[dewilson58]

Originally Posted by Goldwingnut

Brian,
Yesterday's show was a marathon I'd have to admit. I lost track of time and it really ran on much longer that expected.

About the Amenities, south of SR44 they are owned by the developer and the developer is responsible for all the costs of operation and maintenance (and taxes). They pay for this with the Amenity Fee contracts that they own and the residents south of SR44 pay. The Amenities are not turned over to the CDDs, in the past they have sold the amenities and their revenue contract to the commercial CDDs. Most recently in 2016 SLCDD purchased the Amenities between 466 and 44. The Sumter Landing Amenity Division (SLAD) now owns both the facilities and the revenue contracts, and now pays all the bills and is paying a $352M bond off for the purchase (the bond payment replaces the income and property taxes and profits that under the developer were incurred).

For the developer, the amenities operate at a loss for many of the early years until the number of homes sold and associated revenues start to cover the full costs. This is just the operating cost, the actual cost of acquisition and construction isn't really recovered unit they finally sell the amenities. Why they are willing to do this is simple, amenities help to sell houses. Also as a business unit operating at a loss has a tax advantage.

They retain ownership for many years to come (through the buildout of CDD19 or 20?) when it becomes more profitable to sell them than operate them. It's a business.

Bonds are not used to build the amenities, this all comes out of the developer's pocket. The bonds cover the local roads, drainage, retention ponds, right of ways and open areas and all their associated infrastructure. Once the bond is issued by the CDD - the developer doesn't have involvement in the bond itself - all properties start paying the bond assessments, if the home is sold the new owners pay it, if the property hasn't been sold then the developer will pay the annual bond payment (one of the many reasons they like to close out sales in an area quickly).

Salaries are lumped to gether from the Executive Sallaries and employment costs ($200/meeting X 18 meetings/year X 5 Supervisors = $9,000 + SS, Medicare, and workers comp) and the allocation of management cost which is targeted at 10% of the annual budget. Management costs are for the District Office and staff as each CDD doesn't have a dedicated staff needed to cover all the work needed.

The budget is cumbersome to say the least and going through each line item as the Supervisors do is not for the faint of heart. The CDD budget is child's play compared to the County budget. They are difficult to chew through but once you understand the process it really isn't too bad. In my time as a CDD Supervisor I sat through 60+ budget workshops and argued with district staff on nearly every one of them. The saddest part is that during those 8 years and dozens of meetings there were a grand total of 4 residents present and only 1 question ever asked.

Community Watch costs are an Amenity budget line item and not a CDD Maintenance Assessment item/cost, so not relevant to the discussion.

The Eastport Wide Advisory Committee (EWAC) exists because PWAC2 does not. PWAC2 was to encompass the CDDs south of 44 and PWAC between 466 and 44. It failed because the leadership (and I use that word lightly) of CDD7 did not want to bring the formation of PWAC2 to a vote at their CDD board meeting. Because the PWAC formation agreement required unanimous agreement by all signatories to make changes (form PWAC2) it failed. This is costing the CDDs between 44 and 466 each about $100K/year extra. I've not spoken much on the topic in the past because I was a sitting Supervisor on a different board, but I can now. I could spend an hour typing on the PWAC2/EWAC topic but I'll sum it up simply by saying the CDD7 leadership was clueless on what they were doing. They blindly follow the POA's I Hate The Developer mantra and think the developer constantly owes them something and sees the Developer as the boogie man hiding around every turn. One of the CDD7 races is contested this year and Mr. Gilbert Windsor has my backing to unseat the sitting ID10T.

Thanks for the feedback.

One big BINGO.

If you don't get involved, go to meetings, understand the Developer / CDD, etc. flow......it will "always" be confusing.