Amenity Fees

[milling73]

Are amenity fees froze at fixed amount at home purchase?

Or do they change annually? If so, is there a set increase or percentage limit each year?

Thanks...

[Dr Winston O Boogie jr]

Are amenity fees froze at fixed amount at home purchase?

Or do they change annually? If so, is there a set increase or percentage limit each year?

Thanks...

I don't know the exact numbers but they can and do increase each year. There is some kind of limit. I've been here 8 years. When I arrived my fee was $135 and now it's $160. So it's increased about $3.00 per year.

[Toymeister]

To be precise they increase at the rate set by the Consumer Price Index.

The CPI has several indexes. The CPI-U is used, U for urban. It tends to track slightly higher than other CPI rates.

[champion6]

And the change occurs annually on the anniversary date of your closing.

[alwann]

Right now, the CPI is falling due to the virus effect on buying. We'll have to wait and see if the amenity fee comes down, but I doubt it.

[JoMar]

I would be surprised if the fee's drop.....the expenses continue, insurances, maintenance etc and since they don't go down I don't see how the fees to support our facilities can go down.

[NotFromAroundHere]

And the change occurs annually on the anniversary date of your closing.

The anniversary of the original owners closing.

[biker1]

Actually the date you signed the contract, not the closing date.


The anniversary of the original owners closing.

[biker1]

The language is increase or decrease of the index (CPI). Why would you not expect the CDDs to follow the language in the deed restrictions ?


I would be surprised if the fee's drop.....the expenses continue, insurances, maintenance etc and since they don't go down I don't see how the fees to support our facilities can go down.

[JoMar]

The language is increase or decrease of the index (CPI). Why would you not expect the CDDs to follow the language in the deed restrictions ?

Because any loss of revenue hurts us all. Of course I guess they could change the cap again and try and recover over years.

[Goldwingnut]

Because any loss of revenue hurts us all. Of course I guess they could change the cap again and try and recover over years. The deferral rate was removed last year, the "cap" is the CPI adjustment in the deed restrictions you agreed to.

The language is increase or decrease of the index (CPI). Why would you not expect the CDDs to follow the language in the deed restrictions ? We would not not follow them.

I would be surprised if the fee's drop.....the expenses continue, insurances, maintenance etc and since they don't go down I don't see how the fees to support our facilities can go down.

Right now, the CPI is falling due to the virus effect on buying. We'll have to wait and see if the amenity fee comes down, but I doubt it.

It is based on the annual CPI change based on your signing date. If this were to be a negative value, yes the Amenity Fee rate would go down, there is no choice in the matter. Again this is an annual number and would require very bad times to be negative. The April CPI number was just over 1% so it will have an impact on the annual numbers but not enough to make the annual go negative.

In the Amenity Fee fund there are also extensive capital reserves built into the budget for cash flow fluctuations and the R&R Fund (repair and replacement). If you were at the budget workshop meeting on May 6th, oh wait, only a single resident showed up for that meeting that affects all of us :shocked: , so if you had been at the meeting you would have seen that approximately $7.5 million was put into the reserves and R&R budgets (a.k.a. savings accounts) to plan for the long term expenses and the unexpected. Or about 10% of the budget was put into the reserves. This is where we are different from Sumter County and the reason for the 25% tax increase, but that a long post for another topic.

[davem4616]

The deferral rate was removed last year, the "cap" is the CPI adjustment in the deed restrictions you agreed to.

We would not not follow them.





It is based on the annual CPI change based on your signing date. If this were to be a negative value, yes the Amenity Fee rate would go down, there is no choice in the matter. Again this is an annual number and would require very bad times to be negative. The April CPI number was just over 1% so it will have an impact on the annual numbers but not enough to make the annual go negative.

In the Amenity Fee fund there are also extensive capital reserves built into the budget for cash flow fluctuations and the R&R Fund (repair and replacement). If you were at the budget workshop meeting on May 6th, oh wait, only a single resident showed up for that meeting that affects all of us :shocked: , so if you had been at the meeting you would have seen that approximately $7.5 million was put into the reserves and R&R budgets (a.k.a. savings accounts) to plan for the long term expenses and the unexpected. Or about 10% of the budget was put into the reserves. This is where we are different from Sumter County and the reason for the 25% tax increase, but that a long post for another topic.

once again, thanks Goldwingnut :)

[JoMar]

The deferral rate was removed last year, the "cap" is the CPI adjustment in the deed restrictions you agreed to.

We would not not follow them.





It is based on the annual CPI change based on your signing date. If this were to be a negative value, yes the Amenity Fee rate would go down, there is no choice in the matter. Again this is an annual number and would require very bad times to be negative. The April CPI number was just over 1% so it will have an impact on the annual numbers but not enough to make the annual go negative.

In the Amenity Fee fund there are also extensive capital reserves built into the budget for cash flow fluctuations and the R&R Fund (repair and replacement). If you were at the budget workshop meeting on May 6th, oh wait, only a single resident showed up for that meeting that affects all of us :shocked: , so if you had been at the meeting you would have seen that approximately $7.5 million was put into the reserves and R&R budgets (a.k.a. savings accounts) to plan for the long term expenses and the unexpected. Or about 10% of the budget was put into the reserves. This is where we are different from Sumter County and the reason for the 25% tax increase, but that a long post for another topic.

Shot accepted :). The reason I didn't attend the budget meeting is because I vote for those I believe will serve in my best interest (you) and concentrate on all those things I moved here to avoid. From my past, I do know that reserves are a good thing until they are used, then adjustments are made to replenish the reserves and I assumed that would happen here also. That replenishment either came from reduced expenditures or increased something to get back to the required reserves. Our amenity fees are cheap for what we get. I also missed where the cap on amenity fees wasn't raised....my bad.

[Goldwingnut]

Shot accepted :). The reason I didn't attend the budget meeting is because I vote for those I believe will serve in my best interest (you) and concentrate on all those things I moved here to avoid. From my past, I do know that reserves are a good thing until they are used, then adjustments are made to replenish the reserves and I assumed that would happen here also. That replenishment either came from reduced expenditures or increased something to get back to the required reserves. Our amenity fees are cheap for what we get. I also missed where the cap on amenity fees wasn't raised....my bad.

I appreciate the vote of confidence. We are fortunate that we have the processes in place that we do to protect our interests. The District staff is very good at what they do and have made huge efforts and have had huge success in finding and reducing cost through a variety of methods, that does not mean I (we) follow them blindly, I am fairly positive that I am regarded as a pain in the rear, especially during the budgeting process.

The deed restrictions are very clear on when and how the Amenity Fee can be raised: CPI, resale, and a majority vote to increase services that result in an increased cost and therefore an additional revenue requirement. The latter is likely to never happen as a significant number here would complain if the fee is raised a nickel. Others would complain that it's just the developer trying to steal more money from them (hint, the developer has nothing to do with amenities north of SR44, sold them all in 2016 to SLCDD). CPI, that horse is dead, leave it alone.

The saving grace for the Amenity fund is the resale clause, when a home is sold the new owner assumes an amenity fee equal to the prevailing rate regardless of the amount the previous owner's rate. Until Oct 2018 that was $145 and had been for several years. For some who bought a new home this long period at $145 worked in their favor. One of my neighbors moved just before 10/18 after living in our CYV unit for 4 1/2 years and saw their amenity fee drop because the CPI changes got erased on the new home (complicated but it actually makes sense what happened) and went back to the prevailing rate of $145 the same as they were paying when the bought the CYV.

In 10/18 the prevailing rate was raised to $159 and then in 1/20 raised again to $163. So today if I were to buy a new home and sell my current home I would pay $163 on the new home and the buyer of my home would also pay the $163 not the $158.85 I am currently paying. There would be an increase of $4.15/month paid in amenity fee on my current home, with no other change. If I happen to purchase a resale from a current owner who had been in it for many years and was paying, let's say $140/month, there are still a few of these north of 466, the amenity budget would see an increase of $23/month for that unity also. These increases don't seem like much but consider there are nearly 3000 resales every year, it adds up quickly and is key to making ends meet as the CPI adjustment usually falls short of keeping up with costs.

Some may not think the resale adjustment is fair, but it actually is (long discussion for a later date), and it is necessary to keep things funded properly.

Neither the AAC, PWAC, SLCDD, nor the VCCDD can just arbitrarily raise the Amenity Fee a resident is currently paying (neither can the developer) because the want or need to. They have to live within their income and find ways to reduce costs without reducing the services provided to the residents.

The deferral rate was not renewed because the forecasts projected that in 2 more years without CPI adjustments on 98% of the homes (98% would have been at the $155 deferral rate) the amenity funds would have started to deplete their reserves and would have completely exhausted reserves in about 10 years.

One last note on the deferral rate. Remember this was a deferral rate not a cap. The AAC and the PWAC had the option to reinstate all deferred rate increases and collect all deferred payments, they did not exercise this option.

I'm working on a video to explain the Amenity Fee better to go along with the Bond (https://youtu.be/nGwf7AcmyEI) and Maintenance Assessment (https://youtu.be/Ufm_ycOnbto) videos I previously put out.

[egmcaninch]

We have been in TV (Fenney) for almost 2 years & have NO regrets! The shuffleboard courts at Spanish Moss have been in rough shape for months. I noticed that Everglades had weeds & ant piles on the Bocci Ball courts. Then I saw that several areas will be closed for maintenance after we have started to open back up. I don't fully understand why maintenance did not take place when people could not use the amenities. How is that coordinated?

[RealJudy]

Amenity fees can be adjusted based on the CPI. They would be adjusted on the anniversary date of the original sale of the home site, not your purchase date.

[Timothyimitchell]

Lots of bang for your buck at 160 bucks.

[doodles]

My amenities fee went up an average of $2 per year in the 7 years I’ve owned my house.

[theruizs]

We have been in TV (Fenney) for almost 2 years & have NO regrets! The shuffleboard courts at Spanish Moss have been in rough shape for months. I noticed that Everglades had weeds & ant piles on the Bocci Ball courts. Then I saw that several areas will be closed for maintenance after we have started to open back up. I don't fully understand why maintenance did not take place when people could not use the amenities. How is that coordinated?

Perhaps it was the stay at home order/request and/or the closure of non-essential business.

[HappyRetired]

We have been in TV (Fenney) for almost 2 years & have NO regrets! The shuffleboard courts at Spanish Moss have been in rough shape for months. I noticed that Everglades had weeds & ant piles on the Bocci Ball courts. Then I saw that several areas will be closed for maintenance after we have started to open back up. I don't fully understand why maintenance did not take place when people could not use the amenities. How is that coordinated?

There is a schedule for all maintenance. From what I've seen of the partial list of things done, Property Management accelerated some work that would have required multi-day closings. Plus they took the time to do extensive cleaning. You can go to districtgov.org and ask when the scheduled maintenance is for Everglades courts. It may be that it's soon so they didn't move it up. Or, at least report the condition and they will look at it and remediate.

[CWGUY]

My amenities fee went up an average of $2 per year in the 7 years I’ve owned my house.

:icon_wink: I'd make a wager you mean "a month". :ho:

My amenities fee in 5/2013 were $139.11 and are now $155 per month.

[Timothyimitchell]

:icon_wink: I'd make a wager you mean "a month". :ho:

My amenities fee in 5/2013 were $139.11 and are now $155 per month.

We really are not complaining,over 20 buck a year are we? Compare!

[CWGUY]

We really are not complaining,over 20 buck a year are we? Compare!

Not complaining at all..... and as far as compare goes..... I did years ago and that is why we moved here. Been here almost 16 years. FULL TIME - NOT A VACATION DESTINATION - NOT A GOLF DESTINATION..... OUR HOME.

Like a lot of posts here, there was a little misinformation I wanted to correct."Month" not "year". Not all people do their homework and then they come here to complain. Didn't want that to happen. I was basically agreeing with the poster I was quoting, he said " amenities fee went up an average of $2 per year in the 7 years" that would have been $14. I said mine went up $15 and change in the last 7 years. That's a deal in my books! :)

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Not complaining at all..... and as far as compare goes..... I did years ago and that is why we moved here. Been here almost 16 years. FULL TIME - NOT A VACATION DESTINATION - NOT A GOLF DESTINATION..... OUR HOME.

Like a lot of posts here, there was a little misinformation I wanted to correct."Month" not "year". Not all people do their homework and then they come here to complain. Didn't want that to happen. I was basically agreeing with the poster I was quoting, he said " amenities fee went up an average of $2 per year in the 7 years" that would have been $14. I said mine went up $15 and change in the last 7 years. That's a deal in my books! :)

It's confusing semantics.
If it goes up $2/month..

In January it's 160
In February it's 160 + 2 = 162
In March it's 162 + 2 = 164
In April it's 164 + 2 = 166
and so on.

If you mean it was a $2 increase in the monthly payment - it'd be a $24 increase for 2020. But it wouldn't be a $24 yearly increase for the same reason as above:
2020 would be $24 increase
2021 would be the previous year's payment plus $24
2022 would be the previous year's payment plus $24.

And so on.

Hopefully though people all know what everyone MEANT, and didn't try to take the words literally.

[Shutterbug]

To be precise they increase at the rate set by the Consumer Price Index.

The CPI has several indexes. The CPI-U is used, U for urban. It tends to track slightly higher than other CPI rates.

Wrong. The fees increase 3% every year regardless of CPI.

[Goldwingnut]

Wrong. The fees increase 3% every year regardless of CPI.

I recommend you read your deed restrictions, it is a CPI adjustment, has been for 30+ years here in The Villages. It is not and has never been a flat 3% increase.

I review and approve these budgets every year for the last 6 years, unlike most, I know and understand were the money comes from and where it goes, and the developer isn't involved in the process, decisions, or control of any part of the process.

[Bogie Shooter]

Wrong. The fees increase 3% every year regardless of CPI.

You been here a long time and make a statement like this? Where did you get your information?

[CWGUY]

You been here a long time and make a statement like this? Where did you get your information?

:shrug: My guess would be he may have read that misinformation right here. :popcorn:

[dewilson58]

People, People, People................the ShutterBUG is showing the BUG in ToTV. You can create an ID and post date the born-on date. "Been here a long time" and a few posts......NOT. Jus a lot of newbies and very sas in 2020.





Read quickly, won't last long.

[Marathon Man]

Wrong. The fees increase 3% every year regardless of CPI.

Well, if you are going to start off with "wrong", your next statement should be correct.

[CWGUY]

Well, if you are going to start off with "wrong", your next statement should be correct.

:1rotfl: Now that's funny! I don't care who you are. :1rotfl: