DELTONA -- Toni Erdman got three pieces of mail one day recently.

One was a tuition bill from Stetson University, where one son attends school. Another was a similar bill from the University of Central Florida for another son.

And she got a notice that Deltona -- her home for 36 years -- was considering a special assessment on the three acres her family owns in the Activity Center, a 900-acre area the city is planning to develop near Interstate 4.

The City Commission ditched the assessment Monday after hearing from residents like Erdman. If commissioners had approved the tax Monday, Erdman would have had three choices:

Pay $105,894 right away.
Pay $12,914 a year for 30 years.
Sell the property -- if she can.

She won't have to worry -- for now.  The Special Assessment District (or, as residents called it, SAD) is dead. Plans on raising money to spur development -- by building roads, putting in sewer and water lines and beautifying the area -- are back on hold.

"Doing this would have meant that development would have arrived much quicker," said Mayor Dennis Mulder. "It certainly was the case here that the end didn't justify the means."

Some 200 people -- some of whom were local residents, others who came from as far as Ohio and New Jersey -- argued against the assessment Monday night. They spoke of the downturn in the economy, the growing burden of taxes and their frustration at trying to sell their land without success.

Carol Saviak, executive director of the Coalition of Property Rights, said she was outraged the assessment was even considered. "Who believes, looking at this type of assessment, that it is fair?" she said. "Morally, it's just wrong."

Lawyers questioned the legality of the assessment district, comparing it to the controversial practice of eminent domain.

Earlier Monday, consultants and city staff told the landowners that the assessment is justified because they would benefit from the development. But
Alex Ford, an attorney representing his family, the owners of three parcels, said those benefits are assumed and not based on any study. He said some parcels may not benefit as much as others and that some may not benefit at all.

When he questioned staff members and consultants earlier, he determined one of his parcels would be completely taken if one of the proposed roads were to be built. He asked whether that property would be assessed based on the assumed benefit; he was told it would.

Commissioner Paul Treusch apologized to the landowners for 'a lack of communication.' He said he hopes residents will be more involved in decision-making in the future.

One question that wasn't answered Monday: What now? 

Commissioner Janet Deyette and others said Deltona desperately needs the commerical development planned for the Activity Center. Some of the largest property owners in the Activity Center, developers who initially supported the assessment, even asked commissioners for more time to come up with an alternative plan.