IRS vs VCDD Bonds
 

Today's (Sunday) Orlando Sentinel has a rather scathing column by Lauren Ritchie about the preliminary IRS ruling on the tax exempt status of $64 million of VCDD bonds. The column is factually correct except that it littered with snarky comments about lawyers, the Villages Government and the Developer. Straightforward reporting would be of more benefit to us that Ms. Ritchie's hatchet job. Her comments detract from this important issue, which poses the potential for significant economic impact for Village homeowners should the IRS ruling stand. There appears to be a follow-up column scheduled for Wednesday. This is an issue that we need to keep an eye on, though a less slanted source of information may be desirable.
LED

IRS Investigating Bonds
 

In today's Orlando Sentinel, Lauren Ritchie writes that for the past year, the IRS has been investigating $64 million worth of tax-free bonds sold in 2003 by the VCCDD & concluded that they should be taxed. This is of interest to all residents. I recommend that we all follow this closely.

The article appears in Section J, Page one.

Here is the link to the article
 

Here it the link to the article

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/...0,925697.story

The IRS report sounds very similar to what the POA has been saying for a long time.

http://www.poa4us.org/issues.html

:agree: wdwduo is right when he says that the reporting was snarky. It was so obviously biased. As I call the reporter is not a friend of TV and has written other articles that were also very biased. Hopefully she (who whoever writes the follow-up on Wednesday) will be a little less biased and we can get the facts without the hype. While still a TV wannabee we are determined to change that status as soon as we can and we need the facts in straightforward honest reporting. As do all residents and wannabees.

I'm concerned about what this means to us residents if the IRS ruling stands. Does anyone have a good handle on that?

Scathing??
 

I read the article twice. I did not see anything "scathing". I thought t was a well written article that discussed tie IRS and the Villages understanding of the way bonds are allocated and used in the Villages.

Doesn't it concern any of you that they build a recreation center for $1M and sell it back to us for $10M?

These tactics have been written up in the POA newsletter and in previous articles in the Orlando Sentinel. If you take time to read it and the Richie article instead of being defensive, you might even ask yourself - is this true? Remember this is our money they are spending.

Sure looks like the Developer taking advantage of us. I have no problem with them making a profit, but not to the extent of unscrupulously ripping us off.

"Doesn't it concern any of you that they build a recreation center for $1M and sell it back to us for $10M?"

Zcaveman,
I don't currently live in TV but I am actively considering moving there someday. Yes, it does concern me. In fact that is why I made sure I attended the 2 hour CDD orientation when I was visiting there on the lifestyle preview plan. I wanted to get a clearer idea of what was occurring and listen to their explanation.

While the class was informative, it still left me with serious concerns about the fairness of what was going on and the huge amount of debt being incurred that village residents need to pay off. Even if you accept the method used to appraise the property, I was not convinced that the appraiser was totally independent.

By paying $64 million for $11 million in assets, the developer is reaping a ridiculous amount of profit. And since he has a guaranteed buyer, it would seem like he has virtually no risk. As an investor, I would love to find an investment like this that I could invest in.

Don't get me wrong, I like TV. In fact, I plan on taking a second lifestyle visit later this year. However, this issue does bother me and I would think it should bother all TV residents.

1. Don't you think the Developer is not only selling a building or business as it is at the time of sale....but for the potential/possible/probable future value. Smart!

2. We didn't have to buy it. It was a choice.

Just my thoughts.

We have no choice. Yhe deal is between the developer and the developer owned committee.

Did you NOT read the article?

I read the article. It seems similar to one she wrote several months ago and does not seem to have any new information.

I think it would be best if everyone waited until March 25th to see what Janet Tutt has to say in the VCCDD's response to the IRS questions.

Is it to early to speculate or is there some general idea of how this may affect residents?

I really hate it when people denigrate information because of the source. When people use such snarky (if I can steal a good word) terms as "faux news", it just tells me they never watch it and are dealing from ignorance. Unfortunately, my distaste with this habit hasn't inoculated me from it. I still question anything coming from MSNBC as I consider it an arm of the DNC.

While I have read quite a few of Ritchie's columns and found many informative, I've noted that she is absolutely incapable of writing about TV in an unbiased manner. If she ever includes comments from Villages residents, it is ALWAYS from the POA. I swear if the Morse family were to discover a cure for cancer, Ritchie would chastise them for putting doctors out of work. Ms Ritchie seems to have attended the same journalistic integrity classes as Andy Bleatchman.

Re the IRS/bond issue in general and how it affects residents, I don't believe the article tells us anything. Like any case involving this much money, this is not going to be resolved quickly. And as any permanent IRS ruling will affect all the CDD eventually, the lawyers are going to be running up the billables on this one. Pretty sure I'll be dead before this is completely settled.




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It was my choice, too
 

I agree with Cassie - it was a choice to live here. It still is my choice. If I didn't like it here, didn't want to live here, I'd leave here.

As I understand it, the IRS investigation has more to do with how the bonds are treated with regard to taxing... tax-free (as Muni bonds are) or not tax-free.

Its not MY call to make. Also, no matter what the decision is, it won't affect my tax returns.