The Misleading Article in Today's Daily Sun
 

The head-line article in today's Daily Sun is the latest impact-fee bull shoveled by the Developer's Minister of Propaganda, David R. Corder. It nowhere mentions the decrease in property taxes that would match the increase in impact fees. Estep, Miller, and Search ran on a platform of reversing the 25% property-tax increase imposed by the Developer's puppet Commissioners to preserve the Developer's sweetheart impact fee.

Mr. Corder constantly describes the proposed impact-fee increase as a "tax increase". It would not be a tax increase. It would be a SHIFTING of taxes to pay for the Developer's county infrastructure (roads, police, fire, etc.) from the present residents to the Developer, who should be bearing such costs. The net result would be a tax decrease for current businesses and residents. New or existing businesses building a new structure would pay the impact fee once and then enjoy lower property taxes, amortizing and deducting the impact fee over the life of the building.

Again, this would be a tax break for existing, COVID-impacted businesses. Furthermore, expanding existing businesses filling up the many existing vacant premises would pay no impact fee and would enjoy the benefit of lower property taxes. Unfortunately, the issue is complicated and, for many residents, the Developer's newspaper is their only source of local news. These folks may well believe Mr. Corder's distortion of the facts.

It is remarkable how the paper continues to publish a very one sided view of this. Would have thought they would put in at least one person saying why they think the developer should be paying more but not what the paper is told to publish.

I have said it before and will say it again think there is ample room to compromise but since when does responsible journalism allow an editorial to be published as a news article.

"The Estep-Miller-Search tax increase" I lost count of how many times this phrase was used. It looks like even the author got tired of using it!

Is this a case of, "if you say it enough it becomes true" or was this supposed to be part of a drinking game?

I'm surprised no one from the paper/developer/business side has attempted to challenge the study that established the levels of the impact fees. Their only argument seems to be that they like their 60% discount and will take their toys and go home if they don't get to keep it.

I guess you don't know that the Daily Sun is not a newspaper. It is owned by The Developer and its sole purpose is to sell more homes. It does not pretend to be journalism, much less responsible journalism.

Actually I do know this but silly me thinks that something that represents itself as a newspaper should have at least a little bit of a journalistic standard.

Have never seen a paper before that does not have an editorial page or a regular page of letters to the editor (but than again the paper does not appear to have a living breathing editor) or news article that are totally written from the authors opinion of what the facts should be not what they are.

Maybe you've heard about the document called the US Constitution and the Supreme Court who opines on its meanings, including the right to a free press-

Can a newspaper refuse to run a letter or advertisement? | Freedom Forum Institute

The Court wrote:

“A newspaper is more than a passive receptacle or conduit for news, comment, and advertising. The choice of material to go into a newspaper, and the decisions made as to limitations on the size and content of the paper, and treatment of public issues and public officials — whether fair or unfair — constitute the exercise of editorial control and judgment. It has yet to be demonstrated how governmental regulation of this crucial process can be exercised consistent with First Amendment guarantees of a free press as they have evolved to this time.”

The Daily Sun is not a newspaper. It's propaganda for the developer. And the descriptions they use of Miller, Search and Estep are disgraceful. It's pretty obvious our new elected officials have gotten under the developer's skin. I'm very pleased the attempts to rig the election by making it so Democrats couldn't vote, shoveling money at the old candidates, hiring a consultant, propaganda in the paper, etc. didn't work! So pleased that our new commissioners are working for US and not the developer. And that's as it should be!

well Stu, responsible journalism has gone the way of honest government and jumbo shrimp

Should they believe YOUR distortion of the facts instead?????

I’m always glad to be educated. Please tell me what I have distorted.

There are a lot of other sources for Villages' news. Try Facebook, for instance. Google "The Villages" with "Facebook".

He that owns the press has the power but then along came the Internet.

You constantly state that the "developer" should pay the impact fees----when in reality the developer will just pass the cost on to the buyer. You have stated that the developer won't be able to do that, but in this market he most certainly can.

If your argument was that the new home buyers should bear the impact fee because they are creating the cost, it would have a bit more merit. But then you'd have to change your tagline to "the new homeowner's sweetheart impact fee deal"

They have the right to pretty much publish whatever they want.

I have the right to my opinion that what they publish is not responsible journalism.

To Smart Uncle
 

I have an Uncle who farmed his whole life and was as knowledgeable as anyone I ever knew. One time an Insurance Company tried to get him to make a one time settlement on an Insurance Claim rather than the monthly payments. His response has stayed with me as it represented what I should always remember. His response was, "if it is good for you then it must not be good for me!" Thus the Developer's proposal!!:popcorn:

I am not surprised. When you are talking to a car salesman do you expect them to list the faults and vulnerabilities of the car they are selling? I don’t. But then I am used to propaganda for manipulation purposes in many areas.

I read the article and found it to be rather poorly written and confusing...I didn't bother to re-read it and went on to the page with the comics

What I did find interesting is that the article said Sumter County hadn't changed it's tax rate in 14 years

seems to me that there may not have been much serious long term planning being done by the Sumter county officials that should have been doing that, so that additional funds needed for future infrastructure expenses were on the radar and could be collected and put aside... but with the constant increase in the tax base the money has been flowing in by the wheelbarrow for years and apparently nobody noticed.....now the circus has become too big for the tent and there's not enough money to fund the infrastructure spending that is needed

so, yes, let's tax the 'you know what' out of the small businesses, those scoundrels are making money hand over fist on us (NOT)... and let's put future business growth on hold, that'll solve the problem, (NOT)...and so what if another hospital doesn't get built in the southern area of TV, they seem to be younger down there anyway (selfish)

Thanks for this. I reviewed the loooong Sun article, and honestly was a bit confused as to the specifics and impact. I thought the article seemed to focus on one side (what's new with some Media, including the Sun). This ToTV thread expalins a lot now. And...as usual a topic for vastly different viewpoints.

thanks,
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I have been here for 22 years now, and love the Daily Sun, BUT allowing it to be compared with any other journalistic endeavor is silly.

It was begun to sell houses and The Villages, and to this day, that is its main purpose.

You will never see certain things in The Daily Sun, no matter the import. It will never ever give you both sides, if their are other sides.


It still is a "house organ" selling this community, and the "Family" values" to all.

This is not negative, just reality

This is expressed much better than what I was trying to say.

I just googled Sumter County Road Impact fee and was rather surprised at the list of categories of construction and their assigned impact fee. There was about 80 different categories from retail to restaurants to single detached homes to multi-story residential construction to gas stations to grocery stores to various types of medical clinics and hospitals to auto supply stores to industrial buildings to bars to golf courses to bowling lanes and on and on. Some impact fees were per housing unit, some were per 1000 square feet, some were per hole of the golf course, some per lane of the bowling alley, some per screen of the theater, etc. The current rates were set in Oct 2020 at 40% of the maximum allowed. If the rate can not be raised on just one category, but on all categories at the same time, the increased impact fee will negatively impact every category of future construction in the county. Raising the impact fee on retired community single family homes would raise the current impact fee of $972 per house to $2430 per house, but it would also raise the impact fee on every other category.

Also noted in reading the document that impact fee revenue can not be used for maintenance on existing county and state roads. That has to be paid by other sources of money from the county or the state. New county road construction and improvements to existing county roads necessitated by the development can be paid with impact fees. I surmise that raising the impact fee of just the developer, if that can be done without affecting the other categories, would not generate enough revenue to completely reverse the 2020 property tax increase and still cover the county's budget.

Exactly, the 401K's of retirees who worked and paid taxes 50+ years to relocate to their dream home will be paying this lumpsum tax increase for development that benefits everyone in the county in the form of a thriving economy.

The Developer and New Home Buyers Should Pay the Cost of their Development
 

I can't hardly believe some in this thread actually believe existing homeowners should pay for the cost of new home and other development by The Developer so they can make the price of the home/store lease/etc. appear more reasonable. There is no logic there. The Developer should pay these costs. He will make the costs back and profits when he sells the homes, leases out the shopping center, etc. at the cost they should be- without a subsidy from my pocket.

Everything you say makes a lot of sense from a homeowner’s point of view. What others are saying benefits the developer and they know it. There are many people who either work for the developer or favor the developer who post regularly on this site. They are what you could call “professional posters.” Businesses know how important the internet is in shaping public opinion so you can be assured that the developer’s imprint is all over these postings. Obviously from a Sumter County homeowner’s perspective it is better if impact fees represent the full cost of increased development, not a percentage of it. That is why 2/3 of the voters in Sumter County threw out the incumbent commissioners and elected a new slate of officials. No matter how heated things may get it appears that changes to the impact fee structure in Sumter County are on the horizon. That is why the developer and his allies are fighting tooth and nail. Unfortunately for them, it appears that their ship has sailed. Voters of Sumter County, by a landslide election, have made their wishes known.

Wondering who these professional posters are?

If you notice the new commissioners did not tie the increase in road impact fees with a roll back of the 25% property tax increase from last year. I believe they know they can’t replace the funds from the tax increase by raising road impact fees. Another item these commissioners are looking at is raising your annual villages fire assessment. They just agreed to basically double the cap, guess what comes next.

We will see how this all plays out. My prediction is they will raise the road impact fee to whatever, give a small reduction in the property tax rate, increase the fire assessment, and will fall short on road impact fee revenues in the long term due to slower commercial growth (possibly even losing the proposed UF research hospital and campus). It really depends on how much they raise the fee and if they can limit it to the developer by getting them to agree to an increase in their line item of a very complex road impact fee schedule.

All newspapers and news outlets push there ceo agenda.
Funny how news outlets can see sun rise differently. Instead of just reporting the facts the sun has risen, they have input their agenda to cloud simple minds with Bs.

And that right to a free press, and freedom of speech, includes the right to come to this forum and criticize the publication that CLAIMS to be a newspaper, for its obvious bias and lack of balance.

...whose power is now in the hands of the few.

Yes they'll pass that cost on to the buyer. Once. The impact fee is currently $900 per unit. If the impact fee becomes $1500, then the increase will be $600 additional.

So let's just say the impact fee goes up to $1500, and the buyer has to absorb the entire $1500 cost in the purchase price.

The home is still valuated and assessed however it always is, by the county for tax purposes. The homeowner pays the same amount they always pay - which is now less, because the county has reduced their total tax burden from the homeowner.

So let's just pretend - for fun - that the decrease in the tax burden ends up meaning the homeowner pays only $3000 per year in taxes instead of $3500 in taxes per year.

The homeowner, by paying $500/year less in taxes, will save more than what they spent on the impact fee, in their second year.

The longer they own the home, the less significance that extra $600 impact fee increase has.

Hmmmm, we are all free to interpret the multiple sources of information thrown our way, and come to our own conclusions. Typically, the real truth comes out somewhere between the B.S. we are force feed, and the real story. In this particular case, I am leaning strongly toward dipping my chips in some guacamole.

Interesting, you place the Daily Sun as a “news outlet”.

They are NOT a news outlet, never have been, never will, and most importantly never claimed to be. They find no need to report all the news, and select only positive (in the view of the “family”) items from national wire services.

Comparing them to any “news outlet” is a manifestation of ones own severe limited knowledge.

Again, this is not negative in any way. If you want real news, skip the Daily Sun, because if it does not fit the “motives” of the family. You will. It find it.

Limiting your news to what is reported in the Daily Sun severely limits your knowledge.

I must add, have read it daily for twenty years, but not for news.

If you are going to label The Daily Sun as "pro Developer," then you have to label "that other online newspaper" as anti-developer. "That other online newspaper" takes every opportunity to communicate a negative story regarding The Developer and The Villages. So.... you have both sides of the story.

Please do not say you expect NEWS from the site you are refer to.

That is checking police blotter kind of information, at best.

If the developer will just pass on the impact fee in this market then why is he saying construction will slow down. Maybe because demand is not inelastic as you incorrectly assume. BTW your opinion is just one point on a demand curve.

As for the Daily Sun we cancelled it because it gets it national news from a lot of biased sources like the AP and its developer propaganda. Also the many multi page biographies are boring.

The other paper’s stories regarding The Villages might be anti developer but they are factual not fake news like the Daily Sun.

My opinion is that "the other" news source is as opinionated as The Daily Sun. I find both "factual" based on your views.

Developers alway pay the impact fees for new roads & infrastructure!
expect when developers have politicians that are more interested in working for the developers and not the people that elected then!

Stu, I can't tell if you are sarcastic or if you didn't read any newspaper the last 4 years. It is all narrative, journalism is a lost art. The Daily Sun is now, and will be forever, a infomercial.

True, you are incorrect in YOUR assumptions. BTW you opinion is just one point on a bizarre curve.

Daily Sun
 

Thank you for your intelligent and true statement