WEST PALM BEACH -- Drive from downtown past Interstate 95, past Florida's Turnpike and past the lush landscaping and guarded gate at the entrance to RiverWalk, and it's hard to believe you're still within the city limits. 

From its faux town hall to the very genuine fees that homeowners pay for internal roads, drainage systems, street lights and water and sewer pipes, RiverWalk in many ways seems separate and removed from the city. 

But RiverWalk residents are reminded of their municipal status when their tax bills arrive. 

While they pay separately for many of the basics that other homeowners get from their governments, RiverWalk residents also pay the same tax rate as other homeowners in West Palm Beach. 

It's double taxation, many residents of RiverWalk and similar developments complain. 

It's the price you pay for living in a gated community, say developers and the city attorney's office. 

It's a politically charged issue that city commissioners will consider again Monday night. 

RiverWalk and other private communities -- from gated golf course enclaves west of the turnpike to modest townhomes in the Villages -- want relief from West Palm Beach. 

City commissioners aren't being asked to commit money at Monday's meeting, but to endorse a policy "to provide basic municipal services throughout the city on an equitable, fair and consistent basis." 

Ultimately, though, the private communities' complete wish list could add more than $5.6 million a year to the city budget, according to the city Internal Auditor's Office. 

Annual costs the private developments want the city to assume include $18,750 to maintain fire hydrants, $215,892 for streetlights, up to $698,197 a year to maintain streets and sidewalks and $1 million a year to maintain drainage systems and other infrastructure. In addition, the private communities want the city to "consider" assuming up to $3.7 million a year of homeowner associations' long-term debt obligations. 

City commissioners have balked because of the costs and because their lawyers say it would be illegal for the city to spend public money on private communities. 

But elected officials are not unmindful that the city's 45 private communities make up a significant voting bloc. 

Roughly one-fifth of city residents live in the private communities, which include the Land of the Presidents area east of Interstate 95, the Villages of Palm Beach Lakes and five gated developments west of the turnpike. 

Homeowners from communities west of the turnpike -- RiverWalk, Andros Isle, Baywinds, Ibis and Iron Horse -- have been the most passionate, and they dominated the audience at a crowded city commission hearing on the issue this month. 

These far-western residents comprise about 5 percent of the city's population, but they accounted for about 13 percent of the voters in a March 2000 city election and the November 2000 general election. Their homes supply about 23 percent of the city's residential property tax base. 

East-west split growing 

The issue of whether city taxpayers should take over some or all of the private communities' costs is part of a growing east-west schism in West Palm Beach politics. 

But the implications go beyond the city's borders. 

Estimates vary widely, but a growing percentage of new homes in Palm Beach County are built in gated and other private communities in which roads, storm-water management systems and street lights are privately built and maintained. 

Developers typically pay the costs up front and tack them on to the price of a new home. They also can borrow money from quasi-governmental taxing authorities, which issue bonds that homeowners are obligated to pay over 20 years or more. In addition to these initial construction costs, homeowner associations are usually responsible for ongoing maintenance costs. 

"That's the trend in the housing industry," says Ken Metcalf of the Florida Department of Community Affairs, which oversees growth plans. 

"That's the way it's been done for years," says Martin Perry, an attorney who regularly represents developers. He helped set up special taxing districts to pay for improvements to the Winston Trails and Journey's End developments west of Lake Worth in unincorporated Palm Beach County. 

If West Palm Beach takes over the private communities' bond obligations, Perry says it would set a "really frightening" precedent. 

"If it works in West Palm Beach, then it's going to spill over into every special taxing district that's been created," Perry says. 

RiverWalk resident Edward "Jim" Greene, a leader of the western communities' tax revolt, doesn't doubt that his development is similar to many others throughout the county. 

"I don't know if it is different than any homeowner association," Greene says. "Does that mean it's right? Is that double taxation or what?" 

Greene says he knew about RiverWalk's homeowner association fees (which range from $1,812 to $2,269 a year) and its bond obligation ($341 for debt service this year) when he bought a $175,300 home there five years ago. Still, Greene says, "I'm assuming I'm a citizen of the city of West Palm Beach. Should I get something back for the taxes I pay?" 

Homeowners in other developments pay higher fees than RiverWalk. 

In Iron Horse, where new homes cost as much as $595,000, homeowners this year are assessed $749 for debt service and $405 for maintenance by the Northern Palm Beach County Improvement District. That's on top of homeowner association fees of $1,260 to $3,192 a year. 

The district built and maintains Iron Horse's drainage system and nature preserve and financed the extension of Jog Road just outside the development. 

Developers in the northern half of the county have been using the district for more than 20 years to issue tax-exempt bonds to pay for drainage systems, some roadway construction and other basic infrastructure. Residents of Abacoa in Jupiter and PGA National in Palm Beach Gardens are among those paying off district bonds in addition to their full city taxes. 

The bonds lower a developer's initial cost and become the obligation of homeowners over 20 or 30 years. The district requires builders to disclose the bond obligation in home sale contracts and homeowner association documents. 

Still, many homebuyers are unaware. 

"All these deals were done with developers. Residents never had a say. . . . I never heard of the Northern, Northern County Improvement District, until last year. That was a new one on me," says RiverWalk resident Len Fintzy. 

One of the items city commissioners are scheduled to discuss Monday night is an ordinance requiring more explicit disclosure of fees and other obligations. 

"Nobody goes and reads all the detailed documents. You don't know you're getting an extra charge until you get a bill for it," says attorney David St. John, who represents homeowner associations from RiverWalk, Andros Isle and the Villages. 

While the loudest advocates for city relief have come from gated developments, many residents of the Villages live in communities that are not gated but are privately maintained. 

Of the 45 private communities identified in the city auditor's report, 31 are gated. There are six private, ungated communities in the Villages and eight in the Land of the Presidents area east of Interstate 95. 

St. John says it's "not realistic" for gated communities to expect the city to take over their road maintenance unless they remove their gates. But he said the city should take over responsibility for ungated private roads in the Villages and elsewhere. 

Homeowners in the Villages are being assessed $247 by the Northern Palm Beach County Improvement District this year, including $192 for bonds. Their bonds will be paid up in 2005. Newer communities have steeper fees for a longer time. 

In Ibis, residents won't finish paying off a $34 million district bond until 2014. This year, the district is assessing each Ibis homeowner $653 for debt service and another $248 for maintenance. The bonds cover the cost of drainage systems, internal roads and the widening of Northlake Boulevard, which was needed to meet county standards for increased traffic generated by the development. 

Northlake Boulevard, of course, is used by many non-Ibis residents. 

"As a developer, I thought it was unfair," says Llwyd Ecclestone, who developed Ibis. "But, it's either that or don't build." 

Ecclestone says homeowners shouldn't complain about paying additional fees on top of their taxes. 

"That's the price you pay for the gates," Ecclestone says. 

Gates keeping the city out 

Spending public money on developments that are gated or otherwise private would violate the Florida Constitution, West Palm Beach City Attorney Pat Brown said in an opinion last year. Brown said the restriction applies not only to the private roads themselves but to "all supporting private infrastructure such as sidewalks, street lighting, landscaping and storm-water systems." 

The city could take over private roads in ungated communities, or in developments that opted to get rid of their gates, Brown said. But these roads would first have to meet the city's curb and sidewalk requirements and other standards, Brown said. Most were not built to those standards. The cost of updating them was not estimated in the auditor's report. 

Private community residents counter that spending tax dollars in their developments would serve a "public purpose" by promoting public safety and reducing crime. They say city commissioners have broad discretion to make such a determination. 

"What constitutes a 'public purpose' is defined by elected officials, and in some cases the citizens through a referendum," said a report prepared by private community residents and their attorneys. " `Public purpose' is a fluid, evolving doctrine that adapts to the changing public needs and circumstances." 

'Public purpose' test cited 

Assistant City Attorney Nancy Urcheck responded this month that private communities still would not meet the "public purpose" test. 

If the city granted the private communities their entire $5.6 million wish list and paid for it with property taxes, the city's tax rate would increase from $7.95 per $1,000 of appraised value to $9.05, according to the city finance office. The owner of a $125,000 home with a $25,000 homestead exemption would see a $110 increase in the property tax bill. 

Mayor Joel Daves and City Commissioner Mary Brandenburg have both suggested getting additional legal opinions -- either from the Attorney General's Office or the courts -- on what the city can and cannot do under the law. 

Commissioner Al Zucaro, who represents the western areas and is running for state Senate in a district that is likely to include many of them, says the private developments' concerns shouldn't be viewed strictly in a legal context. 

"The case law clearly states that this is a political question to be decided by the political body," Zucaro says. At a minimum, Zucaro says, the "political body" should try to help residents who live in ungated private communities and should consider street lights as a public safety issue. 

Daves, too, acknowledges the political dimensions of the issue. 

"I think we need to try to work our way through it and at least give them the feeling that the city is trying to be fair with them," Daves says. "If we don't, we'll have a major revolt."