Amenities Fees Question

[cycler]

My wife and I are visiting the end of May and hope to find a rental in the fall, for a one month stay, to see if TV are for us. While doing research on TV I see the following terms and hence the question. Are amenities fees another way of saying HOA fees? If not are there two separate fees in TV and what is the difference between the two fees if they are not the same thing? Thanks in advance, cycler.

[retiredguy123]

My wife and I are visiting the end of May and hope to find a rental in the fall, for a one month stay, to see if TV are for us. While doing research on TV I see the following terms and hence the question. Are amenities fees another way of saying HOA fees? If not are there two separate fees in TV and what is the difference between the two fees if they are not the same thing? Thanks in advance, cycler.
There are no HOA fees because the homeowners don't own the amenities. The Villages owns and maintains the amenities and charges homeowners a monthly amenity fee to cover the cost. There is also an annual maintenance fee of about $300 to $500 that appears annually on your property tax bill. That fee covers the cost to maintain the infrastucture such as utilities.

[golfing eagles]

My wife and I are visiting the end of May and hope to find a rental in the fall, for a one month stay, to see if TV are for us. While doing research on TV I see the following terms and hence the question. Are amenities fees another way of saying HOA fees? If not are there two separate fees in TV and what is the difference between the two fees if they are not the same thing? Thanks in advance, cycler.

There is no HOA fee here. There are 2 organizations, an HOA and a POA, but they are not like HOA's in other communities and don't collect fees other than a $5 or $10/year membership. The amenity fee is only about $179/month, a real bargain compared to other places, and for that you get over 80 recreation centers of various types, over 100 pools, 44+ executive golf courses, a community watch that passes by every property at least 3x/day and golf cart access to just everything you might ever need. But I don't need to sell anyone on TV, just come and see for yourself.

[snbrafford]

There is no HOA fee here. There are 2 organizations, an HOA and a POA, but they are not like HOA's in other communities and don't collect fees other than a $5 or $10/year membership. The amenity fee is only about $179/month, a real bargain compared to other places, and for that you get over 80 recreation centers of various types, over 100 pools, 44+ executive golf courses, a community watch that passes by every property at least 3x/day and golf cart access to just everything you might ever need. But I don't need to sell anyone on TV, just come and see for yourself.

I wanted to add that no golf is free. You can pay as you go at executive golf courses or if you play a lot, you can pay an annual "trail fee" - either way it's pretty cheap golf but not free. You can play the championship courses but not free. I've not stayed up with the cost of the premier membership but it only reduces the cost to play. For us, the executives are challenge enough.

[Dusty_Star]

I wanted to add that no golf is free. You can pay as you go at executive golf courses or if you play a lot, you can pay an annual "trail fee".

If you walk the course it is free.

[golfing eagles]

If you walk the course it is free.

And if you take your cart, it's $4/ round or $132/ year unlimited. Hardly a hardship.

[rjm1cc]

Check to see if their is a bond. If there is/was I think you have annual maintenance fees associated with the property.
You can go to the tax collectors web site and look up the bills for homes in the area you are interested in to see the extra charges that are included with the real estate bill.
This site might help you find a rental. Also explore the surrounding area while you are here. VH4R Home Rentals in The Villages Florida The Villages Rentals (https://villagershomes4rent.com/)

[retiredguy123]

Check to see if their is a bond. If there is/was I think you have annual maintenance fees associated with the property.
You can go to the tax collectors web site and look up the bills for homes in the area you are interested in to see the extra charges that are included with the real estate bill.
This site might help you find a rental. Also explore the surrounding area while you are here. VH4R Home Rentals in The Villages Florida The Villages Rentals (https://villagershomes4rent.com/)
Question. Don't all Villages houses have a bond when they are built?

[Bill14564]

Question. Don't all Villages houses have a bond when they are built?

There are bond amortization schedule for Districts 1-14. I think that covers all homes but I could be wrong.

[Laker14]

There are no HOA fees because the homeowners don't own the amenities. The Villages owns and maintains the amenities and charges homeowners a monthly amenity fee to cover the cost. There is also an annual maintenance fee of about $300 to $500 that appears annually on your property tax bill. That fee covers the cost to maintain the infrastucture such as utilities.

If this is true than I have been misunderstanding the system. Not sure what you mean by "The Villages" when you say they own the amenities. My understanding is that The Developer owns the amenities in the newly developed areas until a certain point in time when the developing phase has ended, and then the amenities are bought by that particular CDD. Each separate CDD does not, however, administer the finances. There are 3 entities that do that. One of them is the developer for the aforementioned areas still owned by the developer, and the others have acronyms I don't remember, but they pool the money and administer the funds to pay for the amenity infrastructure and maintenance.

[retiredguy123]

If this is true than I have been misunderstanding the system. Not sure what you mean by "The Villages" when you say they own the amenities. My understanding is that The Developer owns the amenities in the newly developed areas until a certain point in time when the developing phase has ended, and then the amenities are bought by that particular CDD. Each separate CDD does not, however, administer the finances. There are 3 entities that do that. One of them is the developer for the aforementioned areas still owned by the developer, and the others have acronyms I don't remember, but they pool the money and administer the funds to pay for the amenity infrastructure and maintenance.
You may be technically accurate as to legal ownership, but the amenities are operated by Villages employees, almost all amenities are available for use by all Villages residents, and The Villages establishes consistent rules for using the amenities. Are you saying that a CDD could restrict access to a rec center or pool to residents who don't reside in their CDD because they own it?

[VApeople]

Are amenities fees another way of saying HOA fees?

In my opinion, the answer is Yes.

We pay a monthly Amenity Fee of about $170 and there are a lot of things we can do for free. The executive golf courses are free, the pools at the recreation areas are free, and the other activities like shuffleboard and pool tables are free.

We have over 100 swimming pools and we can use all of them. We often go for walks or bike rides on the many walking/biking trails in the Southern Area and then hop in the closest pool. Life is good for us here.

[Bill14564]

If this is true than I have been misunderstanding the system. Not sure what you mean by "The Villages" when you say they own the amenities. My understanding is that The Developer owns the amenities in the newly developed areas until a certain point in time when the developing phase has ended, and then the amenities are bought by that particular CDD. Each separate CDD does not, however, administer the finances. There are 3 entities that do that. One of them is the developer for the aforementioned areas still owned by the developer, and the others have acronyms I don't remember, but they pool the money and administer the funds to pay for the amenity infrastructure and maintenance.

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong...

- The Developer owns everything initially - houses, roads, rec centers, dog parks, etc
- People purchase homes
- Most roads are turned over to the County
- A CDD is established for local governance and for maintenance of common areas
- Amenities (golf courses, pools, rec centers, dog parks, etc) are turned over to the Villages CDD covering the area (North of 466 = VCCDD, 44 to 466 = SLCDD, South of 44 = ???).
- "Turning over" might involve payment to the Developer

When the dust settles:
- The resident owns the home
- The numbered CDD owns the common area and the Villa roads
- The County owns the non-Villa roads
- The Villages area CDD (VCCDD or SLCDD) owns the amenities

Amenity fees are paid monthly monthly on your utility bill and go to the CDD covering the area (VCCDD or SLCDD). Amenity fees pay for gate attendants, rec center employees, neighborhood watch, pool chemicals, new roofs on the rec centers, etc.

Maintenance fees are paid yearly on your tax bill (about $500) and go to your numbered CDD (CDD10 gets mine). These fees are used for maintenance of common areas such as entrance signs, painting some villa walls, flowers, maintenance of villa roads, filling sinkholes near retention ponds, etc.

A portion of the Maintenance fees from Districts 5-11 (currently) are pooled for project-wide maintenance activities (mowing common areas, flowers in common areas, fixing sinkholes, etc). The Project Wide Advisory Committee (PWAC) is a group of supervisors from Districts 5-11 that advises the SLCDD on the use of the pooled funds. They also make recommendations to the SLCDD on the use of Amenity fees.


For those who are already owners, the Resident Academy is the place to learn about District Government from the experts.

[golfing eagles]

In my opinion, the answer is Yes.

We pay a monthly Amenity Fee of about $170 and there are a lot of things we can do for free. The executive golf courses are free, the pools at the recreation areas are free, and the other activities like shuffleboard pool tables are free.

We have over 100 swimming pools and we can use all of them. We often go for walks or bike rides on the many walking/biking trails in the Southern Area and then hop in the closest pool. Life is good for us here.

I have to disagree with the "yes" answer to HOA

Generally, HOAs are run by a bunch of busy body malcontents who take pleasure in trying to run other people's lives

Here, there are deed restrictions that are spelled out clearly for each unit. Violations can be reported anonymously, but Community Standards are responsible for investigating and homeowners are responsible for getting any changes approved through ARC. Neither of these oversight bodies has the same stigma as most HOAs nor are they run by the cabal of Karen, Karen, and Karen.

[Laker14]

You may be technically accurate as to legal ownership, but the amenities are operated by Villages employees, almost all amenities are available for use by all Villages residents, and The Villages establishes consistent rules for using the amenities. Are you saying that a CDD could restrict access to a rec center or pool to residents who don't reside in their CDD because they own it?

No, that is not what I said, nor meant to say.

[LuvtheVillages]

Question. Don't all Villages houses have a bond when they are built?

All newly built homes have a bond debt. You acquire the bond debt when you purchase a home. You pay it annually on your property tax bill.

Homes in the "historic section" have no bond.
Older homes have been paying on their bond annually, and the amount is therefore reduced.
Some homeowners have chosen to pay off their bond instead of making annual payments. They still have to pay the annual maintenance fee with their property tax. But they are saving the interest expense and the annual administration cost.

[Papa_lecki]

I wanted to add that no golf is free. You can pay as you go at executive golf courses or if you play a lot, you can pay an annual "trail fee" - either way it's pretty cheap golf but not free. You can play the championship courses but not free. I've not stayed up with the cost of the premier membership but it only reduces the cost to play. For us, the executives are challenge enough.

Or you can walk, with a push cart or Cary your bag and the golf is FREE

I would say 25% of the people I play executive golf with, golf for free, because they don’t drive their cart

[Papa_lecki]

What is an amenity?

The amenity fee covers:



golf on executive courses
All the outdoor recreation facilities
All the indoor rec centers
Swimming (family, sports, adult pools), bocce, tennis, paddle, and pickleball
Dog parks, fishing, nature trails, and parks
Walking trails
3,000+ clubs
Those clubs can have meetings whenever they want, for free, in any of the rec centers
24-hour neighborhood watch

[Bogie Shooter]

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong...

- The Developer owns everything initially - houses, roads, rec centers, dog parks, etc
- People purchase homes
- Most roads are turned over to the County
- A CDD is established for local governance and for maintenance of common areas
- Amenities (golf courses, pools, rec centers, dog parks, etc) are turned over to the Villages CDD covering the area (North of 466 = VCCDD, 44 to 466 = SLCDD, South of 44 = ???).
- "Turning over" might involve payment to the Developer

When the dust settles:
- The resident owns the home
- The numbered CDD owns the common area and the Villa roads
- The County owns the non-Villa roads
- The Villages area CDD (VCCDD or SLCDD) owns the amenities

Amenity fees are paid monthly monthly on your utility bill and go to the CDD covering the area (VCCDD or SLCDD). Amenity fees pay for gate attendants, rec center employees, neighborhood watch, pool chemicals, new roofs on the rec centers, etc.

Maintenance fees are paid yearly on your tax bill (about $500) and go to your numbered CDD (CDD10 gets mine). These fees are used for maintenance of common areas such as entrance signs, painting some villa walls, flowers, maintenance of villa roads, filling sinkholes near retention ponds, etc.

A portion of the Maintenance fees from Districts 5-11 (currently) are pooled for project-wide maintenance activities (mowing common areas, flowers in common areas, fixing sinkholes, etc). The Project Wide Advisory Committee (PWAC) is a group of supervisors from Districts 5-11 that advises the SLCDD on the use of the pooled funds. They also make recommendations to the SLCDD on the use of Amenity fees.


For those who are already owners, the Resident Academy is the place to learn about District Government from the experts.

To add, the amenity fee also pays the interest and principal on the bonds issued to purchase all those amenities from The Developer.

[Goldwingnut]

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong...

- The Developer owns everything initially - houses, roads, rec centers, dog parks, etc
- People purchase homes
- Most roads are turned over to the County
- A CDD is established for local governance and for maintenance of common areas
- Amenities (golf courses, pools, rec centers, dog parks, etc) are turned over to the Villages CDD covering the area (North of 466 = VCCDD, 44 to 466 = SLCDD, South of 44 = ???).
- "Turning over" might involve payment to the Developer

When the dust settles:
- The resident owns the home
- The numbered CDD owns the common area and the Villa roads
- The County owns the non-Villa roads
- The Villages area CDD (VCCDD or SLCDD) owns the amenities

Amenity fees are paid monthly monthly on your utility bill and go to the CDD covering the area (VCCDD or SLCDD). Amenity fees pay for gate attendants, rec center employees, neighborhood watch, pool chemicals, new roofs on the rec centers, etc.

Maintenance fees are paid yearly on your tax bill (about $500) and go to your numbered CDD (CDD10 gets mine). These fees are used for maintenance of common areas such as entrance signs, painting some villa walls, flowers, maintenance of villa roads, filling sinkholes near retention ponds, etc.

A portion of the Maintenance fees from Districts 5-11 (currently) are pooled for project-wide maintenance activities (mowing common areas, flowers in common areas, fixing sinkholes, etc). The Project Wide Advisory Committee (PWAC) is a group of supervisors from Districts 5-11 that advises the SLCDD on the use of the pooled funds. They also make recommendations to the SLCDD on the use of Amenity fees.


For those who are already owners, the Resident Academy is the place to learn about District Government from the experts.

Great answer, just a few minor corrections:
PWAC now includes CDDs 5-13, growth continues, however it is highly that 14 will be a part of PWAC, more likely an eventual PWAC2. PWAC carries most of the maintenance contracts for CDDs 5-13 saving all of them money due to economy of scale and provides consistency between the CDDs, hence the reason a majority of their budgets go to fund the Project Wide Agreement (facts lost on the CDD7’s leadership).

SLCDD and VCCDD purchased the amenity assets and contracts from the developer and are the owners of the amenities between 44 and 466, and north of 466 respectively. You are correct about the Amenity fee going to the respective owning CDD. South of 44, the Amenity fee goes to the developer (except $4.08/month which goes to VPSD), the developer covers all operating and maintenance costs for the Amenities - the pay the Recreation Department for staffing and operation. From the fees they also have to pay property taxes, and eventually, they may actually make a small profit, but that is still may years away.

When moving south of 44 the county no longer takes ownership of the residential roads, these now below to the City of Wildwood, including the villa roads. North of 44 you are correct. The main/regional roads, like Meggison, are owned and maintained by Sumter County.

[VApeople]

What is an amenity?

An 'amenity' is a nice activity or privilege that enhances our life in The Villages.

[GizmoWhiskers]

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong...

- The Developer owns everything initially - houses, roads, rec centers, dog parks, etc
- People purchase homes
- Most roads are turned over to the County
- A CDD is established for local governance and for maintenance of common areas
- Amenities (golf courses, pools, rec centers, dog parks, etc) are turned over to the Villages CDD covering the area (North of 466 = VCCDD, 44 to 466 = SLCDD, South of 44 = ???).
- "Turning over" might involve payment to the Developer

When the dust settles:
- The resident owns the home
- The numbered CDD owns the common area and the Villa roads
- The County owns the non-Villa roads
- The Villages area CDD (VCCDD or SLCDD) owns the amenities

Amenity fees are paid monthly monthly on your utility bill and go to the CDD covering the area (VCCDD or SLCDD). Amenity fees pay for gate attendants, rec center employees, neighborhood watch, pool chemicals, new roofs on the rec centers, etc.

Maintenance fees are paid yearly on your tax bill (about $500) and go to your numbered CDD (CDD10 gets mine). These fees are used for maintenance of common areas such as entrance signs, painting some villa walls, flowers, maintenance of villa roads, filling sinkholes near retention ponds, etc.

A portion of the Maintenance fees from Districts 5-11 (currently) are pooled for project-wide maintenance activities (mowing common areas, flowers in common areas, fixing sinkholes, etc). The Project Wide Advisory Committee (PWAC) is a group of supervisors from Districts 5-11 that advises the SLCDD on the use of the pooled funds. They also make recommendations to the SLCDD on the use of Amenity fees.


For those who are already owners, the Resident Academy is the place to learn about District Government from the experts.
The Villa roads are public roads.

[Goldwingnut]

The Villa roads are public roads.

Yes, but that wasn't the point of the statement. The numbered CDDs in 1-3 and 5-11 own the villa roads and are responsible for their maintenance. In 4 CDD4 owns the maintenance and south of 44 Wildwood owns the maintenance.

[GizmoWhiskers]

I have to disagree with the "yes" answer to HOA

Generally, HOAs are run by a bunch of busy body malcontents who take pleasure in trying to run other people's lives

Here, there are deed restrictions that are spelled out clearly for each unit. Violations can be reported anonymously, but Community Standards are responsible for investigating and homeowners are responsible for getting any changes approved through ARC. Neither of these oversight bodies has the same stigma as most HOAs nor are they run by the cabal of Karen, Karen, and Karen.
I have had to give my name on two issues one in District 12 and one where my parents reside. No anonymous status. In fact it seemed like Community Standards was trying to disuade me from making my complaints on the two different calls.

My response was "Is (the matter) against the covenants?"
Response: "Yes."
"Then fine, take my name."

(The calls were not miner things like a cross or a little statue or trivial matters like flowers within 13 ft of the road or for "Karen" clipboard type of stuff for our TOTV trolls.)

So what... is annonymous dependant on who answers the phone at Community Standards??

[Rwirish]

This is not correct. Executive golf is free if you elect to walk the courses. If you walk, a trail fee dies not apply.

[bowlingal]

be careful if you buy in the Wildwood section. There are additional taxes to live in the city of Wildwood, and the bonds on the new houses are very high. also be aware of the closeness to Coleman prison and the turnpike and the blasting going on.

[joelfmi]

So many CDD bond hymns and so few noodles. It looks like there is no free lunch owning these homes..

[Ponygirl]

In the community where I live near Spanish Springs I pay an additional HOA of 190 per year

[RICH1]

be careful if you buy in the Wildwood section. There are additional taxes to live in the city of Wildwood, and the bonds on the new houses are very high. also be aware of the closeness to Coleman prison and the turnpike and the blasting going on.
And the smell of a wet prairie ! The OP Renter questioned the Amenity Fees… The Real question should be concerning AirBnbs and Location of their Permanent home!

[ROCKETMAN]

If you walk executive golf is free. All are walkable if your in average health.

[Gerrys]

You can also purchase a monthly trail fee of $20 per family, which will cover the trail fees on the executive golf courses.

[cycler]

Just read through the entire thread, and want to say thanks for all the responses. Certainly cleared up any misconceptions I had about HOA/Amenity Fees, and the difference. Certainly seems like a good bargain, the fees, for all that you get in return. Again, thanks for all the information shared. Appreciate it.

[coconutmama]

All newly built homes have a bond debt. You acquire the bond debt when you purchase a home. You pay it annually on your property tax bill.

Homes in the "historic section" have no bond.
Older homes have been paying on their bond annually, and the amount is therefore reduced.
Some homeowners have chosen to pay off their bond instead of making annual payments. They still have to pay the annual maintenance fee with their property tax. But they are saving the interest expense and the annual administration cost.

I would add that some villages in the county of Lady Lake, such as Pine Hill & Pine Ridge never had bonds. Of course their taxes are a bit higher.

[retiredguy123]

I would add that some villages in the county of Lady Lake, such as Pine Hill & Pine Ridge never had bonds. Of course their taxes are a bit higher.
Not correct. The houses in the Villages of Pine Hills and Pine Ridge all had or have bonds.

[Bill14564]

I would add that some villages in the county of Lady Lake, such as Pine Hill & Pine Ridge never had bonds. Of course their taxes are a bit higher.

Not correct. The houses in the Villages of Pine Hills and Pine Ridge all had or have bonds.

Yep.

Pine Hills and Pine Ridge are District 11. District 11 bond amortization schedules can be found on districtgov.org (https://www.districtgov.org/departments/Finance/amortization_lake.aspx)

[donfey]

Golf IS FREE to residents and renters with a temporary resident I’d on Executive courses if you walk the course. The trail fee is for golf cart usage.

[jmaccallum]

There are bond amortization schedule for Districts 1-14. I think that covers all homes but I could be wrong.

The Historic Section is not a CCD and the homes there never had bonds.

[retiredguy123]

I would add that some villages in the county of Lady Lake, such as Pine Hill & Pine Ridge never had bonds. Of course their taxes are a bit higher.
To clarify, Lady Lake is not a county, it is a town located in Lake County. The Villages of Pine Hills and Pine Ridge are located in Lake County within the City of Fruitland Park. They are not in Lady Lake.

[nn0wheremann]

My wife and I are visiting the end of May and hope to find a rental in the fall, for a one month stay, to see if TV are for us. While doing research on TV I see the following terms and hence the question. Are amenities fees another way of saying HOA fees? If not are there two separate fees in TV and what is the difference between the two fees if they are not the same thing? Thanks in advance, cycler.
No HOA fees. Think of the Amenity fee as a parks & recreation district ( or if you are from Illinois a forest preserve district) tax. Florida prides itself as a low tax state. To preserve that fiction they call many of the things other states call property taxes “non ad-valorum fees”. Also, be aware if you buy in Sumter county villages you might get big “infrastructure bond”. That county owns the streets and sewers, but you must pay for their construction. In Marion county the bonds are minuscule or already paid off. Marion county Villagers own their streets, and pay for maintenance through a tax paid to Community Development District (CDD) 4.

[mntlblok]

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong...

- The Developer owns everything initially - houses, roads, rec centers, dog parks, etc
- People purchase homes
- Most roads are turned over to the County
- A CDD is established for local governance and for maintenance of common areas
- Amenities (golf courses, pools, rec centers, dog parks, etc) are turned over to the Villages CDD covering the area (North of 466 = VCCDD, 44 to 466 = SLCDD, South of 44 = ???).
- "Turning over" might involve payment to the Developer

When the dust settles:
- The resident owns the home
- The numbered CDD owns the common area and the Villa roads
- The County owns the non-Villa roads
- The Villages area CDD (VCCDD or SLCDD) owns the amenities

Amenity fees are paid monthly monthly on your utility bill and go to the CDD covering the area (VCCDD or SLCDD). Amenity fees pay for gate attendants, rec center employees, neighborhood watch, pool chemicals, new roofs on the rec centers, etc.

Maintenance fees are paid yearly on your tax bill (about $500) and go to your numbered CDD (CDD10 gets mine). These fees are used for maintenance of common areas such as entrance signs, painting some villa walls, flowers, maintenance of villa roads, filling sinkholes near retention ponds, etc.

A portion of the Maintenance fees from Districts 5-11 (currently) are pooled for project-wide maintenance activities (mowing common areas, flowers in common areas, fixing sinkholes, etc). The Project Wide Advisory Committee (PWAC) is a group of supervisors from Districts 5-11 that advises the SLCDD on the use of the pooled funds. They also make recommendations to the SLCDD on the use of Amenity fees.


For those who are already owners, the Resident Academy is the place to learn about District Government from the experts.

Thank you. Most informative. Went and read up on how the executive courses are operated. I'll be moving to TV next month even more confident now that you folks have all this "figured out".

[Bill14564]

The Historic Section is not a CCD and the homes there never had bonds.

None of the Villages are CCDs.

The Historic section and some of the homes immediately surrounding Spanish Springs may not have had a bond. After that, it appears that all homes had bonds including Districts 11 and 14 in Lake County and District 4 in Marion County.

[jmaccallum]

If this is true than I have been misunderstanding the system. Not sure what you mean by "The Villages" when you say they own the amenities. My understanding is that The Developer owns the amenities in the newly developed areas until a certain point in time when the developing phase has ended, and then the amenities are bought by that particular CDD. Each separate CDD does not, however, administer the finances. There are 3 entities that do that. One of them is the developer for the aforementioned areas still owned by the developer, and the others have acronyms I don't remember, but they pool the money and administer the funds to pay for the amenity infrastructure and maintenance.

The CDD’s do not own any amenities. They are owned by LLC’s and maintained by the VCCDD, which employs everyone that works for the Villages. Two advisory boards, the AAC (Amenities Authority Committee) and the PWAC (Project Wide Advisory Committee) make suggestions to the VCCDD for improvements and such. Our Amenity Fees go to the VCCDD to pay for everything.

Maintenance fees are separate and in addition and are established by the CDD you live within by the CDD elected Board. For new CDD’s it takes about 5 years before all Board Members are residents. At the start of the CDD Board Members are appointed and each year thereafter one position is filled with a resident member. The CDD Maintenance Fee is different for each CDD and is used to cover Common Area expenses that particular CDD is responsible for maintaining.

The governing/maintenance system of the Villages can seem baffling. It is complex with many components but not really that difficult to understand, and it works pretty well.

[LSTOWELL]

I wanted to add that no golf is free. You can pay as you go at executive golf courses or if you play a lot, you can pay an annual "trail fee" - either way it's pretty cheap golf but not free. You can play the championship courses but not free. I've not stayed up with the cost of the premier membership but it only reduces the cost to play. For us, the executives are challenge enough.
The golf on the executive courses are FREE if you are a Villager...what costs you is if you ride in a cart..then you have a cart fee..but you can walk and play for free on the executive courses..you can buy a 6 month or annual cart fee for 100 or so!!!

[Laker14]

The CDD’s do not own any amenities. They are owned by LLC’s and maintained by the VCCDD, which employs everyone that works for the Villages. Two advisory boards, the AAC (Amenities Authority Committee) and the PWAC (Project Wide Advisory Committee) make suggestions to the VCCDD for improvements and such. Our Amenity Fees go to the VCCDD to pay for everything.

Maintenance fees are separate and in addition and are established by the CDD you live within by the CDD elected Board. For new CDD’s it takes about 5 years before all Board Members are residents. At the start of the CDD Board Members are appointed and each year thereafter one position is filled with a resident member. The CDD Maintenance Fee is different for each CDD and is used to cover Common Area expenses that particular CDD is responsible for maintaining.

The governing/maintenance system of the Villages can seem baffling. It is complex with many components but not really that difficult to understand, and it works pretty well.


Thank you for the explanation. Who owns and controls the LLCs that own the amenities? What does the acronym VCCDD stand for?

[Goldwingnut]

Thank you for the explanation. Who owns and controls the LLCs that own the amenities? What does the acronym VCCDD stand for?

They are NOT owned by an LLC, they are owed by the 2 commercial CDDs - Village Center Community Development District (VCCDD) and Sumter Landing Community Development District (SLCDD).

[rogerk]

There are NO HOA fees because we do not have a Homeowners Association. The amenities are managed by the resident elected Community Development District Board. Contractually, the CDD Amenities fees are used to pay for ALL the amenities, except the 14 Championship Golf courses. The annual district maintenance fee is determined by the individual CDD Boards and primarily covers landscaping and retention pond maintenance. It is a line item on your annual county tax bill. The water, sewer, irrigation maintenance is a part of your utility bill just like every where I have lived before.

PLEASE, do yourself a big favor while you are here and meet with a Village Realtor. They can answer your questions with correct information and NO sales pressure. Some outside MLS agents understand the Villages special purpose government and others don’t. Just like the people who post here.

[kenoc7]

I wanted to add that no golf is free. You can pay as you go at executive golf courses or if you play a lot, you can pay an annual "trail fee" - either way it's pretty cheap golf but not free. You can play the championship courses but not free. I've not stayed up with the cost of the premier membership but it only reduces the cost to play. For us, the executives are challenge enough.

The executive courses are free if you walk and most are easy to walk. I think the trail fees should be tripled to encourage people to do the healthy thing and walk. The only people riding carts should be those who are physically unable to walk.

[golfing eagles]

The executive courses are free if you walk and most are easy to walk. I think the trail fees should be tripled to encourage people to do the healthy thing and walk. The only people riding carts should be those who are physically unable to walk.

Somehow, I doubt that putting 80+ year olds who are able to walk out there in the 95-degree sun is the "healthy thing"

[redoak1]

The easiest way to rent, in my opinion, is go to “Vacation Rental By Owner “ and put in “The Villages” as a destination. All fees are included in the price.

[jimjamuser]

My wife and I are visiting the end of May and hope to find a rental in the fall, for a one month stay, to see if TV are for us. While doing research on TV I see the following terms and hence the question. Are amenities fees another way of saying HOA fees? If not are there two separate fees in TV and what is the difference between the two fees if they are not the same thing? Thanks in advance, cycler.
"End of May" - try July and August if you want to see if you can live with the heat. The last 8 years have been record heat in the world and the US. Fighting the heat and humidity of Florida's summer is NOT easy. SOME people can do it and enjoy it?

[jimjamuser]

There are NO HOA fees because we do not have a Homeowners Association. The amenities are managed by the resident elected Community Development District Board. Contractually, the CDD Amenities fees are used to pay for ALL the amenities, except the 14 Championship Golf courses. The annual district maintenance fee is determined by the individual CDD Boards and primarily covers landscaping and retention pond maintenance. It is a line item on your annual county tax bill. The water, sewer, irrigation maintenance is a part of your utility bill just like every where I have lived before.

PLEASE, do yourself a big favor while you are here and meet with a Village Realtor. They can answer your questions with correct information and NO sales pressure. Some outside MLS agents understand the Villages special purpose government and others don’t. Just like the people who post here.
Stay away from realtors for as long as possible. Only talk to REAL RESIDENTS.

[jimjamuser]

Somehow, I doubt that putting 80+ year olds who are able to walk out there in the 95-degree sun is the "healthy thing"
This shows the need to respect the Florida Sun, temp, and humidity in the summer. Which has laid many a healthy person LOW. Drink lots of water, pray a lot, and keep your will up to date.

[Flyers999]

Does the amenity fee pay for the gates and the workers who operate them?

[golfing eagles]

"End of May" - try July and August if you want to see if you can live with the heat. The last 8 years have been record heat in the world and the US. Fighting the heat and humidity of Florida's summer is NOT easy. SOME people can do it and enjoy it?

a) not true

b) Even if it were true, we have 90 or 100 years of Florida weather records---so was it hotter in 1872??? 1645???? 1213??? 300BC??? YOU DON"T KNOW, and neither does anyone else.

[Goldwingnut]

Does the amenity fee pay for the gates and the workers who operate them?

Yes, the gates are amenities and the workers are employed by the Community Watch division of the District government, Community Watch is funded primarily by Amenity Fees collected.

I say primarily, because there are some additional funding sources for the services provided, the most significant of these is from the Developer for patrolling and keeping watch on the areas under construction, this is however a very small percentage of the overall Community Watch budget and responsibility.

The Community watch provides the gate attendants, roving patrols, home check service, wellness check services, and mans a 24 hour command/dispatch center. They also assist first responders during incidents with crowd and traffic control. Overall a significant resource providing a variety of services to the community that most people are unaware of.

[dhdallas]

A rose by any other name...or six of one and half a dozen of the other. It is all the same to your bank account.

[Pgcacace]

The homes in Sumter County have a bond. No bonds in Lake county but only resales there.

[Bill14564]

The homes in Sumter County have a bond. No bonds in Lake county but only resales there.

Where did you get that idea?

See posts 35 and 41

[retiredguy123]

The homes in Sumter County have a bond. No bonds in Lake county but only resales there.
Not true. The Villages of Pine Hills and Pine Ridge are in Lake County, and the houses all have bonds.

[Pairadocs]

There are no HOA fees because the homeowners don't own the amenities. The Villages owns and maintains the amenities and charges homeowners a monthly amenity fee to cover the cost. There is also an annual maintenance fee of about $300 to $500 that appears annually on your property tax bill. That fee covers the cost to maintain the infrastructure such as utilities.

I apologize if I am adding incorrect information, but in addition to your excellent explanation of why the Villages advertises it has NO HOA fee, but does have a monthly "amenity fee" ( $189 would be an average, (just to give you a rough idea) and the added amount on your property tax bill is sometimes called a "bond", so people trying to negotiate all this (usually) have a very very difficult time understand how/why, if they pay off their "bond" at closing, that still does not totally mean no additional fees or extras. Recently friends who moved here (and were used to HOA fees of $540 a month) were confused also. They could not believe how LOW our "HOA" fee (actually our amenity fee bill we shared with them) was until they found out they had to mow their own lawn, trim their own bushes, and many other services their HOA fees paid, including the upkeep on the community pool, playgrounds, recreation center, waste pick up, and so on. It was difficult from the to merge the two terms: HOA fee, Amenity fee.

[Pairadocs]

Check to see if their is a bond. If there is/was I think you have annual maintenance fees associated with the property.
You can go to the tax collectors web site and look up the bills for homes in the area you are interested in to see the extra charges that are included with the real estate bill.
This site might help you find a rental. Also explore the surrounding area while you are here. VH4R Home Rentals in The Villages Florida The Villages Rentals (https://villagershomes4rent.com/)

Great Advice. Go to this website and get the exact facts you will want to know. Don't relay on a real estate agent, people on here or FB and such, or even people you meet visiting here, there are so many variables. Take the advice of those who tell you to go to the website of the county of the home you are considering and get the first hand information for yourself !