Rapidly growing Polk County covers more than 2,000 square miles, is home to over 560,000 people, and is the fourth largest county in Florida. Seventeen municipalities lie within Polk’s boundaries. However, half of the total population lives in the unincorporated area, where county roads are becoming more and more congested each day and where very limited county parks provide sites, facilities and amenities for families to play together – enjoying sports, water, and recreation in the great outdoors. The influx of people inhabiting Polk County creates the need for enhancements in library facilities, waste management services, utilities services including water, wastewater, and reclaimed water services, and natural resource programs that support, protect, enhance, and manage the environment including public lakes and waterways.

While progress is evident everywhere in Polk County, unprecedented growth, coupled with anticipated continued growth, have resulted in many challenges, among them – the need to:

• Improve driving conditions by adding capacity to our roads (more lanes, etc.)
• Improve substandard roads (resurface or widen them to today’s standards and vehicle requirements)
• Improve intersections (adding turn lanes to improve traffic flow, etc.)
• Add or improve parks and recreation facilities
• Increase access to libraries
• Improve drainage…. and more

All of these quality of life issues affect both Polk residents and visitors to some extent every day.

In 2005, the Board of County Commissioners (BoCC) addressed many critical infrastructure needs when they approved funding for significant “Investments in Polk’s Future” in the form of a 1 mill ad valorem tax for roads, ½ mill Municipal Services Taxing Unit (MSTU) for parks and ¼ mill MSTU for libraries. As a result of that decision, several major community investment projects will be completed over the next 10 years to fill critical needs and close the existing infrastructure gap (backlog of necessary improvements due to growth pressures). In fact, over the course of the next decade, the BoCC will execute a community investment plan that includes approximately $1.6 billion for roads, $93.5 million for parks, and additional monies for library operations/project expenses.

Additionally, to help ensure that FUTURE growth pays for itself, the BoCC approved new or increased impact fees for the following growth-related services:

By law, impact fees can only be used to handle the “impact” of new growth. They cannot be used for pre-existing infrastructure needs. When a new residential or commercial building goes up and folks move in – that impacts traffic on the roads, increases law enforcement, fire and EMS demands, and adds stress to utilities and drainage systems. Impact fees are intended to provide (at least partially) revenue needed to meet the increased demand caused by growth. The idea is that new residents and businesses, through impact fees, pay their own way, rather than having ALL taxpayers pay for their affect/impact on existing infrastructure and systems.

Details of projects and their status will be provided to residents via this website, through the local media, by e-mail (if you sign up for updates), on PGTV, and at town hall meetings. Be sure to tune in to the following programs for detailed information about project progress going on in your area: “It Starts in Parks" and "Roads Show". New editions are produced monthly. And, for bi-weekly snapshot updates, be sure to watch "Dateline Polk." Additionally, you’ll be able to recognize the projects as you drive around the county because they’ll be clearly marked with signage.

If your residence or business is impacted by a project, you can expect to hear directly from county officials. This could be in the form of a community meeting where the public is invited and encouraged to participate, by postcard or door hangar. The professionals at Polk County Government are always eager to assist you, please don’t hesitate to contact us directly if you have any questions or just need more information about the projects in your area.