Indeed you are right in that Florida does have numerous Special Districts of various types and for various purposes.

What I had read was that Reedy Creek (WDW) and The Villages were the two with over 2,500 acres. But reading more now, I see that Florida is embracing this form of development, which has been successfully employed in many other states as a means to develop infrastructure without imposing a financial burden on people outside the district boundaries.

The situation with The Villages has become a hybrid, in that cities have incorporated so much of the new development. Though the developer continues to use bond sales to finance infrastructure, the cities layer their services and taxes.

It is this layering of taxation which caused me to complete a property tax analysis for the three counties, and various cities. My conclusion is that property tax rates range from 0.88% of FMV in unincorporated Sumter County to 1.34% of FVM for unincorporated Marion County. Add to that the assessment for each city.
https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-.../i-8kRRsP5.jpg

I find that property taxes are more consequential than the Amenity Fee.

I think maybe you're confusing the purpose of CDD's. Some other states have similar entities, primarily California & Texas, I believe.

The purpose generally isn't to "protect" anyone from the burden of infra-structure, it's used to develop areas that generally wouldn't be developed, if private developers had to invest (or borrow) and use their own funds to construct the specific infrastructure for the proposed development. They facilitate large scale development, that otherwise wouldn't take place (at least that's how it works in Florida and what the enabling legislation stated as its goal).

Local taxes have nothing to do with TV's infra-structure nor the CDD's nor Amenity fees. IMO, the overlay of the city on top of the CDD, is a boondoggle for the city & county. They get the tax revenue, with minimal exposure.

The Bond Payment on lots in The Villages, along with the associated "Maintenance Fees", are infrastructure related.

Amenity Fees are .... Amenity related.

Appears we are talking around each other. Probably would find a lot of common understanding if we met to discuss. I have been a board member for a multi billion dollar special district for decades, vacating my position for the relocation. I’ve also developed thousands of lots in special districts. Declarant for many planned communities and district development. While the terms may vary between states, the concepts remain the same.

It is this experience which provides me comfort with how the developers for The Villages are proceeding, how the sub-districts, the CCDs, function and how the various costs will affect my budget.

The coming $199 per household amenity fee is a real value, compared to every one of the other 55+ communities we looked closely at out west.

The "coming $199 per household amenity fee"? That bus left the station a long time ago. I think mine is $215 or $220.

It is a great deal, but if I understand what Don Wiley said, Amenity Fees have been artificially "capped" (deferred) for years. I've also attended a few Advisory Committee meetings & District Budget meetings and I suspect that huge monthly increases are right around the corner.

If you were in the business, you must know a little about how these things work. Take a look at the District Budget some day and attend a couple of their Budget Meetings. I guaranty you, you'll walk away shaking your head and wondering what planet you landed on.

I've owned 10-15 motorcycles (only 1 BMW) & taught an MSF course for a short while .. does that count?

While the developer’s family are Billionaires, that fortune is locked up in the real estate and the cash flow it generates. As wealthy families move along in time, that fortune is shared with more people (Schwartz to Morse - now to three sibling then to how many Morse grandchildren).

At some point, they will liquidate the Villages, probably in 2 or 3 generations. At that time, there probably won’t be much undeveloped land left - and they will be selling the commercial real estates and the other assets.
Nothing we need to worry about - probably our kids dont even need to worry about it.

Might want to double check your monthly amenity fee in your water will, I don't think $215-220 is mathematically possible, yet. Above $200, is possible, but few are there, yet.

My first few budget meeting years ago when I first started on CDD10's board defiantly had me shaking my head. Some studying and working through the process brought enlightenment and understanding. The complexities exist because of the laws put in place to keep local governments from running amuck. In retrospect the CDD budgets are a walk in the park compared to the county budget. I first started looking at the county budgets about 7 years ago, long before I ever considered running for the BOCC, it is a quagmire of accounts and funds that first appear to be a shell game trying to hide money. In reality it's just the opposite, it's about accountability, transparency, and traceability and once you understand it you can trace every penny from source to expenditure. Granted, tracing it might even challenge Rube Goldberg, but it can be done.

While the potential exists to reinstate some or even all of the deferred CPI adjustments, that potential continues to decrease as new properties are sold and properties that received the deferral are resold and their Amenity Fee is adjusted to the current Prevailing rate. As the percentage of properties that have existing deferrals in effect decreases and resultant revenue increases diminishes, the potential fallout from such an increase probably doesn't justify the diminishing gains.

I do disagree with you on the potential of a "huge monthly increases" coming, there is no mechanism or legal avenue to enable these increases in the governing documents (deed restrictions). The deed restrictions only give 3 methods of increasing the Amenity Fee - the creep, the reset, and the gimme.
The Creep is simply the annual CPI adjustment that allow the Amenity Fee to creep up slowly.
The Reset is when an existing property is sold the amenity fee is reset to the current Prevailing Rate - this one saves us (the budget) from the pitfall of the Creep as the CPI never keeps up with the real cost increases, but the Prevailing Rate, as I've stated previously, comes from a balance sheet that looks at the real costs to operate the amenities.
The Gimme is one that to my knowledge has never been used, it allow for an adjustment of the Amenity Fee if a majority of the residents approve of adding a new amenity, then the Amenity Fee can be raised an amount to cover the additional operating and R&R expenses. The residents demand "Gimme a covered pool in every neighborhood" then the response is "Gimme another $5/month to cover the costs". Given the way some people squeal about a nickel increase in the cost of anything, a Gimme will never happen.

This has been an engaging discussion with a lot of good questions. Some of the questions/statements a so full of conjecture, hyperbole, and "what ifs" about the sky falling that they are simply better ignored.

Between this thread and the host of comments made on a pseudo-news website recently, tonight story about CDD8 was a real hoot, I'm going to talk about this topic on my Sunday afternoon broadcast this week.

Fair warning, if you are of the mindset that a cap is need, rising amenity fees are going to cause me to move, or the developer is getting rich by raising my rate, I suggest you take an extra dose of your blood pressure medicine Sunday morning because I'm going to really set you off. Unlike when I was a CDD supervisor and county business now, I have no restrictions on this topic and I will speak my mind and let you know the truth, no matter how painful it may be.

Until Sunday, I need to refocus on getting #152 finish before the broadcast.

I tried to check my amenity fee this morning, but without a bill & my PIN, I was stymied. I know I pay +/- $305, when my Irrigation is shut off. I'm fairly certain it's over $200, but not $225. The truth is, the monthly Amenity Fee is a drop in the bucket and doesn't come close to my weekly golf budget, so I don't pay much attention to it.

I don't disagree the overall philosophy of the District, is transparency. They make a solid effort to provide all the information and detail anyone could possibly want. As you point out, it's a quagmire of information and very difficult and complicated to sort through.

The "Gimme" is the wild card in my opinion, but in a different way than you characterize it.

The "spending creep", driven by residents' (IMO) unrealistic expectations of existing services/amenities, produces a "hidden creep". Community Watch being a prime example. Residents expect more and more from Community Watch and spending creeps, without any legitimate way to fund their unrealistic expectations. Golf course maintenance is another one. While I disagree with the way the Executive Courses are maintained, I don't think anyone is stealing money. The District is spending what they say they're spending, but it's not enough to produce conditions acceptable to residents.

Because of the current funding/budget parameters in place to control "fees", the District is in a tenuous position. They need funding to meet Residents' expectations, but they're limited in their ability to raise fees. If you're forced (by artificial restraints) to fund an operating budget without the ability to generate sufficient revenue, you're left with in the unenviable position of needing to borrow (or Bond), to provide the needed financial resources to pay the bills. Which based on the limited budget meetings I've intended, I think is happening. (& if asked 6-8 months ago, I could give specific examples, but I no longer recall the specifics that set me off last year.)

So with respect to: "I do disagree with you on the potential of a "huge monthly increases" coming, there is no mechanism or legal avenue to enable these increases in the governing documents (deed restrictions)."

I respectfully disagree with your contention. The way you spend more money than you have, is you borrow it. Whether you "borrow it" from the Social Security System as the US Congress does, or borrow it in some other way, it's the only way to get it. The structure of the Amenity Fee "guarantees per the governing documents", leave no alternative.

Which means at some point, you have to "pay the piper", in the same way our children & grandchildren will eventually have to address the Federal Deficit (& in no way should that be interpreted as "political". I'm talking economics and certainly don't mean to invite political discourse).

JMO, YMMV.

Each of the CDDs and Amenity divisions has capital reserves and can and has used them to fund funding shortfall from unexpected things that have happened. None of the districts are using bonds as a stopgap funding method. The only bonds that have been issued by the CDDs are for expansion - north of 466 the one I know of are in CDD4 and CDD9 when areas were added to their CDD, each a relatively small number of homes.
Florida law requires each government enitiy to have a ballanced budget (unlike the reckless federal but let's not go there). Using a bond to fund day to day operations is not a balanced budget and doesn't meet the criteria.
The amenity division (SLAD in this case) issued a bond in 2016 for the amenites between 466 and 44, this purchase has a funding provided by the included amentiy fees that came with the purchase. They are going through the same process with the current amenity purchase, with the same funding method.
You are very correct in the expectations of residents for greater services, it is up to the boards to constrain these requests and spending, and they do. The demands can go up all they want, but without the money the answer is NO.

The CDDs and Amenity Divisions are not borrowing money to fund daily operation - not living our a credit card - again like the Federal government (went there again, sorry), so the situation of "paying the piper" is not developing. It results in a lot of belt tightening every year for operating costs - not to be confused with R&R requirements which are funded out of the R&R reserves that have been built up.

Again I could be wrong, as it was last year when I attended a Budget Meeting, but I believe there was a discussion or proposal to issue a Bond and believe the Bond (in part) was proposed to fund Golf Course renovations.

Not to beat a dead horse, but a budget that's constrained by CPI increases & sale re-adjustment only, seem unrealistic. I'm sure my opinion is in the minority, but costs increase and CPI never seems to accurately reflect how much more it costs me to live.

People just don't appreciate how good we have it in The Villages, when it comes to how much we pay to maintain the lifestyle. It's a steal.

Thanks for the warning but I'll be watching the football playoffs Sunday. It's more entertaining when there is offense and defense.
In the morning I'll be preparing philly cheesesteaks and chicken wings before the games.

The bold/underlined is the piece that eluded my brain. So they won't be able to just walk away within the next couple of generations and still be wealthy. All I could think of, were the ghost towns around the midwest. Certain people owned certain parts of the towns. And when they either lost interest or ran out of gold to mine, they - walked away. And left whoever stayed, with nothing to do, no one to do it with, no one to sell it to, no one telling them how things should run - and then they walked away too. Banks have gone out of business before - in my lifetime, several times. Not just "been absorbed" by other banks, but closed shop and gone out of business. Mortgage lenders and insurance companies have gone out of business because the people in charge relinquished themselves of the responsibility. Developers have gone out of business because their kids didn't want to run the family business, and they had no one else to give it to.

All of these things have happened - some within my lifetime, some within the past decade, and some long before even our own grandparents were born.

So that's why I was wondering - if there was anything set up to prevent it from happening here. The reason I wondered was because the Schwartz/Morse family owns MOST of the commercial properties, most of the retail and office and even medical space, all of the new construction and razed land reserved for future construction, AND the bank, AND the new-construction real estate company. So it seemed like - wow - what would happen if Johnny Schwartz Morse III told his daddy "Nah - the buck stops with you, dad. I'm gonna be a veterinarian."

It wasn't hyperbole, it wasn't rhetoric, it wasn't a "concern" that would affect me personally, ever. I have no kids so it wouldn't affect them either. It was more of a pondering, based on the knowledge that these things have happened, and do happen, on a smaller scale.

Actually Covid helped golf as it is an outdoor activity. This could be short term and only time will tell the long term affects. Golf can be very frustrating

Plenty of good tee times this past week.

Developer needs to think about having a lower price when temperature gets below a certain temperature. Some revenue is a lot better than 0 revenue.

Met a guy who was part of the group who wrote the program. Interesting conversation. Call iit the "what if system". TOOO many variables. Personally feel system is good. If it ever fails, what a mess.

And most rankings are paid for. Airline magazines(years ago) had the highest ranking doctors.

Any team I would have wanted is out of the picture already, so I'll stick with doing the live broadcast. On today's broadcast you can call in and share your opinion live, the phone number will be on the screen, and I'll be more than happy to take your call, listen, and allow you to share your thoughts with everyone watching.

The cheesesteaks do sound tempting...

Gold Wingnut Live #49 1/26/2025 at 3:00 PM - YouTube

I beg to differ on the quantity paying more than others.

At our recent neighborhood get together, the amenity fee came up. At least a quarter of people stated they are paying over $210 per month, and a few shouted out numbers over $215.

It became a very ugly topic with angry people wanting to know why they are paying more for identical services. They compared it to a store charging some people different prices for the same item.
A few wondered about filing a class action lawsuit, citing discrimination based upon age because newer homeowners (who paying more) are typically younger than present residents (paying less). And then paying more for their existing house than those buying a new house.

It really doesn't matter what budgeting process that caused different amounts. It's unfair for one house to subsidize another. It should be identical for everyone.

WHAT CAN BE DONE TO FIX THIS

There is nothing to be fixed so there is nothing to be done.

When you purchased the home you were told what the contractual amenity fee was and in your deed restrictions you read that it would increase every year based on the CPI. That is what you agreed to and that is what was done.

In what year did they purchase? When I looked back at the contractual amenity fee for the past several years and the maximum CPI that would have been used for adjustments, the highest number I could come up with was $207. I'm not sure that's even possible but I couldn't find a way to get higher than that. With the year they purchased I can find the contractual amenity fee at the time of the sale and if you provide the neighborhood I may be able to determine the month the rate is increased.

A simple image of a utility bill showing an amenity fee above $210 would go a long way too.

EDIT: It looks like a $210 or $215 bill might be possible. More info below.

Oh, look at you, dealing in facts, when most people would rather get their information from their barber's cousins's next door neighbor.....

Amenity Fees and the "Cap"
 

Great explanation Don. You always have the information but there will always people who can't/won't understand. People need to be realistic, everything goes up and if you want to keep the amenities we enjoy, ALL of us need to fund them. If you don't understand how amenity fees differ in your neighborhood, head up to the District Office, they explained it to me very simply, the Amenity Fees vary widely in TV due to the "Beginning Amenity Fee" is tied to purchase date of your property. The original purchase date of our home was Dec 2020. We purchased the home in May 2022, and at that time I believe the Amenity Fee was $179 (and change), in December 2022, our Amenity Fee increased to $193.79. In December of 2023, our Amenity Fee increased to $200.89 and in December 2024 our Amenity Fee increased to $205.97. So we are paying more than some of our neighbors who have owned their homes since 2020 because of our purchase date in 2022. Still a good deal to us.

Never infer that I am posting incorrect information. Personal attacks are prohibited here.
To prove it, here is a screen capture from a Jan 2025 bill.
Please notice the amenity fee is above $210

The prevailing rates for the last few years were $179 in 2022 then $189, $195, and now $199 for 2025.

The amenity fee increases on a home in the month it was put on the market the very first time. Particularly for resales, this is not the month you purchased, it is the month it was put on the market. I purchased in May but my fee adjusts in February.

When you purchase a home the amenity fee is set to the prevailing rate as listed above. If you purchased in 2022 your initial amenity fee was $179.

If you purchased AFTER the month your fee increases then you saw your first increase in 2023 and you should be paying between $189 and $196 now.

However, if you purchased BEFORE the month your fee increases AND IF the fee increases even on recent sales then you could be paying between $202 and $211 now. I don't know if this actually happens but it would simplify the application of the increase and it would explain claims of $210 amenity fees so perhaps it does happen.

I don't have the prevailing rate for 2021 to know what the numbers would be for a purchase in that year. Purchasing in 2023 or 2024 would not have resulted in a $215 fee today.

Still, the fact remains that the prevailing rate, adjustment month, and adjustment calculations were available at the time of purchase.

I don't care what magic formulas are used to arrive at different rates for the same amenities. That is how it is done UNFAIRLY. That process is the cause.

Nobody gets anything extra for paying more.
Nobody gets anything removed for paying less.

Kinda the way people feel about homestead tax credits, Save Our Homes adjustments, and city taxes.

Only 15 more years and they will be $300 per month.

The amenity fee is a bargain imo. I know numerous people paying much higher HOA fees and getting much less than us.

Our friends live in a +55 community in Bonita Springs. They pay over $500 a month for a pool and 4 pickleball courts.