View Full Version : How About An Activity Fee Rebate?
rickdankert
06-12-2020, 07:06 AM
For 3 months, all activities in The Villages were cancelled. Rec centers, pools, outdoor activities all closed. Dog parks closed. But still, we paid our Activities Fees every one of those 3 months. I think we should receive a rebate from The Villages. I received one from my auto insurance provider because I wasn’t driving. I even got money from the government. How about it, Developer? We paid for 3 months and received nothing. A full or partial rebate seems appropriate.
Rick Dankert
Briar Meadow
UsuallyLurking
06-12-2020, 07:15 AM
Who collects amenity fees, and could therefore give rebates or whatever, depends on where you live in The Villages. North of 466 it is the Amenity Authority Committee; south of 466 and north of 42 it is the Project Wide Advisory Committee; and elsewhere it is the developer. The two committees are government entities and would require public hearings, advertisements, and votes to do such a thing. To do it villages-wide would require agreement among all three entities. As a practical matter I don't see it happening even if there was sentiment to do so among the various powers that be, and I haven't seen any indication of that.
Chellybean
06-12-2020, 07:32 AM
For 3 months, all activities in The Villages were cancelled. Rec centers, pools, outdoor activities all closed. Dog parks closed. But still, we paid our Activities Fees every one of those 3 months. I think we should receive a rebate from The Villages. I received one from my auto insurance provider because I wasn’t driving. I even got money from the government. How about it, Developer? We paid for 3 months and received nothing. A full or partial rebate seems appropriate.
Rick Dankert
Briar Meadow
I see your view and agree, i brought up this topic a month ago and got bullied: as long as it didn't affect the golfers of the Villages no one gives a cra*p good luck in your post
Stu from NYC
06-12-2020, 07:46 AM
Wonder where the money that was not used went to? If it is saved and keep our cost down or prevents an increase for a few years not so bad.
OrangeBlossomBaby
06-12-2020, 07:49 AM
The golf courses were still open and being maintained. The pools were being maintained, even though they were closed. The grounds at the parks were still being maintained, mowed, raked, leaf-blown, trimmed, flowers switched out for other ones, etc. etc. The electricity for the rec center was still running, water was not turned off. All of these amenities were still being maintained. It doesn't cost any less to maintain when there's no one in the building, than it costs when there are 5 people in the building.
davem4616
06-12-2020, 07:52 AM
For 3 months, all activities in The Villages were cancelled. Rec centers, pools, outdoor activities all closed. Dog parks closed. But still, we paid our Activities Fees every one of those 3 months. I think we should receive a rebate from The Villages. I received one from my auto insurance provider because I wasn’t driving. I even got money from the government. How about it, Developer? We paid for 3 months and received nothing. A full or partial rebate seems appropriate.
Rick Dankert
Briar Meadow
I would think that when the financial breakdown is completed on what actually wasn't spent the amount of any rebate that you'd actually receive back would be peanuts
The insurance companies are doing this because the other insurance companies are doing this. The government did it because thousands suddenly were without any income coming in
Most of us living in TV didn't need any stimulus money...yet we received it.
My wife and I are fortunate that we accumulated enough wealth in our lives to be able to gift half of our stimulus to charity and the rest to a small businessman that we hired to do some work that I normally would have done.
Now if you truly need a freaking minuscule rebate to continue to live here...then perhaps you're living way over your head and need to rethink that.
But most likely this is purely all about some 'principle' of yours being crossed
I hope you're able to get beyond not getting a rebate
mulligan
06-12-2020, 07:55 AM
The authorities that control your amenity fees owe you 0 transparency. It is a privately held corporation, not a democracy. That's what most people don't realize. The Villages has NO central government.
skip0358
06-12-2020, 08:00 AM
What about the people who are here that either don't use the or rarely use the amenities and they pay every month. This sounds like the same stuff after the big hurricane about wanting refunds & rebates. Not going to happen period. As others have said those buildings, pools etc are still running whether being used or not!
Marathon Man
06-12-2020, 08:22 AM
The authorities that control your amenity fees owe you 0 transparency. It is a privately held corporation, not a democracy. That's what most people don't realize. The Villages has NO central government.
Are you sure about that?
John_W
06-12-2020, 08:32 AM
For 3 months, all activities in The Villages were cancelled. Rec centers, pools, outdoor activities all closed. Dog parks closed. But still, we paid our Activities Fees every one of those 3 months. I think we should receive a rebate from The Villages. I received one from my auto insurance provider because I wasn’t driving. I even got money from the government. How about it, Developer? We paid for 3 months and received nothing. A full or partial rebate seems appropriate.
Rick Dankert
Briar Meadow
First off, you're late to the party, you are about the fifth poster to ask this same question. It's not an activity fee, it's an amenity fee. Since the poster Goldwingnut has not responded yet, and he gave an explanation in great detail in March when this was first asked, I'll repost his comments.
Your "holiday" idea lacks the an understanding of the Amenity Fee.
First off, the squares and theaters are not amenities and not supported by the amenity fee directly, yes the recreation activities that do occur there help bring business to the merchants but no amenity fee funds are paid to the merchants, and the cost for the nightly music does not come out of the amenity fees.
I pulled up my copy of the current year's budget for the amenity district south of CR466 and took a look at what costs could be cut if we cut the revenue as a result of your "holiday" idea. Remember, in the state of Florida the law requires a balanced budget.
Here's the major categories:
Total budget: $71,814,495 (south of 466)
Debt Service: $23,342,191 - this is the payback of the bonds from 2016 used by the CDD to purchase the amenities, can't not pay this bill, it is a contractual obligation with the bond holders.
Operating Supplies: $2,656,666 - we might be able to cut a little here, the Recreation supplies are $258,00 of this and since few activities are going on they may be a savings in the $21,500 costs but not much. The rest is made up of repair and operating costs of the facilities that will still be incurred.
Printing and binding: $565,020 - this cost will probably go up a little as things are rescheduled and new materials will need to be produced.
Repairs and Maintenance services: $16,079,147 - nothing to cut here, the buildings and landscaping will still need to be maintained.
Insurance: $696,443 - Good luck there getting an insurance company to lower their rate, if asked they would probably raise the rate because of the added risk right now.
Rentals and Leases: $112,241 - all of these will expect to be paid regardless of what is going on.
Utilities: $2,983,124 - Still have to keep the air conditioning on. The toilets may be flushed a few times less each day and it may save a little out of the $263,256 in the water sewer portion of this cost.
Contract Services: $7,258,557 - this includes $2,547,773 for the executive golf courses operation and $2,063,859 that goes to the Dept of Safety (fire stations) that provides a higher level of service than the rest of the county. Nothing can be cut here, the firemen still work and the grass still grows.
Professional Services: $15,318,804 - this is the cost for staffing the amenity portion of The Villages - Administrative, Community Watch, Property management, Recreation dept ($6,733,088), engineering, legal, technology services, etc. These people are still working, shall we lay them off or just not pay them during this "holiday"? Because of this mess they are probably working harder than ever to support the community.
That's most of the costs, there are a few minor additional cost, I've attached this year's budget for amenity fund and project wide fund if you want the detail.
Since we are obligated by state law to balance our budget, which services shall we cut to fund this ill-conceived "holiday"? What bills shall we not pay? What facility shall we not maintain? Who shall we layoff and not pay?
OrangeBlossomBaby
06-12-2020, 08:54 AM
Total budget: $71,814,495 (south of 466)
Debt Service: $23,342,191 - this is the payback of the bonds from 2016 used by the CDD to purchase the amenities, can't not pay this bill, it is a contractual obligation with the bond holders.
Operating Supplies: $2,656,666 - we might be able to cut a little here, the Recreation supplies are $258,00 of this and since few activities are going on they may be a savings in the $21,500 costs but not much. The rest is made up of repair and operating costs of the facilities that will still be incurred.
The operating supplies could probably be reduced somewhat more, by putting out supplies to bid. When the developer opened this place he had all HIS people doing all this work - companies run by his friends and family and business partners, etc. I'd like to see the list of CURRENT contractors, and I'd like to see if there were any competitors at the time the current batch was chosen, what their offers were, and what was the winning "bottom dollar?"
Printing and binding: $565,020 - this cost will probably go up a little as things are rescheduled and new materials will need to be produced.
This can be slashed dramatically by the elimination of inclusion in the Holding Company's Daily Sun newspaper. It would still be printed. It would still be available to view online, in rec centers, at the sales offices. But take it out of the Daily Sun OR - post a quarterly page of all club and regular activities - with a weekly "change" column, which would fit on half of a single page of newsprint as a PSA or even a paid advertisement. No need for weekly inserts if the only thing printed are the changes. New club listings, eliminated club listings, new addresses or phone numbers or contact info - all that would be listed. But the things that didn't change from the last time it was printed - wouldn't be printed again.
Repairs and Maintenance services: $16,079,147 - nothing to cut here, the buildings and landscaping will still need to be maintained.
How is this different from the Operating Costs above, where you specify that the majority of the Operating Costs cover repair of the facilities? Seems like there might be some redundancy going on that could be slashed from the former. Also see my response with regards to contract bids.
Insurance: $696,443 - Good luck there getting an insurance company to lower their rate, if asked they would probably raise the rate because of the added risk right now.
Rentals and Leases: $112,241 - all of these will expect to be paid regardless of what is going on.
Utilities: $2,983,124 - Still have to keep the air conditioning on. The toilets may be flushed a few times less each day and it may save a little out of the $263,256 in the water sewer portion of this cost.
Nothing to comment about in the above.
Contract Services: $7,258,557 - this includes $2,547,773 for the executive golf courses operation and $2,063,859 that goes to the Dept of Safety (fire stations) that provides a higher level of service than the rest of the county. Nothing can be cut here, the firemen still work and the grass still grows.
No complaint about Dept. of Safety, they earn what they get and then some. Curious about contracting for exec golf though. Again - bids?
Professional Services: $15,318,804 - this is the cost for staffing the amenity portion of The Villages - Administrative, Community Watch, Property management, Recreation dept ($6,733,088), engineering, legal, technology services, etc. These people are still working, shall we lay them off or just not pay them during this "holiday"? Because of this mess they are probably working harder than ever to support the community.
Property Management - aren't they the ones responsible for ensuring that the 55+ status is maintained from a legal standpoint? And are the Rec center employees, or the Community Watch, or the Property Management responsible for ensuring that teenagers aren't playing basketball without their grandparents present? Who's responsible for making sure that the videos of gate-crashing golf cart drivers are checked and provided to the police? In other words - are all these "professionals" doing the job that some of us believe they were hired to do? The safety and security and 55+ legal status of our community is in the hands of someone or someones. Who are THOSE someones, and who are they accountable to? Are they doing what they're being paid to do? If they are, then no complaints. If they're not, then someone - or someones - are overpaid and the job should go to someone or someones who earn it.
Stu from NYC
06-12-2020, 09:19 AM
Thanks for educating us newbies.
Velvet
06-12-2020, 12:06 PM
My experience, money flows only one way. Out of my wallet.
Goldwingnut
06-12-2020, 12:25 PM
Perhaps some should take it upon themselves to learn and understand how the government here in The Villages works and how and what the various budgets are used for. With over half a Billion dollars in assets to manage and maintain a large portion of the Amenity Fee we each pay monthly is required to just maintain these facilities. These cannot be simply turned off and left to sit idle, nor can they be ignored and left to their own devices. Only a small portion of the Amenity Fee you pay goes to buying playing cards and pickelballs. I tried to break this down in simple terms back in March when this idiotic idea first came about, thank you John_W for resharing that post.
As for those that want to armchair quarterback the budgeting process with your digital courage all you continue to do is show you lack of understanding and knowledge. My recommendation to you is get up out of your chair and join in the game, get involved with the budget process, ask questions, put the district staff and your supervisors on the spot and make them answer hard questions about how the money is spent and why we budget what we do. Florida law requires all government business be done in an open public forum (the Sunshine law). I've said word to this affect a dozen times over on this forum.
Sadly I must report that in the 6 years I've served as a district supervisor and on the PWAC I can count the number of residents who have attended budget meetings and workshops that I have sat, on one hand. The number of questions and comments from the public during these nearly 50 meetings is exactly 1. 1 question in 6 years! Only at 2 meetings has there ever been any significant public response, that was when it became necessary to abolish the deferral rate, the vast majority of those who spoke demonstrated a near complete lack of knowledge and understanding of the issue, but this in and of itself has been the topic of many treads so I'll let it go.
For those that actually want to understand how The Villages government works, start with attending the Resident Academy, then talk to your district supervisors, most have a pretty good idea of what and how things work. You can email or call me and we can meet and I'll take as much time as is needed to answer your questions and explain things.
VCDD Resident Academy (https://districtgov.org/ResidentAcademy.aspx)
OrangeBlossomBaby
06-12-2020, 12:37 PM
Perhaps some should take it upon themselves to learn and understand how the government here in The Villages works and how and what the various budgets are used for. With over half a Billion dollars in assets to manage and maintain a large portion of the Amenity Fee we each pay monthly is required to just maintain these facilities. These cannot be simply turned off and left to sit idle, nor can they be ignored and left to their own devices. Only a small portion of the Amenity Fee you pay goes to buying playing cards and pickelballs. I tried to break this down in simple terms back in March when this idiotic idea first came about, thank you John_W for resharing that post.
As for those that want to armchair quarterback the budgeting process with your digital courage all you continue to do is show you lack of understanding and knowledge. My recommendation to you is get up out of your chair and join in the game, get involved with the budget process, ask questions, put the district staff and your supervisors on the spot and make them answer hard questions about how the money is spent and why we budget what we do. Florida law requires all government business be done in an open public forum (the Sunshine law). I've said word to this affect a dozen times over on this forum.
Sadly I must report that in the 6 years I've served as a district supervisor and on the PWAC I can count the number of residents who have attended budget meetings and workshops that I have sat, on one hand. The number of questions and comments from the public during these nearly 50 meetings is exactly 1. 1 question in 6 years! Only at 2 meetings has there ever been any significant public response, that was when it became necessary to abolish the deferral rate, the vast majority of those who spoke demonstrated a near complete lack of knowledge and understanding of the issue, but this in and of itself has been the topic of many treads so I'll let it go.
For those that actually want to understand how The Villages government works, start with attending the Resident Academy, then talk to your district supervisors, most have a pretty good idea of what and how things work. You can email or call me and we can meet and I'll take as much time as is needed to answer your questions and explain things.
VCDD Resident Academy (https://districtgov.org/ResidentAcademy.aspx)
I work retail. I can't schedule a night off just because I want to go to a meeting, most of which won't even apply to me or my area of residence. I don't live in a district, therefore, as I understand it (with limited knowledge because I work retail and have been scheduled to work on meeting nights or cancelled due to the virus) my residency is not governed by a district government.
As for Resident Academy, it apparently goes into great detail about the district governments, from what I understand (by reading the website). I had initially thought to go to one of these nights, but the first two times I was scheduled to work - and after that, they were cancelled because of the pandemic closures. At this point, I've already been living here over 6 months.
I had questions in response to your post. I asked them, in the thread. I'm sorry to have inconvenienced you. I'll just continue not knowing the answers to the questions. I can live with that.
Topspinmo
06-12-2020, 01:11 PM
For 3 months, all activities in The Villages were cancelled. Rec centers, pools, outdoor activities all closed. Dog parks closed. But still, we paid our Activities Fees every one of those 3 months. I think we should receive a rebate from The Villages. I received one from my auto insurance provider because I wasn’t driving. I even got money from the government. How about it, Developer? We paid for 3 months and received nothing. A full or partial rebate seems appropriate.
Rick Dankert
Briar Meadow
Even though no activities in the rec centers, softball fields, tennis courts, pickleball courts, bocce, shuffleboard, horseshoes courts, platform tennis, sand volleyball/tennis courts they still have to be maintained. Yes, it sucked and most outdoor activities didn’t need to be stopped, but wasn’t much know about the virus then.
They now know virus nearly impossible to catch during outdoor activities. Now fans in close proximity without masks have higher change of getting infected. But, playing sport outside has determined very low. Course indoors in close proximity the changes go way up.
Goldwingnut
06-12-2020, 03:00 PM
I work retail. I can't schedule a night off just because I want to go to a meeting, most of which won't even apply to me or my area of residence. I don't live in a district, therefore, as I understand it (with limited knowledge because I work retail and have been scheduled to work on meeting nights or cancelled due to the virus) my residency is not governed by a district government.
As for Resident Academy, it apparently goes into great detail about the district governments, from what I understand (by reading the website). I had initially thought to go to one of these nights, but the first two times I was scheduled to work - and after that, they were cancelled because of the pandemic closures. At this point, I've already been living here over 6 months.
I had questions in response to your post. I asked them, in the thread. I'm sorry to have inconvenienced you. I'll just continue not knowing the answers to the questions. I can live with that.
The operating supplies could probably be reduced somewhat more, by putting out supplies to bid. When the developer opened this place he had all HIS people doing all this work - companies run by his friends and family and business partners, etc. I'd like to see the list of CURRENT contractors, and I'd like to see if there were any competitors at the time the current batch was chosen, what their offers were, and what was the winning "bottom dollar?"
This can be slashed dramatically by the elimination of inclusion in the Holding Company's Daily Sun newspaper. It would still be printed. It would still be available to view online, in rec centers, at the sales offices. But take it out of the Daily Sun OR - post a quarterly page of all club and regular activities - with a weekly "change" column, which would fit on half of a single page of newsprint as a PSA or even a paid advertisement. No need for weekly inserts if the only thing printed are the changes. New club listings, eliminated club listings, new addresses or phone numbers or contact info - all that would be listed. But the things that didn't change from the last time it was printed - wouldn't be printed again.
How is this different from the Operating Costs above, where you specify that the majority of the Operating Costs cover repair of the facilities? Seems like there might be some redundancy going on that could be slashed from the former. Also see my response with regards to contract bids.
Nothing to comment about in the above.
No complaint about Dept. of Safety, they earn what they get and then some. Curious about contracting for exec golf though. Again - bids?
Property Management - aren't they the ones responsible for ensuring that the 55+ status is maintained from a legal standpoint? And are the Rec center employees, or the Community Watch, or the Property Management responsible for ensuring that teenagers aren't playing basketball without their grandparents present? Who's responsible for making sure that the videos of gate-crashing golf cart drivers are checked and provided to the police? In other words - are all these "professionals" doing the job that some of us believe they were hired to do? The safety and security and 55+ legal status of our community is in the hands of someone or someones. Who are THOSE someones, and who are they accountable to? Are they doing what they're being paid to do? If they are, then no complaints. If they're not, then someone - or someones - are overpaid and the job should go to someone or someones who earn it.
Great news, The Resident Academy, all the district meetings, the AAC meetings, and PWAC meetings are in the morning or afternoon, so that shouldn't interfere with your evening work schedule. I understand having to work, I worked my first four years I lived in The Villages and served as a supervisor, it was important enough to me to be at the meetings that I arranged the time off when they occurred.
The Resident Academy does cover quite a bit about the district governance, but it also covers a lot of the amenity questions you may have. Just because you may not live in one of the numbered residential CDDs does not mean the CDDs don’t have a significant impact on you, there is also the commercial CDDs – VCCDD, SLCDD, and BWCDD – as well as the utility CDD - NSUDD – that impact you and everyone else in The Villages. There are a lot of moving parts to The Villages.
Your questions were not an inconvenience to answer. If you’ve seen my past posts, you would know that is not my way. Your attitude is why I didn’t bother to address them. Your very first response starts with developer bashing and the assumption that the developer is in control of everything that happens. This if far from reality. First off all contracts are put out for competitive bid and there are multiple selection criteria for determining the best supplier/contractor, it is not always based on lower price (a lower price by a company with inadequate staffing and resources to fully execute a contract may not get the work, it is a complicated process).
If you’d like to see a list of all the contractors that have been awarded work and the bidding processes and competitors pricing, this information is available for your review. You can get it either by reviewing the agendas/minutes of each of CDD, PWAC, and AAC board meetings for the last several years (many contracts are multi year contracts) or you can do a public records request for this information by contacting the District Clerk, Jennifer McQueary at jennifer.mcqueary@districtgov.org . The public records request has a cost to the requestor under FS119.07 of $0.15/page to cover the cost resources expended (time, paper, toner, etc.).
The operation of the districts is independent of the developer and is subject to annual audits and Florida state statues for operations. Within the numbered residential CDDs only CDD11 and 13 have land owner elected supervisors. In CDD11 the land owner elected supervisors will be replaced by qualified electorate elected supervisors (resident elected). All the rest of the residential CDD’s supervisors are full time residents of The Villages, many of them, like myself, are not on the developers A-list of friends as we stand up for the residents and what is best for them and don’t give a flip about what is necessarily good for the developer.
Printing and binding, here again we have an education issue. Printing and binding is the budget coding that the “Communications and Marketing Plan” for the amenities is covered under, this includes the Rec News. This is a lump sum contact with the Daily Sun that is billed based on distributed copies of the Rec News. The CMP also includes: website hosting and maintenance of the districtgov.org website, V. Recreation and parks dept digital billboard, V. Recreation and Parks Recreation Bulletin Boards throughout TV, production and publication of the district weekly newsletter, the E-Notification system, advertising of recreation events on the radio station and live streaming, The Villages App, V. Community Calendar that comes out monthly, recreation department printing services, and many more services. Simply not printing the Rec News weekly would not put the dent into the budget that most people think it will. The printing and distribution of the Rec News is but a fraction of the one line item of things included in the CMP. Only printing “a few” copies and placing them in the Rec Centers does not eliminate any of the data maintenance, design, and productions costs which makeup a majority of the costs involved. While the rec news is currently available on-line, creation of this data is the costs incurred for the creation of the printed media. Expectations for web-based content is very high these days. If the only source of information would be a phone app then typical expectations would be for example: you want to do water aerobics this morning, you check the app and it shows it starts a Seabreeze at 9:00 am, you need directions so you expect to touch a link and golf cart or car directions are offered, as you get ready to leave you notice it is raining and you check the app to see if it has been canceled. These things all cost money to create, maintain, and update.
NEWS FLASH - THE INTERNET IS NOT FREE! The advertisers on the webpages pay for the content providers to produce what they do. Because the districts are government entities they do not take advertising and have to pay for all content and network bandwidth utilization out of their budgets.
Even the single page of newsprint you suggest would have cost to produce that would offset any savings from not printing the full run of the Rec News.
Operating Costs are things like janitorial services, fire alarm system monitoring and testing, changing the air conditioning system filters, etc. Repair and Maintenance is things like new roofs, broken doors and windows, etc. These sound similar but are divided based on recurrence as well as cost to make this breakout.
Property Management is the primary group that is responsible for the day-to-day operation of the infrastructure and facilities of TV community, everything form the retention ponds and interconnecting distribution system, supervisions of landscape and other service contractors, and if something is broke they are the first ones called to figure out how to fix it or get thing operating again.
Unaccompanied teenagers playing basketball – recreation staff
Gate crashes – Community Watch
Yes the “professionals”, the various department staff members, are doing their jobs that they are hired to do and yes they are held accountable, to a higher standard than in most communities. A CDD has no law enforcement abilities under FS190, these fall to the local municipality, the city or county that the CDD is a part of.
For the level of grief (I’m being nice with that word) that may of the department staffs have to put up with from some residents who will complain and gripe about almost anything and everything, they are far from being overpaid.
I hope this has answered your questions.
Bjeanj
06-12-2020, 03:08 PM
I am glad you are participating in local government and communicating so effectively, GoldWingNut.
Rwirish
06-13-2020, 05:12 AM
Disagree, there was still a cost to maintain operations and functional even if not being used.
Marykess1802
06-13-2020, 05:37 AM
Wow! Great informative answer, wingnut! Learned a lot. Appreciate it!
egmcaninch
06-13-2020, 05:37 AM
The shuffle board courts at Spanish Moss are not being maintained; The Bocci Ball court at Everglads has weeds and ants taking over. While no one was using them, why were they not maintained?
joeharing
06-13-2020, 05:44 AM
Let's concentrate on more important things, like making a 4-foot putt.
tenorgirl
06-13-2020, 06:40 AM
Have to disagree. Less electricity was used. Less employees were needed. No electricity using exercise equipment was used. Less water being used. And I thought the “maintenance fee” we are charged on our annual taxes was used for the common grounds upkeep!
TandHSTAR@AOL.com
06-13-2020, 06:41 AM
Thank you. I said this the last time this subject came up. Shutting off A/C in rec ctrs would cause.mold and mildew. No thanks that causes a lot of health problems. Shut off filters and no maintenance of pools. Two weeks and you get a nice green messy pool. Takes work to get it back. The Villages always looks nice. Costs money that's where your money goes. Do you still run your A/C at home
Do you still maintain your yard and home. Does it cost money. There you go. It still costs money. Activities are run by volunteers. They do not get paid. Ok I'm done.
noslices1
06-13-2020, 06:48 AM
Exactly what “Activities” did you pay for that you didn’t get to do? And which of those activities would have made you more accessible to COVID-19? Didn’t your lack of activities Actually, possibly, save your life? You’re lucky they didn’t charge more.
gemini5001
06-13-2020, 06:59 AM
Good luck getting money back from the developer !
Let me know how that worked for you !!
doodles
06-13-2020, 07:05 AM
Rec centers, pools and sports courts etc still had to be maintained.
We can only imagine what the numbers would have been if we went about life as usual
Don5154
06-13-2020, 07:08 AM
[QUOTE=rickdankert;1782597]For 3 months, all activities in The Villages were cancelled. Rec centers, pools, outdoor activities all closed. Dog parks closed. But still, we paid our Activities Fees every one of those 3 months. I think we should receive a rebate from The Villages. I received one from my auto insurance provider because I wasn’t driving. I even got money from the government. How about it, Developer? We paid for 3 months and received nothing. A full or partial rebate seems appropriate.
Rick Dankert
Briar Meadow[/QUOT
OMG......here we gooooooooo again !
CFrance
06-13-2020, 07:19 AM
I would think that when the financial breakdown is completed on what actually wasn't spent the amount of any rebate that you'd actually receive back would be peanuts
The insurance companies are doing this because the other insurance companies are doing this. The government did it because thousands suddenly were without any income coming in
Most of us living in TV didn't need any stimulus money...yet we received it.
My wife and I are fortunate that we accumulated enough wealth in our lives to be able to gift half of our stimulus to charity and the rest to a small businessman that we hired to do some work that I normally would have done.
Now if you truly need a freaking minuscule rebate to continue to live here...then perhaps you're living way over your head and need to rethink that.
But most likely this is purely all about some 'principle' of yours being crossed
I hope you're able to get beyond not getting a rebate
I just hope the homeowners insurance companies don't charge us more for having to stay home so much.
Singerlady
06-13-2020, 07:21 AM
I see your view and agree, i brought up this topic a month ago and got bullied: as long as it didn't affect the golfers of the Villages no one gives a cra*p good luck in your post
Not true here.
LSTOWELL
06-13-2020, 07:24 AM
Awwwwww
Bogie Shooter
06-13-2020, 07:26 AM
Good luck getting money back from the developer !
Let me know how that worked for you !!
Consider reading post #17...…..
jbrown132
06-13-2020, 07:28 AM
For 3 months, all activities in The Villages were cancelled. Rec centers, pools, outdoor activities all closed. Dog parks closed. But still, we paid our Activities Fees every one of those 3 months. I think we should receive a rebate from The Villages. I received one from my auto insurance provider because I wasn’t driving. I even got money from the government. How about it, Developer? We paid for 3 months and received nothing. A full or partial rebate seems appropriate.
Rick Dankert
Briar Meadow
Good luck with that.
DLJ1657
06-13-2020, 07:31 AM
Goldwingnut- in response to this comment:
“Sadly I must report that in the 6 years I've served as a district supervisor and on the PWAC I can count the number of residents who have attended budget meetings and workshops that I have sat, on one hand.”
Please don’t measure the interest of all Villagers based on this observation. We have been here just shy of six years, both coming from a local government background. We think this place is so well run and affordable that we are very happy not feeling as if we have to go to meetings day or night looking over shoulders to see how things are being managed! More play time for us after all those years of meetings....thank you!
Timothyimitchell
06-13-2020, 07:46 AM
let's concentrate on more important things, like making a 4-foot putt.
perfect
eyc234
06-13-2020, 08:05 AM
Perhaps some should take it upon themselves to learn and understand how the government here in The Villages works and how and what the various budgets are used for. With over half a Billion dollars in assets to manage and maintain a large portion of the Amenity Fee we each pay monthly is required to just maintain these facilities. These cannot be simply turned off and left to sit idle, nor can they be ignored and left to their own devices. Only a small portion of the Amenity Fee you pay goes to buying playing cards and pickelballs. I tried to break this down in simple terms back in March when this idiotic idea first came about, thank you John_W for resharing that post.
As for those that want to armchair quarterback the budgeting process with your digital courage all you continue to do is show you lack of understanding and knowledge. My recommendation to you is get up out of your chair and join in the game, get involved with the budget process, ask questions, put the district staff and your supervisors on the spot and make them answer hard questions about how the money is spent and why we budget what we do. Florida law requires all government business be done in an open public forum (the Sunshine law). I've said word to this affect a dozen times over on this forum.
Sadly I must report that in the 6 years I've served as a district supervisor and on the PWAC I can count the number of residents who have attended budget meetings and workshops that I have sat, on one hand. The number of questions and comments from the public during these nearly 50 meetings is exactly 1. 1 question in 6 years! Only at 2 meetings has there ever been any significant public response, that was when it became necessary to abolish the deferral rate, the vast majority of those who spoke demonstrated a near complete lack of knowledge and understanding of the issue, but this in and of itself has been the topic of many treads so I'll let it go.
For those that actually want to understand how The Villages government works, start with attending the Resident Academy, then talk to your district supervisors, most have a pretty good idea of what and how things work. You can email or call me and we can meet and I'll take as much time as is needed to answer your questions and explain things.
VCDD Resident Academy (https://districtgov.org/ResidentAcademy.aspx)
:bigbow: :boom: Thank you for the work you do and for a fantastic post. I always wonder if any of the people who post these types of diatribes about rebates/refunds has ever gotten a rebate from the city, county, state or federal governments when they went on vacation or were at their vacation home?
mk1126
06-13-2020, 08:05 AM
What! Refund Amenity Fees and no amenities?!? There is still more land to be purchased heading South towards Orlando! Cash!
M.
DeeCee Dubya
06-13-2020, 08:16 AM
I see your view and agree, i brought up this topic a month ago and got bullied: as long as it didn't affect the golfers of the Villages no one gives a cra*p good luck in your post
Sadly, there is a plethora of sheep on this forum who believe 100% in government.
Joe Sacco
06-13-2020, 08:18 AM
Thank you!
Joe C.
06-13-2020, 08:38 AM
Personally, I don't care about expenses.
The fact is, we bought down here to "live the lifestyle".
It's being denied to the residents . Owning a home
in TV costs thousands of dollars more than one outside
of TV because of the "lifestyle".
Maybe a class action lawsuit would help?
Marathon Man
06-13-2020, 08:45 AM
Personally, I don't care about expenses.
The fact is, we bought down here to "live the lifestyle".
It's being denied to the residents . Owning a home
in TV costs thousands of dollars more than one outside
of TV because of the "lifestyle".
Maybe a class action lawsuit would help?
Let us know what the lawyer you meet with has to say.
For 3 months, all activities in The Villages were cancelled. Rec centers, pools, outdoor activities all closed. Dog parks closed. But still, we paid our Activities Fees every one of those 3 months. I think we should receive a rebate from The Villages. I received one from my auto insurance provider because I wasn’t driving. I even got money from the government. How about it, Developer? We paid for 3 months and received nothing. A full or partial rebate seems appropriate.
Rick Dankert
Briar Meadow
About the only thing I can think of would be the salaries of people to work inside of the rec centers that have been closed for 3 months and some rec centers that continue to be closed.
Samfl
06-13-2020, 09:06 AM
I’m all for getting money back for services not rendered. However, even during the lockdown, maintenance needs to be done, utilities need to be paid, as well as payroll. You want the Villages to be The Villages then it takes money to maintain that.
OhioBuckeye
06-13-2020, 09:13 AM
For 3 months, all activity in The Villages were cancelled. Rec centers, pools, outdoor activities all closed. Dog parks closed. But still, we paid our Activities Fees every one of those 3 months. I think we should receive a rebate from The Villages. I received one from my auto insurance provider because I wasn’t driving. I even got money from the government. How about it, Developer? We paid for 3 months and received nothing. A full or partial rebate seems appropriate.
Rick Dankert
Briar Meadow
Rick, I really don’t think coming here complaining will convince TV to lower or give any amenity fees back. TV still have to maintain TV. I’m sure in a nice way they’ll tell you, if you don’t like it, move out! That’s like any of your utilities, if your not home for a while you can put it on vacation but you’ll still pay a fee. I don’t think TV will reduce it either. Maybe you can protest it & get your way like they did with the G. Floyd protest. Good luck Rick!
Byte1
06-13-2020, 11:03 AM
Does that mean that Snow Birds that only utilize the amenities a few months a year, should not have to pay when they are not here?
Pickleballer3
06-13-2020, 11:44 AM
I understand your thought process but as was stated, up keep and maintenance still continued on Rec Centers, golf courses and pools. An aid check of $1200 was received per person in The Villages, what percent of the folks here really needed that do you think? Should we be returning that money to the government so the folks that truly need that help could receive more aid?
Jayhawk
06-13-2020, 12:24 PM
I even got money from the government. How about it, Developer? We paid for 3 months and received nothing. A full or partial rebate seems appropriate.
Rick Dankert
Briar Meadow
Rick, how much of your "government money" are you sending back, since you didn't do anything to earn it? Unless you already spent the entire amount to stimulate the economy (since that is why you got it), a full or partial repayment seems appropriate.
vermonster
06-13-2020, 01:02 PM
The golf courses were still open and being maintained. The pools were being maintained, even though they were closed. The grounds at the parks were still being maintained, mowed, raked, leaf-blown, trimmed, flowers switched out for other ones, etc. etc. The electricity for the rec center was still running, water was not turned off. All of these amenities were still being maintained. It doesn't cost any less to maintain when there's no one in the building, than it costs when there are 5 people in the building.
You are not entirely correct. Any business operation has two types of costs. At least in the short run, there are fixed costs and variable costs. By closing the facilities, I am sure The Villages management have done what any rational business management would do: that is, to minimize the variable costs. Thus, total costs should have been reduced at least somewhat. This could be justification for a partial rebate of the amenity fees collected during this period. In the long run, all costs are considered variable because complete shut down or abandonment of the enterprise is an option.
Barborv
06-13-2020, 02:02 PM
Im in NY and have been out of my school building since March. I work on line a third of my regular school day. I'm still getting my regular salary and the district is still paying their school taxes. Im sure the people who maintain and work for the Villages also still need to get their income. Hence, we need to still pay. I pay every month but am only down there a few times a year.
dewilson58
06-13-2020, 02:40 PM
This could be justification for a partial rebate of the amenity fees collected during this period. .
It could be, but it's not.
yabbadu
06-13-2020, 03:52 PM
For 3 months, all activities in The Villages were cancelled. Rec centers, pools, outdoor activities all closed. Dog parks closed. But still, we paid our Activities Fees every one of those 3 months. I think we should receive a rebate from The Villages. I received one from my auto insurance provider because I wasn’t driving. I even got money from the government. How about it, Developer? We paid for 3 months and received nothing. A full or partial rebate seems appropriate.
Rick Dankert
Briar Meadow
Do your homework on this subject first and if you still do not understand , then you you may have moved into a home here and are in over your head.:bigbow:
yabbadu
06-13-2020, 03:58 PM
With all that has been published on this topic and the facts as they are provided by Gold Wing Nut multiple times on various websites, people still do NOT get it.
Best option for these people is to Move Away and leave common sense residents here.
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