Hi Rick,
Welcome to TOTV! We're glad you're here and hope you stay. If you haven't already, come visit TV and see for yourself why many of us consider it Lower Paradise. You asked an excellent qustion.
Each Village in The Villages is located within a numbered (1-10) Community Development District (CDD). These CDDs are responsible for operating and maintaining community facilities within the district, such as the recreation facilities, executive golf courses, common landscaping, gatehouses, street lights, irrigation systems and community watch.
Your Community Development District (CDD) Assessment is an annual non-valorem assessment included on your annual property tax bill to fund the CDD's expenses.
The assessment has two components. One is for operations and maintenance (O&M). This part fluctuates up or down annually depending on your CDD's annual budget. The second part is to repay any bonds sold my your CDD for capital improvements. This part is fixed for the term of the bonds.
Each CDD is governed by a five-person Board of Supervisors elected by the property owners.
Here's a link to more information:
http://www.districtgov.org/faq.aspx. You might have to copy and paste the link into your browser.
Hope this was helpful.