:shrug: Maybe part of their $2,000,000,000 in assets is a computer that does that for them. :rolleyes:

The POA just put information about this same issue. Join the POA and attend their meetings will get you more informed.

So the contract I signed that placed the cap is going to go away?

Doesn't seem right.

Please keep in mind people may join TOTV before they purchase or move to The Villages, like me, to get a sense of what’s going on and see if they want to live there, or join many years after arriving, so we can’t truly base anything on a join date. But your point is well taken about getting the info from ‘official’ sources. I will be moving there next month and appreciate your knowledge of the goings on.

Definitely YES! While TV is a wonderful place to retire, many similar communities include lawn maintenance, gym membership, woodworking facilities, etc., etc. in their monthly fees. Also most don't have the bonds and annual fees we have to pay to each CDD district. Many residents live on fixed incomes and were misled re the fees they're obligated to pay.

IMO TV has grown too big, mainly for the benefit of the developer, not the residents. The CDDs, ACC & PWAC spend excessively just like big government and do not listen to the will of the people. Instead of concentrating on reducing spending they just raise income, i.e, fees (read taxes). When a committee refuses to allow residents to speak at a meeting or make them sit for hours before being heard is a travesty and says much.

For those who say if you're unhappy move, I say you miss the point by a long shot.

If you have read your deed restrictions you will see that there is no "cap" given. What is given is that the fee you pay will be the prevailing rate at the time of purchase and that this rate is subject to a CPI increase annually.

In 2010 the AAC and in 2012 the SLCDD agreed to limit increases to $155 in an effort to get the varied rates being paid to be as close to equal as possible. This agreement was for 1 year and was to be reviewed annually to determine if it should remain in place or be discontinued based on financial conditions. These agreements are what is known as the "Deferral Rate". They are not a contract requirement of any amenity agreement with any resident.

As of today's joint meeting of the AAC and PWAC approximately 65% of the homes between 466 and 44 are at the $155 rate with the remainder projected to be at this rate in the next 2 years. North of 466 all but approximately 120 homes are now at a monthly rate between $140 and $155, the remaining 120 homes are less than $140. The "deferral rate" has accomplished it goal and we are now at the point of the unintended consequences of this limitation is impacting the budgets.

Assuming that SLCDD will follow the recommendations of the PWAC, and there is no reason to consider they won't, then starting on 1 October 2019 all amenities contracts will be subject to annual CPI increases, exactly as stated in your contract/deed restrictions and that you agreed to when you purchased your home..

Regardless of what the real estate person told you when you purchased your home, there is no guarantee or contract limitation on what the amenity fee is. If it's not written on a signed document during closing, it has no standing. The limits imposed on increases are the CPI annual adjustment (up or down).

Can read it all on their web site.

:bigbow:Agree 100%- the POA has always looked out for the residents- unlike the HOA which cow tows to the developer. From the lawsuit settlement of some $40 mil by mostly POA organizers, to most issues affecting us, the POA has spoken out loudly and spent much on needed professionals to support their opinions.
I personally have been a member since moving to TV 16 years ago and have always supported them. Hopefully, all new Villagers will join that outstanding organization before the sales dept hoodwinks them into only joining the HOA.

What is "the point" that I am missing?

As far as we are concerned, "the point" is for my wife and I to enjoy every day of our lives as best we can. The Villages is a great place for us to do that.

Anyone who says you can go to other retirement communities and get what we have for $155 a month is living in a dream world. As someone that went from Arizona to Florida & everywhere in between, looking at trailer parks to timeshare condominiums, there is not anywhere close to The Villages. It is not perfect but a better job is done by the people here than 90% of the towns, cities and municipalities in this country. As far as too big, too crowed, etc, that is called progress and growth. If every company or entrepreneur stopped their company when they had enough money, I dare say half the people in the world would be in a whole lot of trouble!!! Truly if you are not happy with your situation, CHANGE IT! You are free in this country to make your way in any means or place you would like. The reality is prices go up and if you want something in the future it will more than likely cost more.

Strongly suggest you read the entire post, especially the 2nd paragraph, not just the last line. While most of us Villagers enjoy our lives here and don't deny its wonders, it has grown exponentially- mostly for the developer's benefit, not the residents. Under the original developer, Harold Schwarz, the residents were no. 1 and that's why we brought our old neighbors and friends here. Sadly, money comes 1st for the developer who refuses to step in and rectify problems he created (roofs, siding, bridge abutments. inadequate multimodal trails, etc. The growth and excess spending by the CDDs is almost unbelievable, often due to poor planning or inadequate building construction. Like most governments, they know how to spend and don't pay enough attention to reducing expenditures which we get stuck paying for.

Other than the POA, no one is looking out for the residents.

So I keep reading the figure up to $155. I am paying $159. I have no issue with that just wondering if others are paying $159. I live up north off 42 and just bought in March.

amenity fees
 

If anyone moved here and expected the amenity fees to remain the same for the life of their stay in The Villages, they weren't misled, they were living in a dream world. And yes, if you;re that unhappy, then don't let the tailgate hit you on your way out..

Effective 1 October 2018 the prevailing rate for all new home and resales was increased to $159 for homes sold after this date. There is no CPI adjustment being applied to the $159 because it is at or above the current deferral rate of $155.

On 1 October 2019 the "deferral rate" will end and subsequently on the anniversary of you home sale the amenity rate will be adjusted by the amount of the CPI that month for the previous 12 months. This is in accordance with the deed restrictions contract we all agreed to when we purchased.

So yes, because you purchased in March, be it new or a resale, the correct amenity rate is $159. In March of next year you will see an increase based on the CPI, which for the last few years has run 1.5-2% annually. Everyone else who purchased after 1 October 2018 are also paying the $159 rate.

I couldn't agree more and in case you missed it..... :D

Thank Goodness For The POA (click here to show your support)


As for the amenity fees, if anyone is truly having issues with the piddly potential increase...I'm thinking you may want to find somewhere that's less expensive to live.

Because let's face it, living in TV really is...on the high end for the house/land that you actually get.

And I don't mean that to sound uncaring, because it certainly isn't, and if anyone is living on that tight of a budget...my empathy goes out to you. :(

If even an extra $20-$30 a month will make that big of a difference for someone's situation...then I truly hope nothing ever happens to your roof/lawn/sprinklers/siding/etc.

The good news being of course, is that at least you own an asset...that is pretty easy to sell. :thumbup:

From discussions I have had with residents have been here for a long time, they remember the days when they had to go to Ocala and Leesburg to shop for groceries and when 466 was a dirt road. They embrace the growth because it brought shopping, restaurants, entertainment, etc. We embrace the growth because it will bring more of all that and more amenities. One thing I will ask is where have you bought property that had more than a one year warranty? And what other Developer accepted a punch list at the end of the year and fixed everything on the list. As I have often said, this place isn't for everyone, but it is for the majority that live here. If it wasn't it would be a ghost town and nobody would move here......incoming exceeds outgoing but that doesn't mean that those that move out aren't doing that for any reason other than it doesn't work for them anymore. And that's not a bad thing.

You are right on. Our district eliminated the $150 cap so now they are free to increase the fee year after year and as much as they like We elect these people who are making these decisions. Time to vote them out. We need officials who fight for cost reduction and homeowners
Anyone can raise fees and taxes to pay for increases they face. Let’s see the budget line by line I’m with you. Michael

Noooo, they can only raise by the CPI and the line item budget is available....how did you miss that on this thread?

You are grossly misinformed. The amenity rate can only be increased a maximum of the CPI increase for the previous 12 months. It does not have to be increased that much if the budgetary needs do not require it.

The budget is available for everyone to see and you can participate in the annual budgeting process over the course of the next few months at the monthly CDD, PWAC, and AAC meetings.

You obviously have never been to any of the local government meetings, if you had you would see that the elected supervisors and the District staff are constantly pushing for cost controls, reductions in cost, and greater efficiencies to control costs.

Digital courage is cheap, come to the meetings, get involved, and run for office if you think you can do a better job. Most of all, get educated on the topic before making such rash and irresponsible statements.

If you want to see an example of effective budgetary controls take a look at the maintenance budget for CDD-10 for the last 5 years. During this time maintenance assessments have decreased by 3% and capital reserves have increased by a million dollars. This requires a tremendous amount of work and effort by all involved in the process to achieve. Your supervisors are working for you, continuously.

I don't live in The Villages yet, but I think the Amenity fee is very reasonable and I would expect them to go up over time. The prices of things don't stay static, I wouldn't expect the fees to remain so either.

Absolutely agree with this. Do I 'like' that I'm paying more per month after actually buying our home, than when I first looked at the home? Nope. What really bugs me is that it was a difference of a week. We had locked in our offer in February. We closed a week later, in March. And because of that, we have to pay the higher monthly rate.

[edit: hey my math was wrong! Check out the new numbers, not as bad! Still a lunch or a couple of drinks in a year's time we wouldn't get to enjoy but...]

Sure it's only a couple of bucks, but a couple of bucks, per month, for a year (minimum) and that's almost a lawn service bill for a month. Or just over half a week's grocery bill. Or a couple of movie tickets and hotdogs, that we would otherwise not be able to enjoy.

In other words, it's over $25 less that we have available to spend on anything else, this coming year, at the very minimum. All because of one week.

HOWEVER...
the fact that the total is so reasonable in the first place, means it's affordable. If a $100/year increase was a deal-breaker, we wouldn't have put in the offer in the first place, we would've found a less expensive property in the Villages or in another state.

I'd like to see everyone in the Villages pay the same amenity fee. Not gonna happen, but I'll never understand why it is that we all can enjoy the same amenities and some people get to pay less than we do, just because they bought their home before I did. Their amenities cost the same, whether it's them or us using them.

Statistically as seniors within a 55 and over community age they use fewer amenities, especially golf courses, tennis courts and gyms, as they are not as physically vigorous as they once were. Furthermore many retirees are more or less on fixed incomes which over time with inflation means they have less to spend. Considering these factors the current amenity fee structure makes sense to me. Nonetheless, the cap may have to be raised to maintain the infrastructure.

Thanks, I have no issue with the $159 and knew going in that the fee would be $159. Just found it odd that no one was talking about anything over $155.

Amenity fees
 

I have been here for 13 years. My amenity fee has gone from $125/month to $155 in that time, an approximate 25% total increase or roughly less than 2% per year while the number and quality of amenities have increased.

For perspective, during that same period my auto insurance has doubled, with no claims.

So, I’m in the camp that says we get great value for our amenity fee. I never expected it to stay the same and am pleased that it has increased at a very reasonable rate.

Gold wing...one thing you said was new to me, if I interpreted it correctly. It sounds as if there are 3 amenity budgets...N of 466, 466 to 44, and below 44, each directed and managed and approved by a separate central CDD. Could this lead to an inconsistent application of amenity fees? For example, one area puts more into executive golf course maintenance while another central district decides to skimp there...thus leading to uneven conditions. I always viewed the amenities as a single entity, usable to all, with a consistent level of funding for maintenance and operation.


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Technically you are correct, there are 3 budgets associated with the amenities: the Recreations Amenities Division (RAD) budget that manages the amenities north of CR466, the Sumter Landing Amenities Division (SLAD) budget that manages the amenities between CR466 and SR44, and the developer's operations budget for the amenities south of SR44.

The RAD budget is managed by the AAC and approved by the VCCDD. All budgets and records are available for public review and input.
The SLAD budget is managed by the PWAC and approved by the SLCDD. All budgets and records are available for public review and input.
The developer's budget for amenities south of SR44 is a private business and not subject to public disclosure. They own the amenities and operate them as a part of their overall business.

While it is possible that there could be different levels of care and maintenance to the facilities in these three areas, it is currently not an issue. It could become an issue if the ability to fund the maintenance and operation of the amenities is jeopardized. This is one of the reasons that the Deferral Rate is being eliminated and we are going back to the contract terms we all agreed to when we purchase our homes. There are also continued extraordinary efforts by the District Staff and the various departments on finding cost savings, economies, and improved operating strategies to help fill any budget gaps.

A key to maintaining consistency throughout The Villages is the use of a single District Staff by all areas to develop the contracts and scope of services as well as having one managing entity for all. There is only one Recreation Department that oversees all three areas.

Part of what prevents different levels of service are the existing inter-local agreements between the three entities that mandates equal treatment and availability of amenities for all residents regardless of where they live in The Villages. Another key factor that drives maintaining the level of service and condition of the amenities is the bonds that have been issued to purchase them, any reduction or degradation of service or maintenance that would impact the value of the amenities will impact the value of the bonds. This is not something we want to or could afford.

The governing bodies strive hard to maintain a consistent level of service and quality across all of The Villages, and for the average Villages one or three budgets, it goes unnoticed.

Good question Villages 07 and most informative and reassuring response.

When you "locked in" the price of your house, it had nothing to do with the amenity fee. Your broker neglected to inform you that all resale have increase amenity fee.

I am probably in the minority but have not been aware of any rate change affecting me by $40 to $50/month or 25%. Haven't had any neighbors complaining. What have I missed? I live in The Village of Caroline.

I'm thinking you didn't understand any of my post. I apologize for not being clear enough.

I knew in advance that closing in March would mean that my fee would be higher, than if I had closed in February. Knowing this is exactly why I was (very slightly) annoyed: because our closing was just a week too late to get in on the lower rate.