OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. — A new bill would give people the power to take action against their Community Development District board members for misconduct or failure to perform the job.
State Senator Kristen Arrington filed SB 1180 this week. It could affect a situation currently happening in Osceola County, where neighbors claim that the Concorde Estates Community Development District spent $900,000 in 20 days without any apparent vote among board members.
State auditors are now planning an audit of the District, following a request from State Senator Arrington and a unanimous vote from the Joint Legislative Auditing Committee.
FDLE is also investigating Concorde Estates, but the agency hasn’t commented further on the investigation.
So, what is a community development district?
In the state of Florida, tens of thousands of people live in these neighborhoods.
This is a mini-local government created to build and maintain the community.
It handles the development and maintenance of various facilities, including roads, landscaping, parks, and amenities.
It is paid for through assessments on the homeowners who live there and is reflected on their annual property tax bill.
Senator Arrington says she hopes this gives residents an option to act soon rather than waiting for the results of this state audit, which could take several months.
As election law currently stands, the only way to hold district members accountable is to vote them out at the end of their term, which is typically four years.
If this bill passes, it would give residents an explicit, enforceable avenue to remove failing board members for the first time.
“This is what we’ve been working for and asking for and pleading for,” said Sharon Taggert, a resident at Concorde Estates.
Jim and Sharon Taggert are two of many residents who went door-to-door in their district, Concorde Estates, to gather voters’ signatures to recall board members last year.
This is despite the District and its chairman not having answered residents’ questions about why the community was falling into disrepair, with amenities not being maintained and grass sometimes overgrown.
Residents allege the District spent half its budget, $900,000, in 20 days in December 2024 without a vote from the board.
“There has been no sufficient explanation from the board regarding the necessity or justification for this level of expenditure,” according to a letter from Senator Arrington to lawmakers requesting the state audit last November.
Some board members, including the chairman Victor Cruz, have been no-shows at scheduled meetings. Residents say at least three meetings have been canceled at the last minute.
In fact, on Wednesday, 9 Investigates was at the scheduled board meeting along with more than a dozen residents and two board members. It wasn’t until after the meeting was set to start that residents learned the meeting had been canceled without any explanation.
Residents say the last meeting they’ve had was June 2025.“These people have control of our purse strings,” Taggert said. “We need to go with people that we feel we can trust.”
Osceola County Supervisor of Elections Mary Jane Arrington told 9 Investigates that after residents gathered signatures, the state advised her that election law wouldn’t allow recalls in special districts.
Now, her daughter-in-law, State Senator Arrington, filed a 13-page bill.
“We just want them to be held accountable to you know the same standards that other elected officials are,” Sen. Arrington said.
If this bill passes, it will hold district board members to the same standard as city and county officials.
It allows voters in the district to remove elected officials for various reasons, including malfeasance, misfeasance, neglect of duty, and incompetence.
To initiate the recall process, 10 percent of registered voters in the CDD must sign the initial recall petition within 30 days.
The board member is then given a chance to respond, petitioners must collect an additional round of signatures, 15 percent of registered voters in the district, to force a recall election.
A simple majority, defined as 50 percent plus one, is required to remove a board member, according to the proposed bill.
“This is something that the residents could do timely and a great way that they could put the situation into their own hands,” Sen. Arrington told 9 Investigates.
The Florida Legislature is set to start the 2026 session this upcoming Tuesday.
After this story was published, Concorde Estates provided the statement below. It is the same statement the District provided in October when asked about misuse of spending and other allegations.
“At this time, the Concorde Estates Community Development District Board has not authorized any interviews or public statements concerning ongoing matters. Because there are potential legal issues and other pending proceedings, the Board believes that public comment at this stage could be detrimental to the interests of the District and the community as a whole.”
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