[manaboutown]

Originally Posted by ScottFenstermaker

So you are seriously suggesting that the VHA is paying a royalty to the Developer? Wow, the would be news and even worse than a royalty-free use. Do you understand that a trademark owner who licenses a mark, in order to protect his registration, has to monitor the quality of the product or service that uses the trademark? How do you think that it that is done in the case of "The VHA" mark? I don't know, but the relationship has an odor to it. Developer ownership of "The VHA" mark certainly shows the influence that the Developer has over The Villages Homeowners Advocates organization.

The VHA is another tool in the developer's sales/management kit. As I understand it the VHA started in 1990 or 1991 in response to the Property Owners' Association's looking out for the interest of homeowners versus those of the developer. I cannot recall the VHA ever taking action on behalf of homeowners against the interests of the developer. The developer settled a lawsuit with the POA for $40,000,000 or so. Villages Settles Lawsuit | POA of The Villages

[Sabella]

Look at the facts

[Cmacnair@hotmail.com]

An article in October’s POA discuss this very thing. Vote NO on the new proposal.

[jimdecastro]

In August, you resigned from the POA because of their management and leadership. Here, you cite the POA as a reference for the VHA being a puppet of the developer. Make up your mind; just like the people should make up their minds with all the facts (not just yours). All of your posts are full of ire. Why so angry?

[M2inOR]

The following is a simple, short comment from VHA rep Mike Dollard about the ballot measure that would create the new fire and emergency services district:
-----
This fall we vote on the creation of a fire district specifically for The Villages. I’ve thought about this a lot, even changed my mind a few times. I will vote yes; this will be a good thing for us. Here is why:

The cost? You will pay either way, it is just who gets the tax dollars first. One party cannot be cheaper than the other – fuel, equipment and wages are the same if you vote yes or no. The fire budget will be X amount. If I am billed that under “county tax” or under “fire tax” the budget is still X amount.

The deciding factor – when the county oversaw the ambulances, we had terrible service and nobody seemed to care. It slowly got worse and worse; still nothing was done. Tempers flared, example after example of failure but nothing was done. You had your chance (actually, many chances). It is time for new management.

[HoosierPa]

That’s because YES on the fire district is the correct vote.

[TomPerry]

Originally Posted by ScottFenstermaker

The VHA Recommendation. The misleadingly named Villages Homeowners Advocates (better known as The VHA) has now come out in support of a Yes vote on the proposed fire district. This should surprise no one. The new fire district is being supported by the Developer (note the cap on taxes on commercial property), the Developer's appointed officials, and the Developer's newspaper.

The VHA's History. The VHA was founded in collaboration with the Developer, as VHA's own website kind of admits. Details on the ties between the VHA and the Developer can be found here: POA Accomplishments | POA of The Villages In any event, I have lived here for 15 years. During that time, the VHA has always served as mouthpiece for the Developer and as the Developer's minor league team--whose directors, if they behave and toe the Developer's line, can, with the Developer's backing, move up to the big league of the County Commission.

Developer Ownership of “The VHA” Trademark. Residents who have been paying attention to local politics understand the above facts. But what most residents (including members of The VHA) do not understand is that “The VHA” is actually a trademark of the Developer. You can't make this stuff up! Here is a link to the trademark office search page: Search trademark database | USPTO Do a Basic Wordmark Search for “The VHA”.

The Platter of Platitudes in the VHA Voice. The VHA Voice serves up the usual platter of platitudes in its latest issue advocating a Yes vote on the fire district and glosses over all the reasons to vote NO. For example, it claims that “most residents will not see a significant increase in their tax bill.” What does “most” mean: 51%? What does “significant” mean? The truth is that there is no way of telling how much the initial unelected fire-district-board members (who, as a practical matter, will be designated by or acceptable to the Developer) will increase our taxes. One thing is clear, however, our taxes will increase! And for what???

Learn the Facts and Vote NO. One bit of advice that the VHA Voice does get right is: In researching the proposed fire district, “Always CONSIDER THE SOURCE”. By all means do so, and think about who owns The VHA trademark and the history of The VHA. Then read, or re-read, the October POA Bulletin ( https://www.poa4us.org/wp-content/up...0-Bulletin.pdf ), and, if you haven't already done so, reject the recommendation of the Developer's VHA and vote NO on the proposed fire district.

The VHA is Pro-Developer and POA is Anti-Developer. Sounds balanced! What are the Positives and the Negatives?

The Positives— the Developer made this great and beautiful place to live and enjoy our lives!
The Negatives— the POA makes hatefulness and grief to distract our lives!

If the POA supporters hate so much, they should sell out at what is nearly the top and move to a nice trailer park!

[HoosierPa]

Originally Posted by TomPerry

The VHA is Pro-Developer and POA is Anti-Developer. Sounds balanced! What are the Positives and the Negatives?

The Positives— the Developer made this great and beautiful place to live and enjoy our lives!
The Negatives— the POA makes hatefulness and grief to distract our lives!

If the POA supporters hate so much, they should sell out at what is nearly the top and move to a nice trailer park!

Amen sayonara POA

[Bridget Staunton]

I have voted No, taxes high enough

[TrapX]

It appears that some people support paying more (amounts vary) under the assumption that extra money would make things better. But the numbers don't seem to add up. Paying more by residents is not going to result in more money for fire and EMS service because some other group will pay less.
Published info say the final FD funding is the same either pass or fail. I see all residential properties will pay more (per the online cost estimator, and the published sample estimates). However, the total budget is the same. So if residents pay more, but the total doesn't go up, something else must be paying less to make that balance out? Total = Resident + Commercial. What information is missing?

The county fixed the ambulances without a fire district. Why is a fire district necessary to fix other things? Isn't that the job of the people in charge today? If the district is truly only about changing funding, then won't the same people still be managing things?

Championing how this will be overseen by "independent elected citizens". But that's not happening for 2 to 4 years. Lots of comments that "puppets" for the developer will be appointed because we do not know in advance who will be on that board. If that happens, for at least 2 years these appointed people could make any number of permanent changes that cost residents a lot more money without any "citizen" oversight. They could grant exemptions, lower the cap, hire friends and family, go on a spending spree, raise the tax rates...

[pauld315]

Originally Posted by ScottFenstermaker

So you are seriously suggesting that the VHA is paying a royalty to the Developer? Wow, the would be news and even worse than a royalty-free use. Do you understand that a trademark owner who licenses a mark, in order to protect his registration, has to monitor the quality of the product or service that uses the trademark? How do you think that it that is done in the case of "The VHA" mark? I don't know, but the relationship has an odor to it. Developer ownership of "The VHA" mark certainly shows the influence that the Developer has over The Villages Homeowners Advocates organization.

It is widely known that the VHA was founded by the developer and loaded up with his minions to try to put the POA out of business. They always have been controlled by the developer and everything they do is controlled by the developer, just like PWAC, AAC and most of the CDD's. It is one family rule here in The Villages.

[kansasr]

Originally Posted by M2inOR

The following is a simple, short comment from VHA rep Mike Dollard about the ballot measure that would create the new fire and emergency services district:
-----
This fall we vote on the creation of a fire district specifically for The Villages. I’ve thought about this a lot, even changed my mind a few times. I will vote yes; this will be a good thing for us. Here is why:

The cost? You will pay either way, it is just who gets the tax dollars first. One party cannot be cheaper than the other – fuel, equipment and wages are the same if you vote yes or no. The fire budget will be X amount. If I am billed that under “county tax” or under “fire tax” the budget is still X amount.

The deciding factor – when the county oversaw the ambulances, we had terrible service and nobody seemed to care. It slowly got worse and worse; still nothing was done. Tempers flared, example after example of failure but nothing was done. You had your chance (actually, many chances). It is time for new management.

Unfortunately, because of the way the levy is based, I, and anyone else who has any sort of exemptions (homestead, veteran, disabled) is going to end up paying a larger share of this 'bucket of money'.

First, because of the 10 mil cap, there are currently 17 properties that exceed this amount and their "savings" because of this will be over $120,000. Who's going to make up that amount? The rest of us.

And second, because the levy is based upon the full value of your property (less land value) without any EXEMPTIONS, my tax is going to be based upon a much larger number that the corresponding tax I'm currently paying to the county.

So who does this benefit financially? Commercial properties, non homestead properties, non exempt properties.

Given that this is all about who gets the money and who divides up the money, and not who actually uses the money, it's a NO vote for me.

[Lisanp@aol.com]

IF you still had school aged children, would you wish to send them to Wildwood High School or to The Villages Charter School? It’s the exact same argument/scenario - public/county/government run vs developer controlled. I tried to go vote yesterday as I thought this issue was one that is open for all property owners to vote on with a villages iD, but I was mistaken that it’s only for those who are registered to vote in FL so you won’t get the opinion of all property owners who will be impacted accounted for with the vote anyway.

[Burgy]

Originally Posted by LuvtheVillages

Yes, I understand all that perfectly. Just because I disagree with you does not mean I don't understand. I believe that having the fire dept cost on the county property tax, with no caps, will be more fair. Should County Commissioners abuse our trust again, they will also lose the next election.

You prefer this new method.

I guess we have to let everyone read our reasoning and decide for themselves.

.It’s too confusing to sort out and poorly presented as to cost so I didn’t support it

[Altavia]

Originally Posted by Lisanp@aol.com

IF you still had school aged children, would you wish to send them to Wildwood High School or to The Villages Charter School? It’s the exact same argument/scenario - public/county/government run vs developer controlled.

Exactly, it's the quality and caliber of the management.

We get good long range planning and value for what we pay the Villages managed operations.

Sumter County not so much, and maybe even a little spiteful to the Villages residents with their zoning approvals. Anything they start takes forever to finish.