Creation of CDD's Benefit Residents
 

In yesterday’s Villages Daily Sun, there was an article labeled "Inside CDDs". One of the topics discussed was "How do residents benefit from a CDD". It was stated that "That local control also ensures that the board of supervisors adopts sound decisions during public meetings to reduce costs and maximize revenue." Well, I would hope so.

At the October 2022 NSCUDD board meeting in the Villages, I stated the following.

“As a few board members were absent from the last board meeting and as I can only discuss NSCUDD issues with them at a board meeting, I would like to make all members aware of my feeling on an issue that troubles me.

Last month I pointed out that NSCUDD trash pickup fees are $22.96 per month. The fees charged to Villages residents south of 44 with a similar two day pickup schedule are $19.70 plus a Wildwood tax of $1.71. If we compare their charge less tax with ours, NSCUDD is 15% higher.

When we purchase systems from a private entity, we present to the public a pledge that we will do better than the private entity that had operated that system. I would encourage District staff and Jacobs to look at ways to reduce cost so that NSCUDD can adjust our fees to a more reasonable level compared to fees charged for the same level of service by a private entity south of 44.

I noticed that tons collect by Jacobs in August were down yet millage was the same as last year per the Sumter sanitation graph. Please think out of the box to change how we operate to help reduce costs.

Keeping cost inline should be a top priority with us. I understand we may need to increase fees to our CSU customers because we may need to increase our reserve funding. I believe that our large bond payments that amount to 57% of all expenditures have limited what we can accrue for reserves. These large bond payments are needed to cover what NSCUDD purchased from a private firm. Again I encourage all board members to keep in mind our pledge to the public that NSCUDD will operate more efficiently than a private entity. “

So, we could and should be doing better with utilizing CDDs than a private entity. The benefits of going from one type of public entity to another is another matter.

May need to increase fees? It looks like it happened. My sanitation fee has increased on my latest bill, just as it has every October. At least the increase was less than a dollar this time rather than the $1.50 and $2.80 increases from a few years ago.

I like the sentiment of your message. Hopefully, the board can make it happen.

I thank you for your kind remarks. No board discussion after my remarks but I am hopeful that we can do better. The increase in trash pickup rates was approved. It is described below and the private firm also increased rates.

" As discussed at the NSCUDD Board Meeting in August 2022, the increase in District contract fuel costs is projected to result in a budgetary impact (loss) of $165,000 to the Sumter Sanitation Fund. If the Board wished to recover this cost by way of a temporary fuel surcharge to residents and commercial customers, the monthly recovery rate would be $0.34. This is based on the number of residential and commercial accounts and assumes a 9-month recovery period to be effective January 1, 2023 and ending with the September 2023 billing cycle. Jacobs obtains fuel for the Sumter Sanitation fleet from the District-owned fuel depot at District contract pricing, which is contractually set through September 30, 2023. Similarly, Tri-County Sanitation recently implemented a temporary fuel surcharge for all accounts south of SR-44 within The Villages. "

and

"On July 11, 2022, Amendment No. 10 was approved by the NSCUDD Board setting the total monthly fee for FY 2022-23. This amendment reflected a 4% increase, as proposed by Jacobs, which was less than the percentage increase of 4.36% if the default increase was used in the required formula outlined in the agreement. To address current employee retention issues for licensed Commercial Drivers, Jacobs is proposing an additional fee increase of $250,000 for salary increases and bonus incentives to attract and retain CDL drivers.

Jacobs employees twenty-six CDL drivers to meet the solid waste collection needs of The Villages. Current industry demand for CDL drivers has Jacobs experiencing staff retention issues. Jacobs current hiring CDL wage of $18.50 per hour is below competitors and the average Florida wage. The average hiring wage in our area is $20.38 per hour. This disparity has resulted in the loss of seven drivers over the past three months and five unfilled positions. To compensate drivers competitively and to improve the quality of service for residents, Jacobs has proposed to increase CDL driver wages by an average of 7% with monthly incentive bonuses for performance and to encourage retention."

I understand cost will increase but sill believe NSCUDD as a public entity should have rates that are in line with a private firm providing the same service.

The real war is with the County Tax Man…. Spending money is a hobby for them

:confused: Not following you here..... aren't our fees already set til 2031? They just went up 3.25% (same as last year and after going up 14.75% the year before) and are going up 3.25% each year for the next 8 years bring the fee to $30.62 as I read it.


https://www.districtgov.org/communit...s-Schedule.pdf

These set fees can be changed by the NSCUDD board if cost are reduced.

"I would encourage District staff and Jacobs to look at ways to reduce cost so that NSCUDD can adjust our fees to a more reasonable level compared to fees charged for the same level of service by a private entity south of 44."

:smiley: Thank you.

As a resident who pays the monthly fees in question, I feel the need to applaud you for taking the effort to hold the board accountable to their pledge to it’s constituents. THANK YOU!

Simple logic tells me there are only two possible reasons NSCUDD is charging more for the same level of service than the private entity south of 44. First would be that the costs of providing the service are not in line, which should be reconciled and rectified by the Board if the costs are in fact out of line. The second reason would simply be that NSCUDD overpaid when purchasing systems from a private entity. We all know the “ Private Entity” in question as well as the fact that the process to determine “fair value” of assets sold is not necessarily “arms length“.

First, the one thing I will never understand is all the names and abbreviations of all the committees and boards and what each does.

Anyway, I did notice that my amenities /trash bill went up a bit this month. I had paid it early without realizing it was going up. My amenities fee goes up in March so it must have been the trash fee that increased. I generally do not worry or look into changes especially something around a dollar. It is what it is and this is just the cost to live in paradise. We knew fees were included when we moved here and we understand things increase. The south runs the south so things are not the same throughout the Villages.

The convoluted spider web of committees and boards, along with the alphabet soup of names and abbreviations, certainly casts a dark cloud over transparency. It’s enough to make anyone paying attention to look with suspicious eyes at the goings on around them. As a general rule of thumb, things that are on the up and up are kept simple and easy to understand.

It would be nice if the process for District Adopted Rules was more democratic and Villagers had the ability to modify the covenants if a super majority agreed. It should be more flexible like a HOA.

Seems like everything is set in stone and there is no way to ever modify it.

Has there ever been a successful movement to modify district restrictions?

VCDD Deed Compliance - Sumter County

Attend a Resident Academy to learn about the structure, including the names and how the different CDDs work together. There is a lot of information presented in a short time, but it comes with a book that is very useful for reference later.

To me, the "convoluted spider web" appears to be an attempt to separate responsibilities and push them to local control as much as possible. The numbered CDDs provide local control over local concerns. Issues affecting larger areas like utilities or emergency services are left to the CDDs with a larger scope (utility CDD, Sumter Landing CDD, Villages Center CDD, etc). And some things, whether by law or by design, are left to the county or the state.

It isn't a perfect system but it does make some sense. For anyone that wants to understand it better, the Resident Academy is a great place to start.

Most if not all residents south of 44 pay city taxes to Wildwood in exchange for very little services other than police. Wildwood should pay to pick up trash.

All this for a couple of bucks in trash fees? When you are getting 2 x per week pick up? That's something like $3 per visit. And they take practically anything.

For perspective, at my home, I pay $500 per month for once a month 3 yard dumpster service.

I'm sure there is appreciable waste somewhere that warrants more attention than this.

We knew the decision to send things to the trash for energy was a bit higher, but I LOVE not having to separate everything, rinse out etc. (FYI that saves water - both $ and the amount wasted) I paid more than that BTW 30 years ago for 1x a week service, from a private garbage company.