Quote:
Originally Posted by Carol K
I have been reading messages for over 2 months now on TOTV. What a wealth of information. Thank You everyone! My husband and I are renting a villa for the month of July in hopes of finding a home.
We have a pretty good understanding of the BOND, MAINTENANCE and AMENITY payments. This is my 1st post and hope someone in Marion County can help.
Real Estate Agent, Debbie Gentry, has a post on her web site as follows:
"MAINTENANCE PAYMENT: This amount never changes and never goes away..... It is also pays for road maintenance in Sumter county. If you buy in Marion county, then the road maintenance could end up being a special assessment the way it is currently set up. That is suppose to be changing but so far it has not changed."
1st question: Can the maintenance payment never go up???
2nd question: This "special assessment". Is this in place of the maintenance payment or in addition to the maintenance payment and why is there a "special assessment" for Marion and not Sumter County?  |
Carol,
I know you will enjoy your stay in TV. Hope you become a Villager!
Some additional thoughts on the bond and maintenance fees:
The one-time bond assessment on each home can range from zero (on a resale) to $25,000. Since the amount can be significant, the best way to look at it is to just add the bond to the purchase price of the home when comparing home prices.
However, I wouldn't be concerned about whether the county charges a maintenance fee or special assessment. You will pay for infrastructure maintenance and local government services no matter where you live-- whether that be in TV or anywhere else.
I'm not sure why it matters whether the cost of infrastructure maintenance and/or certain local government services are all lumped into your property tax millage rate, or broken out as a separate "maintenance fee" or "special assessment". There's probably some minor benefit in having it broken out. The maintenance fee or special assessment will go up or down each year depending on the actual annual budget for the
specific line items covered by the fee or assessment. When everything is just rolled into the millage rate, there is less accountability and the amount only moves one way-- up.
But really, unless you care whether it comes out of your left pocket or your right pocket, the method of collection for infrastructure maintenance and county services needn't be of much concern.
As Russ says, that's my opinion. I could be wrong.
Have a great visit!