Proposed County Budget
 

At the July 13, 2021 BOCC budget workshop, the proposed budget for the County showed a rolled-back rate of 3%. However, the budget did not include any revenue for the anticipated $229.5M increase in sales tax from Senate Bill 50. This law requires out-of-state retailers with no physical presence in Florida, to collect Florida sales tax. The Sumter County revenue from this $229.5M could be 2 million or more. Why wasn’t that included in the budget? Today’s Daily Sun front page headlines under Florida News reads, “Online Retailers, Seminole Tribe Contribute To Revenue Boost.”

Another item not considered is the estimated $25M for Sumter County from the American Rescue Plan Act. Although the U. S. Treasury has not completed its rules for the uses of the funding, they should include one time purchases of fire trucks and equipment and some other expenditures included in the budget. Yet no receipts are included in the budget proposal.

Additionally, the budget proposal does not include all the additional revenues received in impact fees this year to date. If all these items were included in the final budget, I believe that the rolled-back rate would be 10% or more. That rate would begin to offset the outrageous 25% tax increase imposed upon all County residents in 2019 and show that the three new Commissioners are keeping their campaign promise to roll back the increase that was due to the development below Rt. 44.

The promise of rolling back our massive property-tax increase was premised upon increasing the Developer's sweetheart impact fee so that he, not the current residents, would pay for the infrastructure necessitated by the Developer's massive expansion of The Villages. The Developer, through state legislation sponsored by the Developer's employee Brett Hage, made it impossible to accomplish this. Every time that we pay our county property tax, we are, in effect, writing a check to the Developer for the amount of the tax increase.

Thank you, Representative Hage, and also thanks to the remaining two Developer-puppet Commissioners (Breeden and Gilpin) who enacted the tax increase in 2019. Hopefully, all three will be ousted next year in the Republican primary.

How does Rep Hage get away with such a massive conflict of interest?

Wow, Never
 

Any additional taxes always trickle down. What makes you think the Developer in any way shape or form would absorb any additional costs. Just raise prices and if you get something back from the state, that’s even better!

I agree, we should thank Representative Hage and all the other legislators who did the right thing by passing the legislation. When you vote in inexperienced and patronizing Commissioners who are adept at making promises they knew they couldn't keep you need the Hages of the world who understand the negative impact they bring.

So you are ok with a guy who is an executive working for the developer to not recluse himself in voting for this legislation?

I do have my doubts now about the new commissioners but what Hage did was very wrong.

Most of the people I want Hage gone. He is a Morse puppet.

To think impact fees paid by all businesses, not just the developer, will offset the tax increase is a fantasy. The commissioners who were elected know that and it is why they have not said a word on the main thing they ran on. Here is a novel idea, why not look for areas to reduce expenses in the county budget instead of increasing all categories.

They bring in 4.2 million in impact fees each year and it all goes to pay for the new roads that cost $110 million over 10 years. The short fall is covered by gas taxes which were used for maintenance of the roads so the next 10 years less road maintenance. The previous year there was a 4% roll back and now the 3% roll back so 7%.

ethics
 

How many concerned citizens wrote to the head of the legislature to throw this bum out

The tax increase was 50 million dollars

Just vote him out in the next election!

No matter how many would write doubt they would get him out of office.

Best way is via the ballot box.

Increased taxes
 

Taxes always trickle down to final pricing. Businesses aren’t out to lose or suck-up losses. The cost is always passed down to the final user from the top down.

County Budget
 

The failure of the county commissioners extends beyond impact fees. The Villages developer sells roughly 200 new homes a month. Using basic data from the tax rates web page this results in approximately $1500 on a home valued at 184K. The median home price in The Villages is 318K that translates to $2600 per year for each home. The average number of new homes sold each year is slightly over 200 per month. This works out to be over 6 million dollars per year in new tax revenue. This compounded over the years since the tax increase now is effectively 18 million a year in new revenue from just new homes sales. Each new home owner pays a bond to the county for the infrastructure to build the homes in an area. We haven't added revenue from new commercial property. Instead of focusing on the impact fee issue (even though the commissioners can increase impact fees beyond the limits in the law by meeting criteria) we should be pressing the commissioners on how they are using the new revenue.

:ohdear::ohdear::ohdear:

I am tired of hearing that the impact fees would reduce property taxes. By law, the impact fees are only available to fund improvements to the infrastructure, not maintenance. They have no impact on property taxes unless property taxes are used for improvements to infrastructure! What this means is that they can build NEW roads, widen old roads, change intersections to improve traffic flow, etc. with the impact fees. They can not use it to repave roads, fix infrastructure or perform maintenance to existing structures. Makes sense since the impact fees fund the growth and improvements required by development! The commissioner just voted to transfer the EXCESS fund (over $3 million) from this year into future years reserves for infrastructure. Every year in the last 4 years they have had excess funds due to impact fees. The reserve account is now over $12 million. Lesson that should be learned, before voting for inexperience people in government positions, do your research. They may not be able to deliver what they promise!

Have you ever been South of 44? Millions of dollars spent on improvements of County roads. I think the figure tossed around is Sumter County is paying 110 million worth of road improvements.

That statement alone shows you have no clue on how things work in TV.

What's the problem?

The Developer's supporters who attack the failure of the new Commissioners to increase the Developer's sweetheart impact fee to finance a rollback of our massive property-tax increase ignore reality. The failure is due to the campaign by the Developer to protect his impact fee. The campaign includes harassment of the new Commissioners through the Angeliadis fishing expedition, the attempts to find some violation of the Sunshine law, the packing of Commission meetings and of their parking area, propaganda in the Daily Sun disguised as news, and the use of the Developer's employee, Brett Hage, to enact state legislation crippling the ability of local governments to finance new infrastructure through impact fees.

The complaints by the Developer's supporters are reminiscent of the guy who kills his parents and then complains about being an orphan.

You are right about one thing, and one thing alone. The new Commissioners didn't deliver on the property-tax rollback. However, that is because the Developer used his employee, Representative Brett Hage, to sponsor legislation prevent the delivery by making it impossible to increase the Developer's sweetheart impact fee. The stench of what is going on here is overwhelming.

2022 pirmary election
 

For the 2022 primary election, we need a good candidate to run against Hage. We need someone who will not place any special interest groups above the majority of the voters.

Kinda like was done for the County elections.

:1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl:

:1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl:

:1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl:

they had no plan, they had no experience and are just now learning.

Welcome back, this topic brings you out of hibernation.

They had a plan; they had the experience. They were beaten down by the economic and political power of the Developer.

Hibernation? No, somebody moved a rock.

Absolutely right. We also need competent, independent Republican candidates to challenge Breeden and Gilpin-- if the Developer tells them to run again.

That developer. He does one heck of a good job.

We are number one in this country. His team built homes and his family also built an ethical network of businesses that they have passed on to others. None have run them as well as The Morses. They don't seem to be in it for money. They have much more than they need. They must feel like my friends who are dentists, if they retire than the business might not be the same as when they run it.

My name is Grace Helene Gantner and I don't gain anything for supporting the Morses.

Except I get to LIVE here................

Yeah right, good joke!

Back to avacdos and sweetheart deals and puppet slurs.

Good luck. He won last election with +65%.

I disagree with the contents of this post.

Mr and Mrs Jones. I this house costs $200,000 to construct plus $20,000 in development (impact) fees. I can charge you $200,000 and you pay the fees, or I can charge you $220,000 and I pay the fees.
Either way you will live in a wonderful community which is clean, relatively crime free, has one third of the property taxes you had in Illinois, none of the income taxes. We bought in and are glad we did. I cannot understand people who choose to complain after they voluntarily moved in knowing exactly what they were getting.
Finally, I was of the understanding that these threads were to be free of politics. Can we now start using these as a political forum??Endorsing or opposing specific candidates or parties seem rather political to me???

Reason For Posting This Thread
 

My intention for posting this thread is to show that the budget should be rolling back the county tax by much more than the 3% in the proposed budget. Remember, it is not only Sumter County Villagers who pay property taxes. All Sumter County property owners will benefit from a larger than 3% roll back. It may not matter to most Villagers however, there are many Sumter County property owners who were hurt by the 25% County tax increase in 2019.

Mr. and Mrs. Me bought our house in 2018. As far as I know, the $20,000 was included in the price we paid. In 2019 our property tax (along with tens of thousands of our neighbors) was increased by 25%, in part to pay for the new roads South of 44 rather than increasing the impact fees on that new construction. All of us pay more in taxes so that Mr. and Mrs. Jones don't have to pay as much in fees. The issue is much more complex than that but that is the basic complaint.

You hit it right on the button!

Have you even looked at the Sumter County Finances? In Fiscal year 20/21 they budgetted $25 million for ALL capital improvements in the county. Please look at the county budget and expenses over the last couple of years. It does not support that Sumter county came anywhere near $110 million in Property taxes to pay for new roads!

Nobody said 110 million a year. 110 million is the figure for the Sumter County portion of the expansion South of 44.The County has 5 years to pay off invoices from the developer for road improvements according to their agreement. The agreement also gives the County more time to pay off other projects like 15 years for the Southern Oaks Bridge. Meggison Road from 44 to Warm Springs cost just under 30 million according to the County. Looking at the budget for 2021 on page 241 the projections for 2021, 2022 and 2023, the Buena Vista Extension is coming in at a total of 20 million. That's 50 mill right there. On page 238 there are projections for 2023, 2024, and 2025, of 26 Million total for roads already built in Southern Oaks. Thanks for the tip to read the budget.

Wow. I must have missed the part of the campaign slogan that said "IF WE CAN INCREASE DEVELOPER IMPACT FEES, then we will roll back a 25% tax increase.
They ran on the promise of rolling back the tax increase. They've failed.
Face it - the new commissioners have been totally outplayed by The Developer. You can whine about why they can't deliver. But the fact is, they haven't delivered.
The new commissioners have dug in their heels and adopted a very anti-developer agenda. That's been their Achille's heel. If they would try to find common ground and negotiate (If they would have negotiated the Developer's offer of 40% Impact Fees would we be further ahead?). But... they can't. And it's the residents of Sumter County that suffer.