Impact fees controversy settled
 

Now that the impact fees have been settled and increases capped at 12.5% a year do you you suppose the price of new homes in The Villages will go down in price? As I remembered the Village Developer offered a 40% increase.

Have you seen the cost of materials???

Always someone happy to stir a settled pot.

The cost of homebuilding has gone up in the past year. Doubtful the asking price for new homes is going to decrease any time soon.

If it is raised by the 12.5% a year the developer might not have won the war

The state legislature can always tweak it down.

:bigbow:

Prices
 

Price of homes nationwide are being driven by material costs and demand. Demand by far has the most impact.

They will not go down, only up. The cost to build a home today is 30% higher than it was a year ago. Shortage of materials, higher fuel costs etc. etc.

Look at what the new home prices are and you’ll have your answer. :)

State power
 

I agree it appears that in Florida the State has the ability to override the local elected officials decision making process. Self governing at the community level is thus greatly diminished.

Increase of 12.5% is not annual. HB 337

" An impact fee may be increased only pursuant to a plan
for the imposition, collection, and use of the increased impact fees which complies with this section.

An increase to a current impact fee rate of not more than 25 percent of the current rate must be implemented in two equal annual increments beginning with the date on which the increased fee is adopted.

An increase to a current impact fee rate which exceeds 25 percent but is not more than 50 percent of the current rate must be implemented in four equal installments beginning with the date the increased fee is adopted. An impact fee increase may not exceed 50 percent of the current impact fee rate.cAn impact fee may not be increased more than once every 4 years.

A local government, school district, or special district may increase an impact fee rate beyond the phase-in limitations established under paragraph (b), paragraph c),paragraph (d), or paragraph (e) by establishing the need for such increase in full compliance with the requirements of subsection (4), provided the following criteria are met:
1. A demonstrated need study justifying any increase in excess of those
authorized in paragraph (b), paragraph (c), paragraph (d), or paragraph (e) has
been completed within the 12 months before the adoption of the impact fee
increase and expressly demonstrates the extraordinary circumstances
necessitating the need to exceed the phase-in limitations.
2. The local government jurisdiction has held not less than two publicly noticed
workshops dedicated to the extraordinary circumstances necessitating the need
to exceed the phase-in limitations set forth in paragraph (b), paragraph (c),
paragraph (d), or paragraph (e).
3. The impact fee increase ordinance is approved by at least a two-thirds vote of
the governing body.

Depending on the planning and due diligence of the county commission impact fees could be increased beyond the limits of HB 337.

The question remains is the increase in impact fees truly a necessity. The increased revenue from new home property taxes used intelligently by the commission should provided the required funding for infrastructure of all of Sumter County.

No. A rising tide lifts all ships.

The escalating cost of homes is not limited to The Villages, Sumter County or Florida. It is a national situation.

The developer won the war long before the poorly executed proposal took shape. Brett Hage draws a 6 figure salary from the Villages AND a salary in Tallahassee! Knowing that a bill should have been crafted with the 40% increase and double digit increases on the developer going forward !

On the subject of impact fees or big property tax increases, those questions appear to be settled. But the result is there is no apparent source of funding for the road expansion to the south which will permit the Developer’s continued rapid development of houses and shopping centers. He may have to fund the road expansion with higher bonds on new houses, or pay for new roads and infrastructure as he has in the past and ‘repay’ himself from profits on new houses or shopping center operations. Any of those sources place the burden of the costs on those that will actually benefit!

If you think the price of homes will decrease anytime soon, you’re delusional. I’m aware of a pre-owned house in the Lake Sumter area—not on a golf course, no ‘water view’, a 16-year old Lantana—that went to contract last week after two days on the market, for a purchase price over 30% higher than the house sold for only eighteen months ago! There were 11 visits and two all-cash offers on the first day the house was open for viewing.

If you’re looking for a house in The Villages, new or pre-owned, be prepared to open your wallet much wider than you may have expected. And be prepared to act fast, the listings are selling at a lightning pace.