[Goldwingnut]

Originally Posted by dtennent

Many thanks to Gold Wing Nut for participating in the local governing body. Having served on as a Town Supervisor (elected position) for a rural town in upstate NY, I really appreciate the time and effort it takes to serve. (My wife told me that if she knew what I was getting into after retirement she would have told me to work at my job where I made 20 times the salary.) Unfortunately, understanding the budget in fine detail takes a lot of time and effort. Not surprisingly, people (taxpayers) only see the bottom line.

To everyone who is involved with our governing bodies - Besides asking people to attend budget meetings where they don't understand the details around the budget requests, how do you communicate the need in enough detail to justify the increase in taxes (the bottom line)? I realize what I am asking is not an easy task but it is the task we have given you with your election to our current position.

You're right, it is a pretty low paying job for the hours required.

The easy one is the Amenity Fee, we cannot raise it, we are limited to the CPI adjustment allowed in the contracts, so we have to live within that budget amount and prioritize the maintenance, operating costs, and needs/wants of the residents. The residents are very well protected for the costs hitting them and any increase.

The CDDs do not levy any taxes, we could under FS190 but we don't, instead we have a maintenance assessment that is based on a specific equation for assessable acreage. The amount charged annually will depend on the maintenance needs of the CDD and PWF contribution. We also try to keep putting money aside for upcoming maintenance and be financially ready for the costs when they come (unlike Sumter County 2 years ago). For the last 6 years most CDDs (between 5 and 13) have seen basically no increase. For some of the CDDs with lesser capital reserves this trend is not sustainable and some increases are forthcoming. The good thing is that the CDD budgets are very basic and easy to understand so the average resident, if they attend the budget meetings, can quickly grasp where the money is going and what the CDD needs are.

The PWF (Project Wide Fund) covers most of the maintenance costs south of CR466, hence the reason a significant portion of the CDD's budget goes to fund it. The CDDs could each do the maintenance themselves, but the costs would be higher, and consistency could be sacrificed. There are a lot of maintenance items done each year that move from CDD to CDD, like fence replacements. Without the PWF the budgets of the individual CDDs would fluctuate greatly to cover these maintenance costs, with the PWF everybody pays a little each year, the costs are spread out, and the budgets are more stable. Some CDDs are quick to complain about the contribution amount to the PWF but completely ignore that most of their maintenance costs in covered by these same funds, they always fail to mention what they get in return.

Unlike other government bodies (Sumter County BOCC, Washington, etc.) the CDD Supervisors are all recipients of ANY increase in rates they authorize, just like the rest of the residents. We're not taxing "the other guy", we're taxing ourselves.