It has to be great to set your own rate
 

IT HAS TO BE GREAT TO BE ABLE TO SET YOUR OWN TAX RATE

Background of the 25% Property Tax Hike. In case any readers still don't know about the Developer's sweetheart impact fee and our huge property-tax hike to preserve it, they can watch this video, recorded at the County Commissioner's hearing on September 24, 2019-- as the Developer's puppets on the Commission were about to hike our property tax 25% to preserve that sweetheart fee: Scott Fenstermaker--How can five guys screw 125000 people? - YouTube

As a result of that property-tax increase, we the voters of Sumter County, last year, woke up to what had been going on and tossed out the three Developer's puppet Commissioners (Butler, Burgess, and Printz) who were up for re-election, and we voted in the EMS team of Estep, Miller, and Search. We did so on the basis of a promise by Estep, Miller, and Search to roll back the property tax hike by requiring the Developer to pay for his own county infrastructure through a reasonable impact fee.

Now this tax-reform process is in doubt.

The Developer's Efforts to Keep His Sweetheart Impact Fee. This process is in doubt because the Developer is doing everything in his power to preserve his sweetheart impact fee. He is lobbying the County Commissioners, packing a Commission meeting with his contractors and allies, filling the meeting parking lot with his contractors' heavy equipment so there were no parking spaces for the public, and running a series of propaganda articles in his newspaper vilifying impact fees. His latest ploy is an attempt to “voluntarily” raise his sweetheart road impact fee by 40% in exchange for protection from imposition from any other impact-fee increases. Well, a 40% increase of his sweetheart road impact fee won't come close to covering the costs of all county infrastructure that the Developer should be paying for.

A Comparison of Impact Fees. It is interesting to compare the impact fees that the Developer would pay in Collier County (where his puppets do not set impact fees) with what he pays in Sumter County:
In Collier County, the builder of a retirement community would pay impact fees for:
>Community Parks,
>Regional Parks,
>Roads,
>EMS,
>Schools,
>Government Buildings,
>Libraries,
>Law Enforcement,
>Jail,
>Water,
>Sewer, and
>Fire.
The total of these impact fees in Collier County is approximately $24,000/house, the exact amount depending on where in the county it is built.

In Sumter County, the Developer pays an impact fee of only $972 for roads. (This is only 40% of what the impact-fee study calculated each of his houses is costing the county for new roads). THE DEVELOPER PAYS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING FOR THE OTHER INFRASTRUCTURE that Collier County collects for. Who pays for all the stuff that the Developer doesn't pay for? We, the residents (individuals and existing businesses), do. The Daily Sun articles claim that reasonable impact fees in Sumter County would “paralyze” growth here. Nonsense. The impact fees are 25 times higher in Collier County, and growth there has not been “paralyzed”. Reasonable impact fees allow lower property taxes and are good for the economy. For the truth about the economic benefit of paying for new infrastructure via impact fees, check out this report: Paying for Prosperity: Impact Fees and Job Growth

What Voters Can Do Now to Get Our Property Tax Rolled Back. If the EMS Team had stuck together and stuck to their promises, with 3 of the 5 Commissioners, the process would have started already. But, for some reason, Mr. Estep made a motion to delay even considering the necessary impact-fee increase for six months, and it was passed with the votes of Mr. Search and Developer puppet Breeden. After Mr. Estep was criticized by the public for his motion, Mr. Search came to his defense in the on-line news, calling voters who believed Mr. Estep's campaign promise of tax reform “ill-informed”. In light of the Developer's brazen proposal to set his own tax rate, it looks like the Developer thinks that he has flipped at least one member of the EMS Team and thus controls at least 3 of the 5 votes. Meantime, the six-month delay puts millions of dollars into the Developer's pocket, at our expense, as the Developer pays impact fees at the sweetheart rate and we subsidize him as our property tax accrues at its inflated rate.

Given the fact that the Developer feels confident enough about his influence over the County Commission to believe that he can set his own tax rate, what can we, the voters, do to successfully roll back the massive property-tax increase? I have to admit: I don't know.

The Sad Conclusion. The sad truth is that we won the battle by voting out the Developer's puppets (Butler, Burgess, and Printz). However, in light of the votes of Mr. Estep and Mr. Search, the Developer may have won the war. Probably all we can do is contact Messrs. Estep and Search and insist they keep their promise to us. We can also contact Mr. Miller and thank him for keeping his. Contact information is available here: About the Commissioners | Sumter County, FL - Official Website Obviously, contacting Messrs. Gilpin or Breeden would be a waste of time. We have to vote them out next year.

The developer puppets are posting on TOTV fake news that construction will halt if full impact fee is assessed. New commissioners will roll back the tax increase according to POA.

.:popcorn:

Email To Commissioners
 

The developer made a proposal to voluntarily increase just their impact fee about $400 which is to be discussed at the meeting tomorrow. They also asked for a four year freeze at that amount. Obviously the developer knows that they have been getting away with an extraordinarily low impact fee. The 2019 study on just the road costs for developing south of Rt. 44 called for a $2430 impact fee for The Villages. They have been paying $972 since 2019.

The three new Commissioners campaigned on a platform of rolling back the 25% tax increase we received in 2019 and increasing the impact fees to 100% instead of the current 40%, a 60% discount. They have been in office long enough to have done so. All Sumter County homeowners are paying the increased taxes EVERY year, while an impact fee is paid only ONCE. Send an email to the two new Commissioners who are not willing to keep their campaign pledge. Their email addresses are; craig.estep@sumtercountyfl.gov and gary.search@sumtercountyfl.gov.

This is why I think there should be a little give and take from both the developer and the homeowners.

Developers are offering to increase their impact fee almost 50% to just under $1500 per unit.

Homeowners could agree to that, and kick in a lower contribution of - instead of 25%, maybe 15% increase in the rate.

In this way, everyone pays a little more than they did previously, no one bears the entire burden, and the increases are manageable for almost everyone. And honestly - if a 15% increase from what you've been paying for the past 14 years is too much, then you are living above your means.

The only people I would feel badly for are people who moved in, within the last couple of years. They will only have enjoyed their current tax burden for a short period of time and then socked with the increase. People who've lived in the county for a decade or more have enjoyed a lower-than-necessary tax burden, and are now simply being asked to catch up.

Did the developer offer give and take on house price or the bond? No!

I offered to pay 60% of the cost of my groceries at Winn-Dixie today and they refused to accept it.

What am I doing wrong?

Even though I come from the tax capital of the world, any developer that wants to build is asked to make upgrades to the area around them. One company restructured a whole intersection, a mere million dollars and it was a mile away from the 1 building being built by the developer.

I’m moving to Sumter County in 4 months and I’m worried about how things are done by the developer.

I suspect when the county budget was studied by the new commissioners, they realized they can not roll back the 25% property tax increase and increase the impact fees high enough to make up the difference. I read either on TOTV or the newspaper that the impact fee cannot be raised on just the developer of the over 55 retirement community. If raised on the developer of the Villages, it would also have to be raised on builders of all non-retirement community homes, retail and commercial buildings etc in the county. While I do not know if that is correct and while I have no idea of the multiple line items of the counties budget, I do not know what level of impact fee increase even makes sense. The developer is not asking for his impact fee to be increased, he is volunteering to pay 40% more so that the fee does not have to be increased on all other new construction also.

Second, you cannot compare Collier county with Sumter County. Collier is one of the wealthiest counties per capita while Sumter is a more rural county. Look at the difference in cost of living in Naples or Bonita Springs versus The Villages or Wildwood or Bushnell. I imagine there is a big difference between wealth per capita in Sumter versus Collier counties also.

Third the developer built the Charter school, which I believe is not supported by county taxes. His plans for the next 3 to 5 years include a new K-8 charter school and a new Charter High School in the southern area of development. The developer builds parks in his development in the form of rec centers, golf courses, hiking trails, pickle ball courts, pools, preserves, etc. So comparing to Collier county is more like comparing apples to oranges.

The bond we assume when we buy new construction pays for the cost of the sewers, water lines, roads, electricity lines, internet and cable lines, phone lines etc within the confines of his development.

....and the commissioners.

Coming from tax capital of the world (is that Illinois, California,or NYC?) taxes around here will be least of you’re worries?

Do you know the developer is a billionaire and many seniors here depend on SS. Talk about reverse Robin Hood steal from the poor to give to the rich. Nice.

Dam, can my pension and Social Security go up 25% and be subsidized by someone else? How nice would that be : )

If the bond does not pay for infrastructure, what is it used for? Pure profit?

The bond pays for all the infrastructure WITHIN the development. It did not pay for improvements to existing county network roads such as Warm Springs Road, hwy 501, Meggison Road, whatever the county highway was numbered (462?) that was the extension of Morse Road south of 44, the repaving of Morse and Buena Vista between 44 and 466, etc

:1rotfl:

That might be a good thing! Over development is just as bad or worse than under development. With the number of people in TV, businesses will still come. Maybe we don’t need another thirty thousand homes. This only benefits the developers.

You sound just like one of the developer's minions.

This is so upsetting. Already sent my thoughts to esep we want to keep our taxes were they should be. No creep. I know your happy, but leave your complacency at the door.

In the small rural upstate NY town in which I lived, I was involved with the Planning board and eventually became the head of the Town Board. I knew the budget inside out. With that experience, I am not surprised that a large tax increase came after years of no tax increases. I am aware that there has been incredible increase in the tax base. However, residential development has a large infrastructure upkeep in the long haul. Roads don't last forever. With more residents, there is an increase need in the sheriff department, the court system, health department and many other government services. I am sure that the new board members are on a steep learning curve about the budget, how the county government runs, etc. I applaud that they are taking 6 months to learn enough to make a sound decision regarding the impact fees as well as our tax rate. Hopefully, as they go through the process, they will help all of us learn some of the intricacies that impact their final decision.

Does anyone actually think the developer would actually volunteer to a tax increase if it didn't benefit the family. Why do you think they set up this Bond structure, because it helps them make it look like the homes are cheaper than what they really are. 99.9999 percent of developers buy property, they put in all the infrastructure, decide how many homes per acre, divide up the cost of the infrastructure by the amount of homes in the development, and add this cost to each home before they are put on the market. This way everyone pays the same for infrastructure, no messing around with bonds, which I believe the developer makes all the interest off these bonds, which is really high compared to other interest rates. Developer here in The Villages always wins.

Looking at strike 3
 

Everything is negotiation and compromise. Nothing new in that statement
however i find it very curious that when serious subject matter like this is discussed all the heavy hitters disappear.

It's an old topic, a number of threads, beat to death by OP's with agenda's........maybe that is why some are sitting in the dugout.

Bond holders get the interest. Many bonds have also been reissued at lower rates .

The Florida Impact Fee law states the increased services are to be paid through impact fees not property taxes. The law was passed because seniors were being taxed out of their homes by development.

Thou shalt not envy.

Sacrifice a pawn or a rook to save the queen.

As far as the bonds are concerned, yes, they work in the developer's favor, but they also work in the homeowner's favor as well.

It's all about cash flow for a business, building without the bonds ties up lots of cash and credit line that doesn't get recovered until most of the homes are sold. With the bond the infrastructure costs are recovered as they are delivered to the CDD, greatly improving the cash flow.

How does this benefit the residents? Simple, with free cash on hand the developer is able to invest in amenities and other facilities. When you buy here there is not "over there with be the tee box for the fourth hole" promises, the course is built, the pools are built, the rec centers are built. How many communities were built that were supposed to have pools, rec centers, golf courses, etc. that never appeared because the developer ran out of money; in Florida there are lots of these. (yes, sometimes there is an ebb and flow between the homes and amenities, it happens in any project of size).

The developer doesn't issue the bonds, the CDD government issues them, the bonds are sold on the open market to investors, the investors make the profits off of the interest rate of the bond. They are not mortgages and the interest rate of a bond can't be compared to that of a mortgage.

The bonds are not a secret, they are and must be fully disclosed during the buying process. If you don't read the documents and ask questions, who's fault is that.

This is still ( at least for now) a free country and all those who are unhappy about this issue are free to remove their anxiety and distress by moving elsewhere. I do not understand why, if you are all so unhappy here, that you would want to stay. You have choices so find a place that fits your budget and your desire to never have any increase in taxes. Good luck with that.

I feel the same way, there is way too much development in just a very short period of time. There was a time when the developer built one village at a time, now its just an explosion of houses with not nearly enough stores or business for south of 44.:bigbow:

And yet, they sell out. If there wasn't a market, they wouldn't be building. There is HUGE demand from the center of the Baby Boomer age group for places like TV. You shouldn't be surprised by the growth.

So increased services COULD BE paid for by impact fees, not required to be paid for by. Big difference.

Is your home south of 44?

Developer's scam offer turned down
 

Good news. The County Commission just turned down the Developer's offer. The Developer offered to "voluntarily" pay 56% of what he should be paying for Sumter County roads--so long as he is protected from paying for his other county infrastructure and the residents pay for it!

In Taiwan a property owner writes their own assessment on a parcel of real estate. However, that assessment is an option to the county to purchase the property at the self declared assessed valuation. Just a way to keep everyone honest.

E-Mails On The Way
 

My emails to Gary Search and Craig Estep are on their way. I hope all of you are taking the time to let them know how you feel about them caving in to the Morse pressure so quickly. Only a couple of months since the election and those two already appear to be in the Morse’s pocket. Somebody has to feed that fourth generation of the Morse family. Based on the new commissioner’s campaign, I never thought they’d flip and vote to have it come out of our pockets so quickly. Disgusting.

We’ve been in The Villages for sixteen years and probably don’t have that many more to go. But I will say this to those of you reading this that may not have made up your mind to buy and move here — consider the opinion of a longtime resident.

We've enjoyed our first fifteen years living here. But in the last year or so it’s become very apparent that the relationship between the Developer and the residents is changing in a big way. The quick and secretive decisions to increase building density and grab for cash flow from many more apartments, the disgusting decision to shift the cost of infrastructure in newly developed areas to ALL Sumter County residents with a huge real estate tax increase, and the out-of-control pace of development.

This isn’t the same type of community as it was under the ownership of Harold Schwartz and his son Gary Morse. The three siblings running The Villages now are nearing retirement. Who knows who and how many of the incoming fourth generation of the family will be running the place for the next few decades? But one thing is for sure — there are a whole lot more Morse mouths to feed. And it’s pretty clear the money will be coming out of all Sumter County resident’s pockets!

Hopefully, residents will heed your request and encourage Commissioners. Estep and Search to keep their campaign promise and keep it NOW, not some time in the future. All three new Commissioners (the EMS Team) are under tremendous pressure from the Developer not to do so ever--neither now nor in the future. The Developer's pressure includes propaganda disguised as news in his newspaper, attacks on the reputations of the EMS team, packing the Commission meeting, and filling the meeting's parking lot with construction vehicles to crowd out the public.

The delay in implementing reasonable impact fees for the Developer and a corresponding property-tax cut for residents is putting millions of dollars in the Developer's pocket at our expense.

Hopefully, residents will also give Commissioner Miller an attaboy for trying to keep his promise to the voters despite the Developer's pressure.

Sumter County needed to get that $50,000,000 somewhere for the new and upgraded roads where the developer plans to build.

Did you know that the "developer" did not become a billionaire by living off SS?????
Just because "he" was very successful and earned lots of $$$ (over a 40+ year span) does not mean "he" should give it away. Typical "stick it to the rich" liberal class warfare.

On the other side, if your retirement plan was to live solely off SS, you planned poorly, especially if that plan included living in TV

I don't think that many residents are begrudging the Developer's becoming a billionaire by building and selling houses, and this is not "liberal class warfare" as you allege. (Full disclosure: I am a lifelong Republican.) In fact, over all, I admire the great job that the Developer has done in planning and building a retirement community and think that he deserves to have become rich doing so.

Our complaint here is:
We do begrudge the Developer's using his former control of the County Commission to further enrich himself at the expense of the residents of Sumter County. We, the residents, should not be subsidizing the Developer. We are now doing that via the combination of his sweetheart impact fee and our 25% tax hike to pay for his county infrastructure.

That combination exists only because the Developer, after he pushed through One Sumter, was able to put into office puppet Commissioners who would do his bidding. We tossed out 3 of the Developer's 5 puppet Commissioners in the last election and voted in the EMS team. We will toss out the remaining two (Gilpin and Breeden) next year.

Again, and for the 10,000th time----Whether county infrastructure costs are financed through the property tax or an impact fee makes NO DIFFERENCE WHATSOEVER to the developer. Any additional cost will simply be passed on to the new home buyer.

PS: If this issue finally gets resolved, what will you have to post about? :1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl: