Amenity Fees
 

I've noticed my amenity fees are creeping up. Now it is $149.22. Last time I looked it was $145.00
Is there a cap on rate hikes?

The exact language is in your deed restriction documents. They can be found on districtgov.org. The skinny is that the increase it tied to the Consumer Price Index (CPI).

It will continue to go up till the day you die!

And so will everything else:1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl:

Not everything :1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl:

But there are pills for that!:1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl:

Mine actually went down almost a whole dollar this past billing period!

Your amenity fees increase/decrease according the the Consumer Price Index each year. The date is keyed to the anniversary date you started paying the amenity fees. Currently there is a "cap" on amenity fees of around $155/month. It currently can not increase above that. The cap can be changed by district government.

Yes and usage as we age and the rise in cost are inversely related.

Please post a reference regarding a cap as I have never seen such language.

This issue of the POA Bulletin lead article was Amenity Fees.
http://www.poa4us.org/bulletins_file...etin201606.pdf

So, who has to die before they stop going up?

Really ? Do you think you are not getting your money's worth. I know a friend who lives in a Del Webb Community in NC and he pays 225 a month and all they have is one rec center and one pool. No golf course. So. they will probably stop rising, or at least you notice they stopped going up when you die chilout

Buyers that buy a home right now start at $145 a month. Your amenities bill can change during the month that your home was originally given its certificate of occupancy (CO). So if the home was completed in April then the amenities Bill can go up in April. Yes it is tied to the consumer price index and cannot go any higher than that during your renewal period. The person that said their amenities actually went down a dollar may be looking at their total bill not the amenities portion only!

I am amazed that the fees are only going us $4 per month. And this generates complaints?

Does that surprise you????? There once was a post where someone complained that a restaurant charged them 12 cents too much.

That sounds reasonable - about 2.5% - that is what the CPI went up by in 2016. I am not sure what time period of the CPI is actually used for the calculation of the increase. Hopefully, presumably, it is an average over a reasonable time frame to average out the short term fluctuations.

I signed on clearly understanding the agreement and the CPI increases as respects amenity fees. So I am not complaining. However and again only observation/question is would residents be better off financially if they paid for amenities based on usage rather than a monthly fee?

Secondly, and this is more than an observation rules were made to be broken. The assurance that the only manner in which amenitity fees can rise is via CPI can change on a dime if the powers to be determine that amenity fee flow is insufficient to meet expenses. Prices go up on everything. So "it will never happen" can in my view "happen"

As a sidebar its one of the reason I get concerned when a resident says why can't we have.... Or why can't the amenity fee pay for.........its the want v need issue over and over again. some of us are disciplined spenders meaning we study the price-value equation carefully before deciding on a purchase... some are not

Your assertion below might not be true. The language in the deed restrictions would need to be changed and that process might not be as easy as you suggest (i.e. change on a dime).

We just moved in this week and feel that the fee is very reasonable. The Sun City That we moved from in Nevada our HOA was $105/month and included pools, sport courts, and community center use only. If you took an exercise class it was $40/month and the greens fees were high. So we're loving this!

You mentioned greens fee. Just be aware that the amenities fees only covers the executive courses. The championship courses have separate greens fees.

[QUOTE=rubicon;1424960]I signed on clearly understanding the agreement and the CPI increases as respects amenity fees. So I am not complaining. However and again only observation/question is would residents be better off financially if they paid for amenities based on usage rather than a monthly fee?

Kind of reminds me of my first bill for amenity fees before I moved in. Called The Villages and questioned why I had to pay since we had not moved in yet. Response was basically a Thank You for helping to maintain the facilities so that they are ready for you when you get here. And in retrospect , they were and are.

Some would, some wouldn't. But the amenity fee pays for more than Rec Centers and exec courses---doesn't it include the landscaping, flowers in RB's, fountain maintenance, pool maintenance, tree trimming etc.? These are things that would be hard to bill for by usage.

Some things benefit the community as a whole, not just those that use a particular part----otherwise we could argue the school system should be paid for by usage, not property taxes. Or worse yet, the police should be paid for by those that don't own their own personal arsenal.

"The contractual agreement does provide for the amenity fee to be adjusted by the increase/decrease in the Consumer Price Index (CPI)."

Utilities - Rate Information

Scroll down to Amenity Information

If you need the assistance of a customer service representative to understand your bill or any of these charges, please call 352-750-0000.

More detail is available in my post....#11.

OhioBuckeye
 

I noticed mine went from $151.57 to $154.34 this month. You would think with thousands of new homes being built they would stabilize. You can kinda see the writing on the wall, as long as TV keeps growing & people continue to want to live here they'll keep going up but just like all other communities like TV, when it stops growing things will get older & older & everything will start to rise drastically. I'm sure lots of people have their own idea's about this!

With all the new homes come new amenities thus more cost.
They will go up as noted in your deed restrictions.
The Villages is not like all other communities like TV.
Why will everything start to rise drastically?
From one of the people with my own ideas............

In my post, I neglected to highlight the phrase I was posting about. I was looking for the official language regarding the statement that there is a cap of $155 (or so) on the amenities fee. The fact that the amenities fee is tied to the CPI is documented in the deed restrictions document but it doesn't make reference to an absolute cap.

There is a good explanation here:
http://www.poa4us.org/bulletins_file...etin201606.pdf

The amenities scale up in number (golf courses, rec centers) as the population grows so more homes will not impact the amenities fee; more people paying for more amenities. The increases in the amenities fee is tied to the CPI so as to keep pace with inflation. Presumably money is budgeted from the amenities fees to adequately fund the inevitable refurbishment of the amenities. It should be self sustaining.

Thanks for the link. It looks like the $155 figure is a deferral amount; the monthly fee will not go above this number until such time as the deferral amount if raised. The increases that would have taken place without the deferral amount can appear in the future so they aren't actually forgotten.

Some of this stuff is paid for with the "maintenance fee" on your November tax bill - typically about $500/year or so. I usually just refer to it as the "flower bill" since I believe the landscaping of the roundabouts and other common areas are paid for with this fee. There is probably other stuff.