Quote:
Originally Posted by mtdjed
That is the problem when people think that "Taxes" are a town's skin. Taxes pay for services given. Real skin is investment. What would we think if the developer boarded up stores that remain vacant for lack of viable occupants. I think we all expect the towns to remain vibrant. Zoning laws can be changed as needs change. Perhaps the Developer is in a better position to evaluate current needs and trends than any of us.
Urban Aging is a problem especially in in a restrictive age community. When first built the people are at some given average age above 55. What interests those people changes over 10, 20, 30 years. Facilities much adapt also. We expect the Developer to accomodate us. Not likely to get much help from Lady Lake other than more embarassing icon images of old ladies, cane carrying icons on the Lady Lake roads.
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Taxes is absolutely a town's skin. The Square is the main attraction to this part of Lady Lake, one of the main reasons people choose to live here, as opposed to (for instance) Water Oak or Del Webb. The square also has several health care offices. If those are all boarded up, the paid entertainers will have one less place to play, the employees will have to find other jobs possibly further from home, which might convince them to simply move closer to their new jobs. There would be fewer people moving in, because there's no "anchor" to attract them to this location as opposed to any other location.
Fewer people living here, fewer businesses being here, equals fewer taxes. The Developer is already paying tax on that building, there will be no more property taxes coming from tenants renting the apartments. So the town might have 14 more residents, but 0 more taxes paid.
That's skin.