[ScottFenstermaker]

Originally Posted by oldtimes

Which the county could move to other areas of the county if they are in control.

That will never happen. All the VPSD's ambulances are now owned by the relevant CDD (i.e.The Villages Public Safety Department). In addition, under One Sumter, ALL the county commissioners are elected by Villagers.

[oldtimes]

Originally Posted by ScottFenstermaker

That will never happen. All the VPSD's ambulances are now owned by the relevant CDD (i.e.The Villages Public Safety Department). In addition, under One Sumter, ALL the county commissioners are elected by Villagers.

Weren't the Villagers elected commissioners the ones who voted to raise taxes 25% just a while back? Even though they are not the same ones how do we know we can trust these not to sell out? I trust the Independent District more than I trust the County.

[jump4]

Do you think we need an Independent Fire District? Please consider the following:

--- fire control service within The Villages has been working well for many years. It is funded by Sumter County tax revenue and operated by The Village Public Safety Department. The County has always provided adequate funding for this.
--- Sumter County canceled the poor-performing AMR contract ambulance service
--- Sumter County decided to use the successful fire control service as a model for creating a new locally-run ambulance service.
--- On Oct. 1, 2022 The Village fire stations, funded by Sumter County, started running the new red ambulances.
--- The Villages now has a 5-1/2 minutes response goal for all fire and ambulance calls.
--- The Nov. 8 vote on whether to create an independent Fire District does not change the fire and ambulance service currently offered in the Villages or surrounding areas.
--- Estimates provided by The Villages District show a Yes vote to create an Independent Fire District will increase property tax bills somewhat, but do not reflect the maximum tax rate permitted by the referendum.
--- Although the Fire District amendment caps the amount of tax, if the Villages decides to charge the maximum permitted rate, it appears that property taxes for many homes would increase by $200 to $400 or more.
--- Other cities and counties with property in The Villages decided to not create an independent fire district.

It appears a Yes vote would create a new bureaucracy and increase our taxes, but have no real benefit for us residents!

[Bill14564]

Originally Posted by oldtimes

Which the county could move to other areas of the county if they are in control.

Originally Posted by ScottFenstermaker

That will never happen. All the VPSD's ambulances are now owned by the relevant CDD (i.e.The Villages Public Safety Department). In addition, under One Sumter, ALL the county commissioners are elected by Villagers.

EDIT: I misunderstood the "relevant CDD" statement. The VPSD is not a CDD.

The ambulances are "owned" by the VPSD and the VPSD is "owned" by the VCCDD.

Having the ambulances is good but using them is even better. For the ambulances to help the first person they need fuel to run them, a driver to get them to your house, an EMT to provide assistance, and they need to be carrying life saving supplies. ALL of those cost money which currently comes from the BoCC.

BoCC -> VCCDD -> VPSD -> drivers/supplies/fuel -> ambulances -> timely response.

A YES vote changes that to:

IFD -> VPSD -> drivers/supplies/fuel -> ambulances -> timely response

So what happens when the BoCC finds running separate fire services and separate ambulances is too expensive? Simple, they will make a five-year plan to consolidate the VPSD with the SCFD. Or, they will vote to merge the VPSD with the SCFD. Or, they will simply reduce funding for the separate fire service. The first has already happened. The second was brought up by a current (elected by the Villagers) commissioner when he was in a different role. The third, reduced funding, could happen as early as next October.

The IFD removes the BoCC and likely the VCCDD from the management and funding chain.

Before taking anyone's claims on here as gospel, take a look at their previous posts and see how well their crystal ball has worked in the past. This poster was quite prolific in the past under a different user name.

[Bill14564]

Originally Posted by jump4

Do you think we need an Independent Fire District? Please consider the following:

--- fire control service within The Villages has been working well for many years. It is funded by Sumter County tax revenue and operated by The Village Public Safety Department. The County has always provided adequate funding for this.
--- Sumter County canceled the poor-performing AMR contract ambulance service
--- Sumter County decided to use the successful fire control service as a model for creating a new locally-run ambulance service.

Sumter County decided to study the poor ambulance service and subsequently to add ambulances to the fire stations only after a large outcry by the residents of the Villages. The service was poor under county control. The way to fix the service was to place it with the successful VPSD. They didn't choose to do this on their own.

This all happened by votes of the BoCC. What the BoCC giveth the BoCC can taketh away. The IFD protects the VPSD from the BoCC taking the ambulances, and the fire service, away.

--- On Oct. 1, 2022 The Village fire stations, funded by Sumter County, started running the new red ambulances.
--- The Villages now has a 5-1/2 minutes response goal for all fire and ambulance calls.
--- The Nov. 8 vote on whether to create an independent Fire District does not change the fire and ambulance service currently offered in the Villages or surrounding areas.
--- Estimates provided by The Villages District show a Yes vote to create an Independent Fire District will increase property tax bills somewhat, but do not reflect the maximum tax rate permitted by the referendum.
--- Although the Fire District amendment caps the amount of tax, if the Villages decides to charge the maximum permitted rate, it appears that property taxes for many homes would increase by $200 to $400 or more.

The maximum amounts are provided in all the IFD announcements that have come out (that chart at the bottom). The tax estimates represent what we are likely to see in order to fund the IFD/VPSD at the same level the BoCC/VCCDD/VPSD is funded at today.

The IFD *could* increase the ad-valorem tax to 1mil. That would be a surprise. For me that would mean about an additional $275. Another thread talked about the 17 properties that benefit from the $10M cap. That cap does not affect the ad-valorem portion - if it is raised for me it is raised for them too.

While a 1mil ad-valorem would add $275 for me, it would add $347,000 for those 17 properties alone and the developer has thousands of other properties that will increase as well! If you want to believe in the "developer will run the IFD board conspiracy" then you have to ask yourself: Will the IFD make a move that will cost the Developer $347,000 on 17 properties PLUS maybe another $600,000 on the rest of his properties?

--- Other cities and counties with property in The Villages decided to not create an independent fire district.

It appears a Yes vote would create a new bureaucracy and increase our taxes, but have no real benefit for us residents!

A Yes vote will actually decrease the bureaucracy between the resident and the VPSD.
A Yes vote *might* increase our taxes but whether that happens has a lot to do with how fair the BoCC is.
A Yes vote will ensure the VPSD has the funding it needs to continue to provide the quick and effective ambulance and fire service we have enjoyed for the last 36 days.

[M2inOR]

Originally Posted by missibu@gmail.com

My husband and I own a home but are not there yet not for another year are we able to vote on the proposed fire district ?

In order to vote, you must be a registered voter here in Florida. Being a property owner is not sufficient.

And...you can only be legally registered to vote in one state. While you can have multiple residences, you can only have one domicile and voter registration.

[ScottFenstermaker]

Originally Posted by oldtimes

Weren't the Villagers elected commissioners the ones who voted to raise taxes 25% just a while back? Even though they are not the same ones how do we know we can trust these not to sell out? I trust the Independent District more than I trust the County.

A brief history lesson: The 5 Commissioners who voted for the 25% tax increase were Developer puppets who enacted the tax increase to protect the Developer's sweetheart impact fee. We have now succeeded in tossing out ALL 5 of those puppets. (You can easily verify all that.)

IF we enact the new fire district, control of the fire district board during its formative first four years will be in the hands of un-elected supervisors. Those suprvisors (as a practical matter) will be designated by, or at least acceptable to, the Developer.

[oldtimes]

Originally Posted by ScottFenstermaker

A brief history lesson; The 5 Commissioners who voted for the 25% tax increase were Developer puppets who enacted the tax increase to protect the Developer's sweetheart impact fee. We have now succeeded in tossing out ALL 5 of those puppets. (You can easily verify all that.)

IF we enact the new fire district, control of the fire district board during its formative first four years will be in the hands of un-elected supervisors. Those suprvisor (as a practical matter) will be designated by, or at least acceptable to, the Developer.

And after 2 to 4 years they will be elected by Villagers. I still trust them more than the County.

[ScottFenstermaker]

Originally Posted by oldtimes

And after 2 to 4 years they will be elected by Villagers. I still trust them more than the County.

Were they initially all elected, I might not be opposed to the new district. But during the first four years, fire stations will be purchased from the Developer and long-term contracts will be entered into. How would you feel if one of the initial supervisors is disgraced-State Representative, million-dollar-a-year-Developer-employee Brett Hage, or maybe Brett Hage, Jr., who is a new Developer minion?

In any event, I would not vote yes without seeing a pro forma balance sheet for the new fire district, showing EXACTLY what assets (and any liabilities) will be transferred to the district and knowing what its initial financial plan is. Right now, we are being sold a pig in a poke. You would certainly never buy a business knowing as little about it as we know about the proposed fire district. The one thing that is fairly certain about it is that our taxes will increase.

[oldtimes]

Originally Posted by ScottFenstermaker

Were they initially were all elected, I might not be opposed to the new district. But during the first four years, fire stations will be purchased from the Developer and long-term contracts will be entered into. How would you feel if one of the initial supervisors is disgraced-State Representative, million-dollar-a-year-Developer-employee Brett Hage, or maybe Brett Hage, Jr., who is a new Developer minion?

In any event, I would not vote yes without seeing a pro forma balance sheet for the new fire district, showing EXACTLY what assets (and any liabilities) will be transferred to the district and knowing what its initial financial plan is. Right now, we are being sold a pig in a poke. You would certainly never buy a business knowing as little about it as we know about the proposed fire district. The one thing that is fairly certain about it is that our taxes will increase.

All conjecture on your part. Taxes could go up either way and County could end up being disastrous as well. I voted yes for Villages control.

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by SUENRAN

Cost information? You have been provided with this information based on current costs. The "hard cost" will can only be calculated when there is a track record....and this is what the current projection is based on. As for your statement you will get dumped off at a "hell hole"... you must have no idea how the emergency medical services work and that a person does have choices as to the facility they will be taken to.

Vote "YES" if you want to have a say in how the VPS operates and what and how they provide life saving service.

I would not trust most people to know how to operate an organization like the VPS or lifesaving services. The county has experience with it, people who are specially trained to handle it, know about it, know what to do, what not to do. Especially when it comes to handling the services for the entire county, not just a singular community in that county - no matter how many people live in that singular community.

There are thousands of people living in Sumter County, who do /not/ live in the Villages. They need to have reliable, trustworthy, efficient service too.

If you vote "yes" you'll be putting 100% of the authority and trust to do the RIGHT thing - not just what's best for you personally - in the hands of a real estate developer (and his family) who has no actual experience in handling medical or fire emergencies.

[john352]

Originally Posted by LuvtheVillages

Ok, yes, six properties benefit from the cap today. As property values rise, how many will benefit from the cap 10 years from today? And why should there be any cap at all? What is the rationale?

And yes, I know we are paying more than $124 today. I would like to see that portion of the funding eliminated entirely, and the cost be fully put onto the millage rate tax, with NO cap. I think that would be more fair.

All of the 3 story apartment buildings in the Lofts of Brownwood are on one parcel of land that is owned by the Developer. Therefore the Developer only pays $124 for all those buildings; the same $124 that you pay for your home.

[Bill14564]

Originally Posted by john352

All of the 3 story apartment buildings in the Lofts of Brownwood are on one parcel of land that is owned by the Developer. Therefore the Developer only pays $124 for all those buildings; the same $124 that you pay for your home.

And again, NO!

You are paying much more than $124 today. You are also paying at least 0.71mil on your taxable value for the VPSD. For me, the total comes to $330.

The Lofts of Brownwood are valued a bit higher than my home. The total for the Lofts of Brownwood comes to $19,500.

[Bill14564]

Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby

I would not trust most people to know how to operate an organization like the VPS or lifesaving services. The county has experience with it, people who are specially trained to handle it, know about it, know what to do, what not to do. Especially when it comes to handling the services for the entire county, not just a singular community in that county - no matter how many people live in that singular community.

There are thousands of people living in Sumter County, who do /not/ live in the Villages. They need to have reliable, trustworthy, efficient service too.

If you vote "yes" you'll be putting 100% of the authority and trust to do the RIGHT thing - not just what's best for you personally - in the hands of a real estate developer (and his family) who has no actual experience in handling medical or fire emergencies.

The only people in the county that have anything to do with the VPSD are the BoCC. They (mostly) do not have experience in emergency services and do not have special training. Their only role with the VPSD is to send money and leave it alone.

When the county was running the ambulance service it was a disaster. They fixed it by giving control to the fire companies - for us the VPSD.

If you vote "yes" the actual running of the VPSD will not change, it will still be with the VPSD. What changes is the funding for the VPSD will no longer depend on the BoCC and the tradeoffs they feel they need to make.

The Developer will be less in control of the VPSD under the IFD than they are now.

[Sandy and Ed]

Too many unanswered questions. I attended two of the “open” town hall type meetings at the rec centers and came away with the same unanswered questions. Unknown budget for the new bricks and mortar and equipment needed for the ever increasing new areas of the community and of course the higher concentration of people in single but multiple residence structures going up. Suggest a NO vote this time and let them come back to the table next time with more open and frank discussion and answers.