[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Total budget: $71,814,495 (south of 466)

Debt Service: $23,342,191 - this is the payback of the bonds from 2016 used by the CDD to purchase the amenities, can't not pay this bill, it is a contractual obligation with the bond holders.

Operating Supplies: $2,656,666 - we might be able to cut a little here, the Recreation supplies are $258,00 of this and since few activities are going on they may be a savings in the $21,500 costs but not much. The rest is made up of repair and operating costs of the facilities that will still be incurred.

The operating supplies could probably be reduced somewhat more, by putting out supplies to bid. When the developer opened this place he had all HIS people doing all this work - companies run by his friends and family and business partners, etc. I'd like to see the list of CURRENT contractors, and I'd like to see if there were any competitors at the time the current batch was chosen, what their offers were, and what was the winning "bottom dollar?"

Printing and binding: $565,020 - this cost will probably go up a little as things are rescheduled and new materials will need to be produced.

This can be slashed dramatically by the elimination of inclusion in the Holding Company's Daily Sun newspaper. It would still be printed. It would still be available to view online, in rec centers, at the sales offices. But take it out of the Daily Sun OR - post a quarterly page of all club and regular activities - with a weekly "change" column, which would fit on half of a single page of newsprint as a PSA or even a paid advertisement. No need for weekly inserts if the only thing printed are the changes. New club listings, eliminated club listings, new addresses or phone numbers or contact info - all that would be listed. But the things that didn't change from the last time it was printed - wouldn't be printed again.

Repairs and Maintenance services: $16,079,147 - nothing to cut here, the buildings and landscaping will still need to be maintained.

How is this different from the Operating Costs above, where you specify that the majority of the Operating Costs cover repair of the facilities? Seems like there might be some redundancy going on that could be slashed from the former. Also see my response with regards to contract bids.

Insurance: $696,443 - Good luck there getting an insurance company to lower their rate, if asked they would probably raise the rate because of the added risk right now.

Rentals and Leases: $112,241 - all of these will expect to be paid regardless of what is going on.

Utilities: $2,983,124 - Still have to keep the air conditioning on. The toilets may be flushed a few times less each day and it may save a little out of the $263,256 in the water sewer portion of this cost.

Nothing to comment about in the above.

Contract Services: $7,258,557 - this includes $2,547,773 for the executive golf courses operation and $2,063,859 that goes to the Dept of Safety (fire stations) that provides a higher level of service than the rest of the county. Nothing can be cut here, the firemen still work and the grass still grows.

No complaint about Dept. of Safety, they earn what they get and then some. Curious about contracting for exec golf though. Again - bids?

Professional Services: $15,318,804 - this is the cost for staffing the amenity portion of The Villages - Administrative, Community Watch, Property management, Recreation dept ($6,733,088), engineering, legal, technology services, etc. These people are still working, shall we lay them off or just not pay them during this "holiday"? Because of this mess they are probably working harder than ever to support the community.

Property Management - aren't they the ones responsible for ensuring that the 55+ status is maintained from a legal standpoint? And are the Rec center employees, or the Community Watch, or the Property Management responsible for ensuring that teenagers aren't playing basketball without their grandparents present? Who's responsible for making sure that the videos of gate-crashing golf cart drivers are checked and provided to the police? In other words - are all these "professionals" doing the job that some of us believe they were hired to do? The safety and security and 55+ legal status of our community is in the hands of someone or someones. Who are THOSE someones, and who are they accountable to? Are they doing what they're being paid to do? If they are, then no complaints. If they're not, then someone - or someones - are overpaid and the job should go to someone or someones who earn it.