Welcome
Welcome to the official website for the Bridgewater Community Development District (the “District”). This website is funded on behalf of the District to serve two major purposes. The first is to comply with Chapter 189.069 of the Florida Statutes, which requires each special district to maintain an official internet website. The second is an effort to help educate the general public about the services provided by the District, and to highlight the other agencies involved in the day-to-day operations of the community. These agencies include, but are not limited to the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, the City of Lakeland, Polk County and the Bridgewater Home Owners Association.
Bridgewater Community Development District Disclosure
Please be advised that the Bridgewater Community Development District (the “District”), a local unit of special purpose government created under Florida law, has constructed and is responsible for the maintenance of certain improvements, infrastructure and facilities within the District. The District financed this construction through the sale of tax-exempt bonds, a form of public financing. As a result, and in accordance with applicable federal and state law, all District owned improvements, infrastructure and facilities are and shall remain open and accessible to the general public. Should you have any questions on this matter, non-resident user fees applicable to District recreational facilities, or any other general District issue, please feel free to contact the District Manager.
HURRICANE UPDATE IN THE DISTRICT
We hope everyone is safe and well from hurricane Milton. Our biggest priority firsthand was getting the amenity center open and running for resident use, hazardous trees off of roadways, and making sure the district was operational. Our next steps in this process are assessing damages, repairs, supply ordering, etc. We are working closely with the district vendors on Hurricane cleanup and getting the community back up to standards. We ask for your patience through this process given it’s going to take time to recover and if you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to reach out to (813) 344-4844.
Zoom Information for CDD Meetings
Click Link to Join Meetings: Zoom Link
Meeting ID: 434 904 6526
Passcode: YZ7mxp
Resident Information
CDDs have different responsibilities in different communities. In Bridgewater, the CDD is primarily tasked with managing the stormwater and the lakes. The bulk of our expenses include engineering fees, legal fees, lawn/landscaping fees, paying the management company, and lake care and maintenance.
The board has not been operating within the budget for several years, which resulted in money being pulled from reserves each year. With three new board members, we avoided an increase last year choosing to pull that money from reserves but when analyzing both current and future expenses, we realized we could not continue down that path. Our community is now almost 20 years old and much of the infrastructure is aging - as some of you have witnessed with recent heavy rains.
We have put a plan into place to repair many of the sumps (drainage areas) on a schedule over the next several years. And took the much needed step this year to balance the budget which resulted in an increase.
We also switched management companies this year which resulted in a decrease in our management fees to save money.
How your CDD assessment is calculated:
The CDD has two portions that show up as one number on your tax bill. Part 1 is the debt (bond) portion that was taken out by the developers and was then divided amongst the lots based on lot size. Part 2 is the Operations & Maintenance portion (O&M). Part 1 is set and doesn't change unless the bond is refinanced or added to. Part 2 is what we actually operate with (money we have to spend). The largest portion of the amount that appears on your tax bill is paying back the debt
If you have any questions, please visit the CDD website at BridgewaterCDD.org. We encourage you to attend the budget meeting set for August 29 at 6pm.
