Community Development District Fee Calculator
A CDD is not an HOA, and it does not appear in the listing price. It appears on the tax bill.
What This Calculator Does
Separates a CDD assessment into its two parts — the debt portion repaying the bonds that funded the community's roads, drainage, and utilities, and the operations and maintenance portion that keeps them running — then shows the combined annual and monthly cost and what changes once the bond is retired.
Who Is This For
Buyers looking at newer master-planned communities across South Florida, owners comparing two similar homes where only one carries a district assessment, and anyone whose lender's payment estimate came back higher than the listing suggested.
How It Works
Enter the annual debt assessment and the operations and maintenance assessment from the property's tax record, along with any HOA dues. The calculator returns the total monthly housing cost and identifies the portion that ends when the bond matures.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a CDD?
A Community Development District is a special-purpose local government created to finance and maintain the infrastructure of a new community — roads, water and sewer lines, drainage, and common amenities. It issues bonds to build them and assesses the property owners inside the district to repay those bonds.
How is it different from an HOA?
An HOA is a private association funded by dues it bills you directly, and it enforces community rules. A CDD is a unit of local government, its assessment is collected on your county property tax bill, and it is not optional. Many communities have both, and the two charges are entirely separate.
Does it ever end?
The debt portion does, once the bonds that funded the infrastructure are repaid. The operations and maintenance portion continues for as long as there is infrastructure to maintain. Ask for the district's remaining bond term before you assume the charge is permanent — or that it is about to disappear.
Can I pay off the bond early?
Many districts let an owner pay off their share of the bond in a lump sum, which removes the debt portion from future bills. Whether that is worth doing depends on how long you plan to own and on how the payoff compares with the remaining assessments. The district office holds the figures.
Are CDDs common in Miami?
They are far more common in newer master-planned developments across South Florida than in the core Miami condo market, where an association handles the same functions privately. If you are shopping new construction or the western suburbs, expect to encounter them.
How do I find out whether a property has one?
The county tax bill shows it as a separate non-ad valorem line, and Florida sellers are required to disclose district assessments to buyers. Read the actual tax bill rather than the listing — a CDD can add a meaningful amount to your monthly housing cost, and it is easy to miss until closing.