Amenity Fee increase..are you one of the lucky ones?

[bragones]

Amenity fee adjustments are made annually based off of a CPI index which is calculated monthly. Amenity fee adjustments occur on the month that the home was originally transferred from the developer to the owner. Since amenity adjustments vary because they are based of the CPI index which changes monthly, two homeowners with otherwise identical situations could have vastly different amenity fees over the years simply because their anniversary date landed on months that happened to have lower (or higher) CPI adjustments. Seems like it would make more sense to base the adjustment on a CPI annual average rather than the monthly change percentage so that all homeowners would get approximately the same percentage increase. I placed a call to the utilities office and they confirmed that it works as I described and it is true that over the years, amenity fees can differ notably for identical homes, especially since there is no cap.

[Bill14564]

While the CPI is calculated monthly, I believe the amenity adjustment is based on the year-over-year change in the CPI. The fee isn't adjust by the 0.6% that the CPI increased since last month and it isn't adjusted by the average of the last 12 individual months (about 0.7%). Instead, the amenity is adjusted by the 8.3% (approx) total increase in the CPI over the last year. Essentially, this adjusts the fee to "catch up" to current prices.

Are there winners and losers? Somewhat, but that will happen regardless of the system used. In this case, if there is a period of inflation then adjustments towards the beginning of the period will be less than adjustments towards the end; I would prefer that my adjustment occur six months ago rather than today. But if inflation continues for another six months then it will be higher then than it is today and my adjustment would catch up again. If we had six months of inflation followed by six months of deflation then the fee that gets adjusted in the valley would make out much better than the fee that gets adjusted at the peak but that isn't a likely scenario.

[bragones]

While the CPI is calculated monthly, I believe the amenity adjustment is based on the year-over-year change in the CPI. The fee isn't adjust by the 0.6% that the CPI increased since last month and it isn't adjusted by the average of the last 12 individual months (about 0.7%). Instead, the amenity is adjusted by the 8.3% (approx) total increase in the CPI over the last year. Essentially, this adjusts the fee to "catch up" to current prices.

Are there winners and losers? Somewhat, but that will happen regardless of the system used. In this case, if there is a period of inflation then adjustments towards the beginning of the period will be less than adjustments towards the end; I would prefer that my adjustment occur six months ago rather than today. But if inflation continues for another six months then it will be higher then than it is today and my adjustment would catch up again. If we had six months of inflation followed by six months of deflation then the fee that gets adjusted in the valley would make out much better than the fee that gets adjusted at the peak but that isn't a likely scenario.

If you are correct in that the fee is adjusted on year-over-year change in the CPI rather than the CPI change for the month, then I agree that amenity fee differences over time would be minor but the Utilities rep said the adjustment is made off of the monthly index change, no mention of a year-over-year change, and agreed that amenity fees for similar homeowners could vary notaby over time.

[Bill14564]

If you are correct in that the fee is adjusted on year-over-year change in the CPI rather than the CPI change for the month, then I agree that amenity fee differences over time would be minor but the Utilities rep said the adjustment is made off of the monthly index change, no mention of a year-over-year change, and agreed that amenity fees for similar homeowners could vary notaby over time.

In March my amenity fee increased by about 7%. I do not believe prices increase 7% from February into March while I can believe prices increased 7% from March 2021 to March 2022.

7% and 8% increases have been reported in other amenity fee threads as well.

[bragones]

In March my amenity fee increased by about 7%. I do not believe prices increase 7% from February into March while I can believe prices increased 7% from March 2021 to March 2022.

7% and 8% increases have been reported in other amenity fee threads as well.

That makes sense. Seems the CPI calc is adjusted monthly but is a year over year calculation. Thank you for your response.

[tophcfa]

In March my amenity fee increased by about 7%. I do not believe prices increase 7% from February into March while I can believe prices increased 7% from March 2021 to March 2022.

7% and 8% increases have been reported in other amenity fee threads as well.

Ours increased by the same amount in March as well. I was under the assumption that the increase would coincide with the month we closed on our home, which was December, but apparently I was wrong.

[Bill14564]

Ours increased by the same amount in March as well. I was under the assumption that the increase would coincide with the month we closed on our home, which was December, but apparently I was wrong.

I believe the timing is related to when the home was originally turned over from the developer; maybe the month it was first sold or the month it was first available for sale. This would make a bit of sense since the month would be stored in a database once and not need to be modified each time a home changed hands.

[Bogie Shooter]

Much ado about nothing…………..

[Bill14564]

Much ado about nothing…………..

Nothing wrong with trying to figure out how things work around here.

[davem4616]

no matter how you calculate it...we can be sure that it'll be going up...just part of living the life in TV and keeping the place looking nice

[Bogie Shooter]

Nothing wrong with trying to figure out how things work around here.

Start here,
Village Community Development Districts (http://Www.districtgov.org)

[Bogie Shooter]

Nothing wrong with trying to figure out how things work around here.

Start here,
Village Community Development Districts (http://Www.districtgov.org)

[Bill14564]

Start here,
Village Community Development Districts (http://Www.districtgov.org)

Certainly a good resource but you can also ask a question of your neighbors that have been around a while. Some of them will politely provide an answer, others.....

[Nucky]

Much ado about nothing…………..

Wrong Thread! :1rotfl::1rotfl:

[bragones]

Start here,
Village Community Development Districts (http://Www.districtgov.org)

The problem is that nowhere in the Village Community Development Districts link does it explain that multiple people in identical situations can/will end up with different rates that could vary notably over the years. I had discussed this with several of my friends and no one knew that situation could exist. So, I volunteered to delve a little further and see if I could get some answers. My thanks to Bill14564 for helpful responses.

[frose]

like everything else here it goes up..

[Bogie Shooter]

Certainly a good resource but you can also ask a question of your neighbors that have been around a while. Some of them will politely provide an answer, others.....

And get bad information.

[Bill14564]

And get bad information.

Occasionally, but there are a many users on here who will call out bad information and offer corrections.

On the other hand, private research into the districtgov.org website could lead to misinterpretation of the available information. The applicable document may be difficult to find, the legalese hard to understand, and personal interpretation may not match historical implementation.

I prefer to ask a question and ask for (or find) the backup documentation - this gives me a human interpretation of the legalese in the document. Others have their own approaches.

There may be no best approach but criticizing someone for asking a question seems to be the wrong approach.

[Goldwingnut]

Amenity fee adjustments are made annually based off of a CPI index which is calculated monthly. Amenity fee adjustments occur on the month that the home was originally transferred from the developer to the owner. Since amenity adjustments vary because they are based of the CPI index which changes monthly, two homeowners with otherwise identical situations could have vastly different amenity fees over the years simply because their anniversary date landed on months that happened to have lower (or higher) CPI adjustments. Seems like it would make more sense to base the adjustment on a CPI annual average rather than the monthly change percentage so that all homeowners would get approximately the same percentage increase. I placed a call to the utilities office and they confirmed that it works as I described and it is true that over the years, amenity fees can differ notably for identical homes, especially since there is no cap.

The Annual CPI adjustment is calculated monthly for the previous 12 months. This CPI adjustment is applied on the month of the original contract for the home. The month remains the same no matter how many times the home is sold. While the number changes from month to month, long term it works out pretty close to equal for two homes with the same initial rate and different anniversary months, yes there may be some small rounding errors, but in the end it is a very small difference.

There will be occasions where a home's amenity fee may take 2 jumps in a year - a home with an anniversary of April sells in February, in February the home assumes the current prevailing rate and then in April the annual CPI causes another increase.

If you buy a spec home the dates can appear disconnected from the sale date. Spec home contracts are released in lots that are all or part of a subdivision/unit, but the actual home sale date or even build start date can be different by many months. This certainly adds to the confusion of the dates. Custom-build homes will also each have varying dates.

It's been suggested that we change the date so that all homes have the same CPI adjustment month. This would have a huge backlash. If such a change were proposed there would be an uproar that it is unfair. Say for example the decision was made to that on October 1st everyone would get the same CPI adjustment, only the people in October would be happy, everyone else would be upset because they would have to pay more sooner since they just had a CPI adjustment in ____ (November through September) and would be being penalized by the "early" adjustment. Of course, this would have an impact on home sales also, people would hold off buying in July, August, and September because they would have to pay the prevailing rate increase on resales only to be shortly thereafter hit with the CPI adjustment. Then there would be a huge spike in sales from October to December. It would have a negative impact on the marketplace.

Yes, the District Budget and Finance departments would love to have only one CPI adjustment date and only one rate for everyone in The Villages, their lives and work would be so much simpler, but it will never happen. Just look at the complaining that goes on over the current CPI adjustments, adjustments that are in the agreements you signed when you bought your home. These were never a secret; the terms were right there in black and white on the papers you signed. If you didn't read and understand them at the time, whose fault is that?

[bragones]

The Annual CPI adjustment is calculated monthly for the previous 12 months. This CPI adjustment is applied on the month of the original contract for the home. The month remains the same no matter how many times the home is sold. While the number changes from month to month, long term it works out pretty close to equal for two homes with the same initial rate and different anniversary months, yes there may be some small rounding errors, but in the end it is a very small difference.

There will be occasions where a home's amenity fee may take 2 jumps in a year - a home with an anniversary of April sells in February, in February the home assumes the current prevailing rate and then in April the annual CPI causes another increase.

If you buy a spec home the dates can appear disconnected from the sale date. Spec home contracts are released in lots that are all or part of a subdivision/unit, but the actual home sale date or even build start date can be different by many months. This certainly adds to the confusion of the dates. Custom-build homes will also each have varying dates.

It's been suggested that we change the date so that all homes have the same CPI adjustment month. This would have a huge backlash. If such a change were proposed there would be an uproar that it is unfair. Say for example the decision was made to that on October 1st everyone would get the same CPI adjustment, only the people in October would be happy, everyone else would be upset because they would have to pay more sooner since they just had a CPI adjustment in ____ (November through September) and would be being penalized by the "early" adjustment. Of course, this would have an impact on home sales also, people would hold off buying in July, August, and September because they would have to pay the prevailing rate increase on resales only to be shortly thereafter hit with the CPI adjustment. Then there would be a huge spike in sales from October to December. It would have a negative impact on the marketplace.

Yes, the District Budget and Finance departments would love to have only one CPI adjustment date and only one rate for everyone in The Villages, their lives and work would be so much simpler, but it will never happen. Just look at the complaining that goes on over the current CPI adjustments, adjustments that are in the agreements you signed when you bought your home. These were never a secret; the terms were right there in black and white on the papers you signed. If you didn't read and understand them at the time, whose fault is that?

Thanks for your info.

If the terms in black and white were easily understood, I wonder many why a call to the utilities office resulted in a confirmation that two identical homes could end up with significantly different fees over the years.

I’m also not suggesting that all homes have the same adjustment month, but questioning if there is a more fair method, perhaps the same adjustment rate for one year, thereby preventing what I’m told by the Utilities office is a fact that two identical homeowners do indeed end up with different amenity rates.

Pls understand that I’m not complaining about my amenity fee or rate increase. I’m merely trying to understand if it is fair and looking to be able to explain it to others who have questioned it or don’t understand it.

[Nell57]

Thank you for your research and very informative thread.
I’ve lived in The Villages for 12 years and never truly understood why amenity fees could vary so much between neighboring homes.
There are MANY people on TOTV who criticize needlessly and make sarcastic comments that detract from this forum.
Thank you for making TOTV a worthwhile read.

[Nell57]

Thank you for your research and very informative thread.
I’ve lived in The Villages for 12 years and never truly understood why amenity fees could vary so much between neighboring homes.
There are MANY people on TOTV who criticize needlessly and make sarcastic comments that detract from this forum.
Thank you for making TOTV a worthwhile read.

[Speedie]

Maybe the fee increases will be used for improved exec course maintenance instead of a new windmill for Brownwood businesses advertisement.

[jmpalladino]

If you are correct in that the fee is adjusted on year-over-year change in the CPI rather than the CPI change for the month, then I agree that amenity fee differences over time would be minor but the Utilities rep said the adjustment is made off of the monthly index change, no mention of a year-over-year change, and agreed that amenity fees for similar homeowners could vary notaby over time.

You may be speaking to the wrong person as the Utility fee has nothing to do with the amenity fee.

[Outdoors]

Thank you for your research and very informative thread.
I’ve lived in The Villages for 12 years and never truly understood why amenity fees could vary so much between neighboring homes.
There are MANY people on TOTV who criticize needlessly and make sarcastic comments that detract from this forum.
Thank you for making TOTV a worthwhile read.

I think a key piece of information wingnut provided that probably makes up the big differences is, each time a house is sold it automatically moves to the prevailing rate. Thus, if a house sells many times in short order it could get multiple adjustments in one year. Open for discussion.

[Bill14564]

You may be speaking to the wrong person as the Utility fee has nothing to do with the amenity fee.

The amenity fee is collected on the utilities (water/sewer/trash) bill. If I had a question about an item on that bill my first call would be to the utility billing department. That might not be the best place to get a complete answer, but it is a logical place to call.

[Bogie Shooter]

Maybe the fee increases will be used for improved exec course maintenance instead of a new windmill for Brownwood businesses advertisement.

Apples and oranges………

[bragones]

I think a key piece of information wingnut provided that probably makes up the big differences is, each time a house is sold it automatically moves to the prevailing rate. Thus, if a house sells many times in short order it could get multiple adjustments in one year. Open for discussion.

Thank you for bringing this point to my attention. I wasn't aware that the amenity fee moves to the prevailing rate when sold, but I looked at my deed and it is there (thank you Goldwing). This would explain why a house that flips frequently, could have a different rate than an identical neighboring home. I'd be surprised if there is enough of those conditions to explain why so many discrepancies in fees exist, but who knows. Glad I learned something from this.

[bragones]

The amenity fee is collected on the utilities (water/sewer/trash) bill. If I had a question about an item on that bill my first call would be to the utility billing department. That might not be the best place to get a complete answer, but it is a logical place to call.

The districtgov.org site directs you to Utilities for questions on amenity fees and when we called, they confirmed that we were in the right place.

[bragones]

Thank you for your research and very informative thread.
I’ve lived in The Villages for 12 years and never truly understood why amenity fees could vary so much between neighboring homes.
There are MANY people on TOTV who criticize needlessly and make sarcastic comments that detract from this forum.
Thank you for making TOTV a worthwhile read.

Thank you for that comment. When I told a friend that I would post on ToV forum to try and find out more info on this subject, I told him that I hesitated because I'd likely get crushed for asking. I truly appreciate the supportive, helpful and non sarcastic responses. I'm glad that I learned something that I know others are confused about and I feel I can now help provide some clarity on the subject. I truly wish every owner could pay the same annual percentage increase when their monthly adjustment is due, but i doubt that will ever happen.

[Goldwingnut]

The Amenity Fee CPI adjustment can be a little (Okay, a lot) confusing. It has its pluses and minuses, no doubt. Using the annualized CPI provides a fair and consistent way of making adjustments that helps keep the revenues up to the increases experienced in costs to operate and maintain the amenity facilities. The CPI is not perfect and as we know is subject to manipulation by whichever administration is in power and how they want to use it to represent the economy's overall performance, hence my emphasis on the word "helps".

The Prevailing Rate is what keeps the budget in the black year-over-year. By resetting the Amenity Fee to the Prevailing Rate on each resale, the losses caused by the shortfalls of the CPI adjustments that are compounded over the life of the home are erased and the fee becomes more consistent with actual costs.

[golfing eagles]

Interesting whiny thread----the cost of gas for mowers and trimmers go up, the cost of heating pools goes up, the cost of cooling rec centers goes up, salaries go up, yet a whole thread is dedicated to whining about a $10 or 11 fee increase based on the CPI. Meanwhile, outside the bubble, the price of gas since Jan 20, 2021 has more than doubled and working families are struggling to fill their tank to go to work and to feed their children. And then, 6,000 miles away there is Ukraine.

Perspective, people

[charlieo1126@gmail.com]

Interesting whiny thread----the cost of gas for mowers and trimmers go up, the cost of heating pools goes up, the cost of cooling rec centers goes up, salaries go up, yet a whole thread is dedicated to whining about a $10 or 11 fee increase based on the CPI. Meanwhile, outside the bubble, the price of gas since Jan 20, 2021 has more than doubled and working families are struggling to fill their tank to go to work and to feed their children. And then, 6,000 miles away there is Ukraine.

Perspective, people I couldn’t have said it any better myself , you rocked it eagles

[Bill14564]

Interesting whiny thread----the cost of gas for mowers and trimmers go up, the cost of heating pools goes up, the cost of cooling rec centers goes up, salaries go up, yet a whole thread is dedicated to whining about a $10 or 11 fee increase based on the CPI. Meanwhile, outside the bubble, the price of gas since Jan 20, 2021 has more than doubled and working families are struggling to fill their tank to go to work and to feed their children. And then, 6,000 miles away there is Ukraine.

Perspective, people

I didn't take this thread as whining at all. It started as a concern based on a misunderstanding and then became a discussion of how the process works.

[golfing eagles]

I couldn’t have said it any better myself , you rocked it eagles

Don't get too excited---that's about as liberal as I'll ever get:1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl:

[Rainger99]

It's been suggested that we change the date so that all homes have the same CPI adjustment month. This would have a huge backlash.

Would it be feasible that they use the CPI for 2021 (January 1, 2021 through December 31, 2021) and apply that the following year to everyone. That way, if it goes up 2% or 8%, it goes up 2% or 8% for everyone - if you bought in January or in December. That would appear to be easier for them to apply. One rate for everyone for the entire year.

[Bogie Shooter]

Would it be feasible that they use the CPI for 2021 (January 1, 2021 through December 31, 2021) and apply that the following year to everyone. That way, if it goes up 2% or 8%, it goes up 2% or 8% for everyone - if you bought in January or in December. That would appear to be easier for them to apply. One rate for everyone for the entire year.

Doubt if anything gets changed because posters on TOTV have all these great (?) ideas.

[bragones]

Interesting whiny thread----the cost of gas for mowers and trimmers go up, the cost of heating pools goes up, the cost of cooling rec centers goes up, salaries go up, yet a whole thread is dedicated to whining about a $10 or 11 fee increase based on the CPI. Meanwhile, outside the bubble, the price of gas since Jan 20, 2021 has more than doubled and working families are struggling to fill their tank to go to work and to feed their children. And then, 6,000 miles away there is Ukraine.

Perspective, people

You missed the point of this thread which was to understand how amenity fee adjustments work and why two neighbors in seemingly identical situations end up with different rates. Objective achieved.

[golfing eagles]

You missed the point of this thread which was to understand how amenity fee adjustments work and why two neighbors in seemingly identical situations end up with different rates. Objective achieved.

Didn't miss anything. Just responding to most of the posts that followed the OP