only in the most exigent circumstances (Florida Statutes section 197.3632). Assessments on that roll are bound by every collection rule in Chapter 197, from the early payment discount and installment prepayment to late payment penalties and, for nonpayment, the sale of tax certificates and tax deeds (Florida Statutes section 197.3632). A new or increased assessment roll must be adopted at a public hearing held between January 1 and September 15 (Florida Statutes section 197.3632).

One limit applies to taxes in Viera: the Viera Stewardship District board may not use the ad valorem taxing power or issue general obligation bonds until every supervisor is a qualified elector elected by the district's qualified electors, and even then only after approval in a referendum of those electors (Chapter 2006-360, Laws of Florida). The district posts its adopted budget for fiscal year 2027 and an assessments summary on its reporting page, and its fiscal year runs October 1 to September 30 (Viera Stewardship District, Required Reporting of Information).

Five supervisors with four-year terms govern the Viera Stewardship District: landowners elect three of them, and voters in Brevard County general elections choose the other two (Viera Stewardship District, About the District).

The Viera act sets a schedule for moving control from landowners to residents (Chapter 2006-360, Laws of Florida):

All rows are from the Viera act (Chapter 2006-360, Laws of Florida). A qualified elector is a person at least 18 years old who is a U.S. citizen, a legal resident of Florida and of the district, and registered to vote with the Brevard County Supervisor of Elections (Chapter 2006-360, Laws of Florida).

The Viera Stewardship District's rules of procedure set how meetings run. The board publishes a schedule of regular meetings for each fiscal year in a newspaper of general circulation in the county, sets aside time for public comment at each meeting, and may hold each speaker to three minutes (Viera Stewardship District Rules of Procedure). At least three supervisors must be physically present for a quorum (Viera Stewardship District Rules of Procedure). Its Record of Proceedings is kept at a district office and is open for public inspection (Viera Stewardship District Rules of Procedure).

Viera East has its own district: the Viera East Community Development District, created April 16, 1991 by rule of the Florida Land and Water Adjudicatory Commission (Viera East CDD, CDD Info).

Rows come from the Viera Stewardship District reporting page (Viera Stewardship District, Required Reporting of Information), the Viera act (Chapter 2006-360, Laws of Florida) and the Viera East CDD information page (Viera East CDD, CDD Info). The Viera East CDD describes itself as a local, special purpose government created as an alternative method of planning, acquiring, operating and maintaining community-wide improvements in planned communities, and says its assessments are collected under Chapter 170 of the Florida Statutes (Viera East CDD, CDD Info). Its website posts budgets, agendas and minutes, audit reports and a public facilities report (Viera East CDD, CDD Info).

The Viera East CDD's audited statements for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2021, filed with the Florida Auditor General, add detail: the district was created by the Florida Land and Water Adjudicatory Commission by Chapter 42M-1, its five-member Board of Supervisors is elected by registered voters as provided in section 190.006, and it runs a golf course and related recreational facilities as a business-type activity paid mainly by charges to customers (Viera East CDD financial statements for fiscal 2021, Florida Auditor General). Those statements describe Viera East operating and maintenance assessments as non-ad valorem assessments based on the adopted budget and levied annually at a public hearing, with debt service assessments levied when bonds are issued (Viera East CDD financial statements for fiscal 2021, Florida Auditor General).

State law sets two routes for creating a community development district like the one in Viera East. A district of 2,500 acres or more is established by a rule of the Florida Land and Water Adjudicatory Commission granting a petition, while one under 2,500 acres is generally established by county ordinance (Florida Statutes section 190.005). The petition must show the written consent of all landowners in the district or control of all of the land, and must name five initial supervisors (Florida Statutes section 190.005).

State law requires a district disclosure in the contract for the first sale of a lot or home inside a Viera district (Florida Statutes section 190.048).

For community development districts such as Viera East, each contract for the initial sale of a parcel or residential unit must carry a boldfaced notice, placed just above the buyer's signature, that the district may impose and levy taxes or assessments that pay for the construction, operation and maintenance of district facilities, are set annually by the district board, and come in addition to county and other local taxes (Florida Statutes section 190.048). The Viera Stewardship District Act requires a matching notice in contracts that names the Viera Stewardship District (Chapter 2006-360, Laws of Florida).

The Viera act also required the district to record a Notice of Creation and Establishment of the Viera Stewardship District, with the legal description of the land, in the grantor-grantee index of the county property records within 30 days after its first board election (Chapter 2006-360, Laws of Florida).

For dollar amounts, the most direct sources are the districts themselves: the Viera Stewardship District posts its adopted budget, an assessments summary and links to audited financial reports on the Florida Auditor General website (Viera Stewardship District, Required Reporting of Information), and the Viera East CDD posts its budget and related assessments on its information page (Viera East CDD, CDD Info).

Last verified: October 21, 2026, by reading the Viera Stewardship District about, reporting and rules pages, the Viera East CDD information page, Chapter 2006-360 and Florida Statutes sections 190.005, 190.048 and 197.3632.