[Advogado]

Developer's Puppet Commissioners' Enactment of a 25% Tax Hike
Last year, the Sumter County Commission increased our county property taxes by 25%. This obscenely large tax increase caused me to look into local politics for the first time. In doing so, I woke up to the fact that the Developer had packed the County Commission (as well as all the key positions in the local Republican Party) with his puppets and that the tax increase was a means of offloading, on to the residents, infrastructure costs that should have been borne by the Developer. This scam gives the Developer hundreds of millions of dollars at taxpayer expense. (For a further explanation, you can take a look at my September 24, 2019 speech to the County Commission, which I recently discovered is on youtube, albeit with my name misspelled: Scott Fensterbaker--How can five guys screw 125000 people? - YouTube ) .

Developer's Puppet Commissioners Defeated by the EMS Team

As a result of voter outrage over the tax increase and despite the Developer's enormous spending and dirty tricks, the Developer's puppet Commissioners (Butler, Burgess, and Printz) were defeated by Republican reform candidates Estep, Miller, and Search (known as “the EMS Team”). The EMS Team promised to roll back the tax increase, making up the lost revenue by increasing the Developer's impact fee to a reasonable level. Residents were satisfied not only by the victory of the EMS Team, but also by the fact that a criminal investigation of election tactics used by the Developer in his unsuccessful attempt to keep his puppets in office is underway.

Developer's Efforts to Preserve the Tax Increase and His Sweetheart Impact Fee

Now, it appears that the two remaining Developer puppets on the Commission (Gilpin and Breeden) and County Administrator Bradley Arnold (who was hired by the Developer puppets) are attempting to preserve the Developer's sweetheart impact fee and derail efforts to roll back the tax increase. As a consequence, I have emailed the following letter to the EMS Team:

An Open Letter to the EMS Team

To: Commissioners Estep, Miller, and Search:

Apparently, the two Developer's puppets who remain on the Commission are now arguing that raising impact fees would discourage economic growth to the detriment of Sumter County, and therefore, the Developer's sweetheart rate should be continued and our 25% tax hike not rolled back-- as you guys pledged to do. The Developer's puppets' argument is absolute BS, and I hope that you are not buying it.

A simple explanation of the economic effect of impact fees is found on the Flagler County website (Page not found | FlaglerLive

"Impact fees are generally accepted except by developers and some real estate professionals, who call impact fees a “hidden tax” that slows or discourages growth by pricing people out of homes: if the price of a home is $10,000 or $15,000 greater than it would be without impact fees, some homeowners who might otherwise have been able to afford a house consequently would not.
Impact fees are taxes. They are hidden only in so far as they fall into a large category of “fees” that local governments impose that are indistinguishable from taxes. Semantics aside, they’re not quite hidden: Governments clearly advertise them and, of course, impose them at the time of construction.
The evidence, however, is strongly against the argument that impact fees either slow or discourage growth: Florida’s highest-growth decades followed the imposition of impact fees in the late 1970s. And Flagler County led the nation as the fastest-growing county for several years during the middle of the 2000s despite relatively steep impact fees.
Impact fees may well spur growth and increase home values: while it’s true that impact fees will add to the cost of a house, and that cost will be passed on to home-owners, the higher value of the new house will also improve the values of existing, neighboring homes. In that sense, impact fees raise the value of homes. Existing residents who have presumably paid their impact fee will also be appreciative of a government that keeps their other taxes relatively low, while generating revenue through one-time impact fees on new residents and businesses.
Absent alternative means of paying for growth, the absence of impact fees would artificially lower the price of new construction by shifting the burden of growth’s cost onto existing homes or creating considerable deficits between the impact of growth and available services, thus lowering the quality of life–and with it, home values and the attractiveness of a locality, which would potentially hurt further construction and home-ownership."

Please do not lose sight of what you were elected to do and be taken in by the Developer's puppets' specious arguments. You need to rollback the 25% tax increase (completely if possible) and make up the lost revenue by increasing the Developer's sweetheart impact fee-- to cover not just roads but also ALL county infrastructure necessitated by the Developer's massive expansion of The Villages. Your doing so will be your legacy. Your not doing so will let down the residents of Sumter County and destroy both your reputation and your legacy. Remember, you were not elected to be friends with the Developer or with the Developer's remaining puppet Commissioners. What was going on at the County Commission for a number of years was political malfeasance at its worst. You were elected to clean it up, not to be nice guys.

Contact the EMS Team to Show Your Support for the Tax Rollback

I would suggest that concerned residents contact Mssrs. Estep, Miller, and Search to show support for the tax rollback. Contact information is here: About the Commissioners | Sumter County, FL - Official Website .
I would suggest that you not waste your time trying to convince Commissioners Gilpin and Breeden to roll back the tax increase. They remain firmly ensconced in the Developer's pocket. If it were not for the risk of contracting Covid-19 by being in a crowd, I would also encourage everyone to also attend Commission meetings until the tax hike is rolled back, but that is not a good idea right now.

I agree the 25% tax increase should be repealed.

Contact info for pro resident commissioners
Craig.Estep@sumtercountyfl.gov
oren.miller@sumtercountyfl.gov
Gary Search phone 352-689-4400

[Bay Kid]

Good luck.

[dewilson58]

During your cut & paste of the online news article, you forgot to cut and paste the Flagler County Transportation Impact Fee of $1438.10.

[Marathon Man]

Why do we need to show support? I thought that was their entire purpose for running for office.

[Love2Swim]

Originally Posted by Advogado

Developer's Puppet Commissioners' Enactment of a 25% Tax Hike
Last year, the Sumter County Commission increased our county property taxes by 25%. This obscenely large tax increase caused me to look into local politics for the first time. In doing so, I woke up to the fact that the Developer had packed the County Commission (as well as all the key positions in the local Republican Party) with his puppets and that the tax increase was a means of offloading, on to the residents, infrastructure costs that should have been borne by the Developer. This scam gives the Developer hundreds of millions of dollars at taxpayer expense. (For a further explanation, you can take a look at my September 24, 2019 speech to the County Commission, which I recently discovered is on youtube, albeit with my name misspelled: Scott Fensterbaker--How can five guys screw 125000 people? - YouTube ) .

Developer's Puppet Commissioners Defeated by the EMS Team

As a result of voter outrage over the tax increase and despite the Developer's enormous spending and dirty tricks, the Developer's puppet Commissioners (Butler, Burgess, and Printz) were defeated by Republican reform candidates Estep, Miller, and Search (known as “the EMS Team”). The EMS Team promised to roll back the tax increase, making up the lost revenue by increasing the Developer's impact fee to a reasonable level. Residents were satisfied not only by the victory of the EMS Team, but also by the fact that a criminal investigation of election tactics used by the Developer in his unsuccessful attempt to keep his puppets in office is underway.

Developer's Efforts to Preserve the Tax Increase and His Sweetheart Impact Fee

Now, it appears that the two remaining Developer puppets on the Commission (Gilpin and Breeden) and County Administrator Bradley Arnold (who was hired by the Developer puppets) are attempting to preserve the Developer's sweetheart impact fee and derail efforts to roll back the tax increase. As a consequence, I have emailed the following letter to the EMS Team:

An Open Letter to the EMS Team

To: Commissioners Estep, Miller, and Search:

Apparently, the two Developer's puppets who remain on the Commission are now arguing that raising impact fees would discourage economic growth to the detriment of Sumter County, and therefore, the Developer's sweetheart rate should be continued and our 25% tax hike not rolled back-- as you guys pledged to do. The Developer's puppets' argument is absolute BS, and I hope that you are not buying it.

A simple explanation of the economic effect of impact fees is found on the Flagler County website (Page not found | FlaglerLive

"Impact fees are generally accepted except by developers and some real estate professionals, who call impact fees a “hidden tax” that slows or discourages growth by pricing people out of homes: if the price of a home is $10,000 or $15,000 greater than it would be without impact fees, some homeowners who might otherwise have been able to afford a house consequently would not.
Impact fees are taxes. They are hidden only in so far as they fall into a large category of “fees” that local governments impose that are indistinguishable from taxes. Semantics aside, they’re not quite hidden: Governments clearly advertise them and, of course, impose them at the time of construction.
The evidence, however, is strongly against the argument that impact fees either slow or discourage growth: Florida’s highest-growth decades followed the imposition of impact fees in the late 1970s. And Flagler County led the nation as the fastest-growing county for several years during the middle of the 2000s despite relatively steep impact fees.
Impact fees may well spur growth and increase home values: while it’s true that impact fees will add to the cost of a house, and that cost will be passed on to home-owners, the higher value of the new house will also improve the values of existing, neighboring homes. In that sense, impact fees raise the value of homes. Existing residents who have presumably paid their impact fee will also be appreciative of a government that keeps their other taxes relatively low, while generating revenue through one-time impact fees on new residents and businesses.
Absent alternative means of paying for growth, the absence of impact fees would artificially lower the price of new construction by shifting the burden of growth’s cost onto existing homes or creating considerable deficits between the impact of growth and available services, thus lowering the quality of life–and with it, home values and the attractiveness of a locality, which would potentially hurt further construction and home-ownership."

Please do not lose sight of what you were elected to do and be taken in by the Developer's puppets' specious arguments. You need to rollback the 25% tax increase (completely if possible) and make up the lost revenue by increasing the Developer's sweetheart impact fee-- to cover not just roads but also ALL county infrastructure necessitated by the Developer's massive expansion of The Villages. Your doing so will be your legacy. Your not doing so will let down the residents of Sumter County and destroy both your reputation and your legacy. Remember, you were not elected to be friends with the Developer or with the Developer's remaining puppet Commissioners. What was going on at the County Commission for a number of years was political malfeasance at its worst. You were elected to clean it up, not to be nice guys.

Contact the EMS Team to Show Your Support for the Tax Rollback

I would suggest that concerned residents contact Mssrs. Estep, Miller, and Search to show support for the tax rollback. Contact information is here: About the Commissioners | Sumter County, FL - Official Website .
I would suggest that you not waste your time trying to convince Commissioners Gilpin and Breeden to roll back the tax increase. They remain firmly ensconced in the Developer's pocket. If it were not for the risk of contracting Covid-19 by being in a crowd, I would also encourage everyone to also attend Commission meetings until the tax hike is rolled back, but that is not a good idea right now.

Agree....

[Advogado]

Originally Posted by Marathon Man

Why do we need to show support? I thought that was their entire purpose for running for office.

Remember that the Developer has hundreds of millions of dollars riding on blocking all, or at least part, of the rollback-- thereby protecting all, or at least part, of his sweetheart impact fee. The Developer and his puppets will be doing everything possible to somehow convince at least one member of the EMS team to renege on his campaign promise--thereby blocking or reducing the rollback. Failing that, the Developer and his puppets will do everything possible to delay both the tax rollback and the imposition of the higher impact fee.

The first step is for the Commission to contract for a study of the cost of ALL county infrastructure (not just roads) that will be necessitated by the Developer's massive expansion of The Villages and to calculate an appropriate impact fee to pay for it. That study will have to be done in any case, and there is no reason to delay doing it.

[Velvet]

I notice only districts 1 to 5 in the contact list. I am in district 6 and my taxes went up by 28.1% last year (not this year).

[Advogado]

Originally Posted by Velvet

I notice only districts 1 to 5 in the contact list. I am in district 6 and my taxes went up by 28.1% last year (not this year).

I think that you are confusing CDD districts with County Districts. Check your voter registration card to see which County District you are in. There are only 5 County Districts.

Your 28.1% is a combination of the 25% millage increase, plus an increase in your assessed value.

Your taxes this year continue to be charged at the millage rate that was increased by 25% in 2019 in order to preserve the Developer's sweetheart impact fee. Every time you pay your County Tax, you are, essentially, writing a check to the Developer in the amount of your higher tax.

[Velvet]

Originally Posted by CWGUY

At least once a day I say to myself "If only you had started taking notes on day one in 2004, you could have written one hell of a book about what people don't know or understand about this place". How does "You can't make this $hit up!" sound for a title?

I agree, I still make mistakes, and thank you for correcting me, but not about how much increase I had to pay in property tax. That came out of my bank account.

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

I have no horse in this race since I live in Lake County. But from an observer's point of view, I think there does need to be a tax increase. Does it need to be 25%? Doubtful.

But considering that for 14 years, inflation has gone up, but taxes have remained stagnant, I think it could be disastrous for Sumter County if SOMETHING doesn't change.

You need revenue from somewhere. The Villages Developer is paying pennies on the dollar for fees to the county, compared to what other developers are being charged. That wouldn't be such a big deal, except the developer is doing almost all of the developing.

If you're not going to raise the developers fees, then you'll have to pay his share of the taxes.

If it were me, I'd raise the developer fees from $900-something per unit, to $1500 per unit - which is still lower than what everyone else is being charged to develop.

And then I would reduce that 25% to 15%.

Alternatively: impose a one-time assessment on every single property in the county of $2000 per property (a 5-unit attached condo property would count as 5 units, not 1), payable over the next 5 years, and then raise the property tax 10% after that 5 year period. [EDITED - $5000 seemed way too steep after second thought, but $2000 spread over a 5-year period seems pretty reasonable]

PLUS raise the developer fees to $1500 per unit for designated owned properties, and $1000 per designated rental property.

[Stu from NYC]

Originally Posted by Aloha1

Time to close this thread as it is purely political and of no interest to those of us not in Sumter County.

Since the vast majority of the Villagers live in Sumter County I would like to see threads like this continue.

When a thread is of no interest to me rather easy to scroll on past.

[Stu from NYC]

Originally Posted by Advogado

You seem determined not to let the facts interfere with your irrational love of the Developer and hatred of your neighbors who volunteer for the POA. I will concede that the Developer has built a nice place to live, but this does not give the Developer a license to enrich himself at taxpayer expense. We live in a community, not in a resort hotel, and we should demand honest government that represents the people, not special interests.

With regard to the class action lawsuit you mention: For the benefit of newbies, it was sponsored by the POA when the Developer allowed the amenities to the deteriorate. It resulted in the Developer's having to pony up over $40 million for the residents. If you think that the suit was not justified, feel free to write the Developer a check for your share, which would probably come to roughly $800 ($40 million/50,000 homes) or so.

Thank you for sharing. Like to get all points of view on here.

[manaboutown]

Originally Posted by Advogado

You seem determined not to let the facts interfere with your irrational love of the Developer and hatred of your neighbors who volunteer for the POA. I will concede that the Developer has built a nice place to live, but this does not give the Developer a license to enrich himself at taxpayer expense. We live in a community, not in a resort hotel, and we should demand honest government that represents the people, not special interests.

With regard to the class action lawsuit you mention: For the benefit of newbies, it was sponsored by the POA when the Developer allowed the amenities to the deteriorate. It resulted in the Developer's having to pony up over $40 million for the residents. If you think that the suit was not justified, feel free to write the Developer a check for your share, which would probably come to roughly $800 ($40 million/50,000 homes) or so.

[dewilson58]

Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby

You need revenue from somewhere. The Villages Developer is paying pennies on the dollar for fees to the county, compared to what other developers are being charged.
If you're not going to raise the developers fees, then you'll have to pay his share of the taxes.

If it were me, I'd raise the developer fees from $900-something per unit, to $1500 per unit - which is still lower than what everyone else is being charged to develop.

I think your information is not factual. All +55 community developers pay the same impact fee. The Villages does NOT get a discount or special treatment.