The power, phone and cable lines strung along Rio Vista's streets are under review. Burying them is part of an open City of Fort Lauderdale process. In April 2026, City staff told the neighborhood the full project would cost about $80 million. In the minutes' wording, that comes to roughly $3,000 per year for 30 years "per resident." Under the City's program, that kind of cost is repaid through a line on the property tax bill. The assessment is not on Rio Vista tax bills today. Whether it ever gets there depends on a ballot, and the ballot counts only the owners who send one back.
For a buyer comparing Rio Vista with other waterfront neighborhoods in Fort Lauderdale, that changes the math. The asking price, the insurance quote and the current tax bill don't show a possible 30-year obligation. The status of a neighborhood vote does.
What City staff put in front of the neighborhood in April
On April 13, 2026, three representatives from the City's Capital Projects team spoke at the Rio Vista Civic Association general meeting. The association's minutes record a project in two phases.
Phase 1 is preliminary design. It shows where the transformer boxes would go and produces a cost estimate. The minutes list about $150,000 for the consulting engineer, Kimley-Horn, and $105,000 for FPL, with an expected assessment of $261 per resident for this phase. The minutes put Phase 2 at $80 million, or $3,000 per year for 30 years per resident. The minutes don't say how "per resident" maps to assessed parcels. If it means one payment per property, that property would pay about $90,000 in nominal terms over the full term.
The minutes also cover the practical details. Equipment would go in the right-of-way and sit on 3-foot pedestals to reduce flooding problems. Completion was estimated for Q4 2028 if approvals stay on schedule. Staff also said construction would not begin until AT&T, Comcast, TECO and every other provider on the poles is ready to move.
These figures are estimates recorded in a civic association's minutes. They are not an adopted City budget. They are still the clearest number a Rio Vista owner or buyer has right now, and they set the size of what is being decided.
Seventy percent of the ballots returned, not of the owners
The City's process runs under Section 25-129 of the Code of Ordinances. The City Commission revised it in fall 2025 through Ordinance C-25-42, which added a two-phase design process and an extra round of balloting. The City's undergrounding program page lays out these steps:
- The neighborhood association applies and submits a map of every property proposed to be assessed.
- The City checks eligibility with FPL and the other utilities and gets ballpark costs.
- A consultant prepares the conceptual design and preliminary estimates.
- Ballot #1 goes to every property owner inside the association's boundaries. At least 70% of returned ballots must approve.
- The City Commission authorizes design spending and sets how the cost will be repaid, typically through special assessments.
- Final design is completed and the project goes out to bid.
- Ballot #2 goes out with final costs. Again, at least 70% of returned ballots must approve.
- The Commission holds a public hearing and adopts the Final Assessment Resolution.
- Crews build the system, remove the poles and restore the streets.
- The assessment appears on the tax bill of every property inside the boundaries.
In both ballots, the threshold is 70% of the ballots returned. An owner who doesn't send one back doesn't count toward the total. Suppose half of the owners return their ballots. A yes vote from 35% of all owners would then be enough. The cost would still fall on every parcel, because the City applies the assessment to the whole neighborhood. It only runs projects sponsored by a homeowners or neighborhood association, so a single street can't sign up alone.
The City mails ballots to property owners. A buyer still in contract when a ballot goes out may have no say in a result they could end up paying for over decades.
Las Olas Isles shows what a finished project costs
Las Olas Isles is the only completed project in the City's program. In 2019, almost 90% of the owners who returned ballots there supported the assessment. The project was paid for with a $7.9 million bond. For fiscal year 2027, which began October 1, 2026, the City Commission agenda memo for the September 14, 2026 public hearing put the assessment at $1,720.04 per Equivalent Benefit Unit. The 2026 assessment roll lists that amount for each parcel. Each single-family parcel counts as one unit, and 309 parcels are assessed.
| Las Olas Isles | Rio Vista | |
|---|---|---|
| Status, fall 2026 | Completed; assessment on tax bills | Application received; initial vote reported short at June 2026 board meeting |
| Project cost | $7.9 million bond | About $80 million estimated, April 2026 |
| Annual cost | $1,720.04 per parcel, FY2027 | About $3,000 per resident, per April 2026 minutes |
| Term | 25-year bond | 30 years, per April 2026 minutes |
| Owner support at ballot | Almost 90% of returned ballots, 2019 | Not yet carried |
The comparison works in two directions. A Las Olas Isles buyer knows the cost exactly. It is printed on the roll, and the work is already done. A Rio Vista buyer is looking at an estimate about 1.7 times the current Las Olas Isles payment, for a project that hasn't been approved and is still being redesigned.
FPL's free program buries less
Buyers who hear about undergrounding often ask why FPL doesn't do it for free. FPL does have a free program, the Storm Secure Underground Program. Its costs are spread across all FPL customers through the monthly Storm Protection Plan charge. FPL chooses the neighborhoods using criteria approved by the Florida Public Service Commission, including storm outage history and reliability data.
The program covers less ground. It buries the FPL lateral lines closest to homes. Phone and cable lines stay overhead, and poles can stay up if the other utilities don't move their wires. The City notes that FPL's program only proceeds where every affected parcel agrees to an easement on private property.
An assessment project covers more. The City's version buries the FPL, AT&T and Comcast lines and restores the area, including new decorative street lights and resurfaced roads. It also uses looped service, which gives each home two paths for power. Clearing the poles off a Rio Vista street costs more than FPL's program because the assessment covers every utility on those poles.
Where Rio Vista stands this fall
The City's program page lists Rio Vista among the neighborhoods with applications received, along with Harbor Beach, Harbour Inlet, Seven Isles and Sunrise Key. Idlewyld and Riviera Isles are further along, in the design phase. In July 2026, the City released 30% design plans for Idlewyld for community review.
By June, Rio Vista had hit a setback. The civic association's June 17, 2026 board minutes say the "initial undergrounding vote fell short." They also say the project went to a different engineer and that a neighborhood education meeting was planned for September. The association then set its October 19 general meeting at 620 SE 9th Street. Gary Foster of Public Works, who leads the City's undergrounding work, was scheduled to present on undergrounding as "an available option in Rio Vista."
A shortfall does not end the process. The project is still active, and it has a new engineer and a new round of outreach. For buyers, the open question is what the next estimate will be and when the next ballot will go out.
How the open vote changes a comparison
Rio Vista properties don't carry the assessment yet. If the April estimate holds, a later ballot could add something on the order of $3,000 a year to a Rio Vista tax bill. A Las Olas Isles bill already includes its assessment, and the improvement is in place.
The timing stretches that cost out. Construction targets Q4 2028 at the earliest and depends on every utility being ready to move, so a buyer may live under the wires for several years and then pay for their removal for three decades after that.
The same open question carries into resale. If the project goes ahead, the assessment will sit on the tax bill when the next owner buys, so a future buyer will see it. If the project stalls, the overhead lines stay, and so does the uncertainty.
Before writing an offer, a buyer can check a few public items. The civic association's news page and minutes show where the project stands. The City's program page lists each neighborhood's stage. The tax bill shows whether a non-ad valorem assessment already appears on it.
This post is general information about a public process, not legal, tax or financial advice. Confirm how any assessment applies to a specific property with your attorney, tax advisor or lender.
FAQ
Who pays for undergrounding in Fort Lauderdale? Under the City's program, owners in the benefiting neighborhood pay the project costs, including financing. The cost appears as a line item on the property tax bill for 30 years.
Can an owner opt out if the ballot passes? The City applies the special assessment to every property inside the neighborhood association's boundaries.
Will new equipment go on private lots? The City says projects are generally designed to put new FPL transformer boxes in the public right-of-way. Where a new easement is needed, the City reaches out to the affected owners.
Is Rio Vista's $80 million figure final? No. It is the Phase 2 estimate City staff gave at the April 13, 2026 general meeting. The City's process requires a second ballot with final costs before any assessment is adopted.
If you are weighing a Rio Vista home against Las Olas Isles or another waterfront neighborhood, the team at Brady Thrasher can show you where each one stands on undergrounding and what that does to the cost of owning there. Request a private consultation.
