Christopher Roe is a shareholder in Bryant Miller Olive’s Tallahassee office. He is Board Certified by The Florida Bar in City, County and Local Government Law. He devotes his practice exclusively to state and local government matters. His experience with Bryant Miller Olive includes a wide range of local government undertakings including development and maintenance of special assessment programs to fund the delivery of infrastructure and essential services including fire protection, solid waste disposal, roadway potable water and wastewater improvements, development, implementation and administration of community redevelopment projects, special district establishment and governance, public water and wastewater utility matters including rate setting and expansion of infrastructure, impact fees programs, tax increment and other revenue generating mechanisms, creation and implementation of storm water utilities and related financing, municipal annexation, water purchase and wheeling agreements, charter review and revision, and sunshine laws and ethics laws applicable to local government officials.
Mr. Roe successfully represented the City of Cape Coral at trial and in its Supreme Court appeal regarding the validity of citywide special assessments imposed to fund fire protection services and facilities and the new apportionment methodology based on availability of service. Morris v. City of Cape Coral, 163 So. 3d 1174 (Fla. 2015). He played a significant role in several other cases decided and reported by the Florida Supreme Court in favor of local governments, including Citizens Advocating Responsible Environmental Solutions, Inc. v. City of Marco Island, 959 So. 2d 203 (Fla. 2007) and City of Parker v. State, 992 So. 2d 171 (Fla. 2008), and has conducted more than fifty bond validation proceedings pursuant to Chapter 75, Florida Statutes, on behalf of local government clients and the funding of capital projects including the City of Marco Island’s wastewater expansion program, Hillsborough County’s improvement and modernization of U.S. highway 301, the City of Panama City Beach’s Front Beach Road community redevelopment initiative, and St. Lucie County’s PACE financing program pursuant to which the county is providing low-interest financing for renewable energy, energy efficiency and conservation and solar energy improvements for residential and commercial properties.
College: University of Central Florida – B.A., 1998
Law School: Florida State University, Law School – J.D., 2001
Board Certified by The Florida Bar in City, County and Local Government Law
The Florida Bar, Member
Admitted to Practice, United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida
"Introduction to Community Redevelopment Law", October 17, 2008, Florida Redevelopment Association, Blountstown, Florida
"City of Parker v. State: A Case Study in Community Redevelopment", January 13, 2009, Department of Community Affairs' Waterfronts Florida meeting, Milton, Florida, January 13 & 14, 2009
"PACE Financing Options in Florida," 3rd Annual Energy Options Conference, October 5, 2011
"Synthetic/Home Rule Tax Increment," Florida League of Cities Revenue Summit, January 27, 2012, Springfield, Florida
"Introduction to Special Assessments," Florida League of Cities Revenue Summit, February 24, 2012, Altamonte Springs, Florida
"Special Assessments for Fire Protection Services," Florida League of Cities Revenue Summit, March 30, 2012, Cape Coral
"Overview of Municipal Service Benefit Units," Palm Beach County League of Cities, July 21, 2014
"Recent Developments in Special Assessment Law," City, County and Local Government Section of The Florida Bar, Orlando, Florida, May 7, 2015
"Overview on Morris v. Cape Coral," Florida Municipal Attorneys Association annual conference, Palm Beach, Florida, July 11, 2015
"Special Assessment and Tax Increment Financing," Florida Municipal Attorneys Association annual conference, Bonita Springs, Florida, July 29, 2016
"Thinking Outside the Box: Alternative Approaches to Project Cost Allocation," Florida Governmental Finance Officers Association, June 26, 2017
"Florida Supreme Court Upholds Fire Services Funding Source," Florida Fire Service, Vol. 23, No. 7, July 2015
"The Line Between Special Assessments and Ad Valorem Taxes," Stetson Law Review (Spring 2016)