[jimbomaybe]

Originally Posted by MartinSE

Why does anyone have to comment on anything that doesn't concern them? Why do people comment on a woman having an abortion, that is between her and her doctor, but it certainly gets a lot of talking.

It is amazing how these topics branch out, if an abortion is only between a doctor and the woman involved a woman can carry a "pregnancy", some would call a baby and abort just prior to delivery? when if allowed to deliver you would have a healthy infant

[me4vt]

Looks like the Moderator isn’t doing their job today! Political Post everywhere!!

[midiwiz]

Originally Posted by Rainger99

I heard on the radio that Florida may abolish special districts. Apparently Disney is a special district.

As a newcomer, I am still confused by the political districts in Florida. Would that impact us?

only a handful, not villages especially with 208% growth in 2021. but of course TV isn't done like disney, that bubble needed to burst. so does this one, but greed brings that in time. and based on recent info of the newer sections, time is coming soon.

[Villages Kahuna]

The government of The Villages is based closely on that of the way the Disney developments are financed and governed. The exception I believe is that Disney issues the bond financing to fund their developments, but retains the obligation to repay those bonds. The result is that Disney retains the authority to “govern” the areas using that form of financing.

In the case of The Villages, the obligation to service and repay the bonds used to fund infrastructure development is transferred to home buyers when they close on the purchase of their homes. Governance of The Villages is then transferred to homeowners over a team-year period, after which the homeowners have the authority and responsibility to elect representatives to self-govern.

The question I have is whether the legislation passed yesterday will prevent the issuance of the bonds by The Villages in the first place? That is, will the Developer be required to fund the infrastructure and recreational facilities and then try to repay themselves thru much higher sales prices of new homes?

I haven’t read any analysis of the new Florida law, but it seems to me that it will change the fundamental formula which has permitted over thirty years of successful development of The Villages and rapidly speed the responsibility for providing and all the services normally provided by governmental agencies. The question that follows of course is whether real estate taxes will have to immediately put in place to provide and fund the governance of The Villages which had been provided by the Developer over the initial ten-year period following completion of various phases of the development?

I sure don’t have those answers, max out site seems to follow that the cost of infrastructure development will have to be’ baked in’ to the selling prices of new homes with the residents immediately assuming the responsibility of forming, organizing and paying for all the units of government required.

Somehow, I think, the new law also has to effect residents of The Villages by removing the decision-making currently being provided by The Villages Developer.

An old saying seems to apply… If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

[irishwonone]

Originally Posted by golfing eagles

BS

Let's be honest here.

They were not "supporting thousands of employees and millions of guests" They were making a political statement and cow-towing to a very small minority of ________(fill in the blank) that were opposed to a law that prohibited teaching CHILDREN in K-3 (5-8 year olds) about certain sexual behaviors. Of course, those that engage in those behaviors want them to be accepted as normal even by 5 year olds.

So like the spokesperson for the governor's office stated this morning--"If you poke the hornet's nest. sometimes you get stung"

Great post and right on the money. Amazing not another post here even mentions the innocent 5 year olds that this battle is about nor their parents. Free speech, taxes, money all baloney. Take that woke baloney back to Cali.

[Bill14564]

Originally Posted by Rainger99

I heard on the radio that Florida may abolish special districts. Apparently Disney is a special district.

As a newcomer, I am still confused by the political districts in Florida. Would that impact us?

As others have mentioned, this particular bill only affects districts in place before 1968 which means it affects Disney but would not affect the Villages.

The Villages is made up of a large number of special districts. To better understand the structure you should really attend the Resident Academy. That presentation gives a lot of information about how things are set up and how the several districts work with one another to provide services to the Villages.

If all our districts were wiped away the counties (Sumter, Lake, and Marion) would suddenly be responsible for providing the services we now use. The maintenance of the town squares, postal stations, recreation centers, pools, roads in the villa sections, flowers in the medians, and gate houses would fall to the county. Wages for the gate guards, recreation department, and community watch would fall to the county. The water, sewer, and irrigation infrastructure would become the county responsibility. And I believe the bond debt would become a county liability.

The county would need to find funding for all of that or the county would drop the services. They might be able to absorb the water and sewer infrastructure and provide service at the same rate we are paying now. Our amenity fee would go away because there would no longer be anyone to collect it. What we now call amenities would become public county facilities. The county could increase taxes to pay for those facilities but the increase would be spread across the entire county and not just the homes north of 44 and east of 301. Maybe the employees that are now paid by the Villages would be hired by the county but again, the county would need to collect more taxes in order to pay for those employees.

Dismantling the many special districts that make up the Villages would not be easy. "The Villages" would cease to exist. Anything paid for now through amenity fees or bond maintenance fees would need to be paid for through county taxes or simply boarded up. The process wouldn't be pretty. I hope I'm long gone before some politician decides to try it.

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by Babubhat

Disney was happy to move California jobs to Lake Nona. Chapek has blundered too many times to keep his job. Don’t know why corporations have to comment on issues that don’t concern them

For the same reason you get to comment on things that don't concern you. If you don't like Disney, you're not obligated to go there. If you live in the Villages, the Governor's decision has zero impact on you at all.

[MartinSE]

Originally Posted by irishwonone

Great post and right on the money. Amazing not another post here even mentions the innocent 5 year olds that this battle is about nor their parents. Free speech, taxes, money all baloney. Take that woke baloney back to Cali.

So, I will politely ask for you to provide ANY proof that Disney is Grooming. expect this will go the same route as the "Big Lie" - no proof, lots of bluster. And a lot of damage to America, by spreading these lies.

Disney Worlds entire business model is to make guests happy So, you are arguing 50 million guests bring their children to be Groomed, because it makes them happy? If not, how many 5 years olds visit Disney every year without their parents there to protect them. If none, then I guess you believe the GOVERNMENT (DeSantis) has the right to tell parents how they can raise their children. Is that hypocrisy I hear rattling around on this thread?

It is so sad how Fox, NewsMax and OAN can Mae a stupid statement like this and suddenly so many people just echo it.

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by Caymus

Just curious, what else are they exempt from building permits, fire inspections codes etc?

You can look it up yourself. You know where to find your local search engine, public library, and hall of records.

[Bill14564]

Originally Posted by golfing eagles

BS

Let's be honest here.

They were not "supporting thousands of employees and millions of guests" They were making a political statement and cow-towing to a very small minority of ________(fill in the blank) that were opposed to a law that prohibited teaching CHILDREN in K-3 (5-8 year olds) about certain sexual behaviors. Of course, those that engage in those behaviors want them to be accepted as normal even by 5 year olds.

So like the spokesperson for the governor's office stated this morning--"If you poke the hornet's nest. sometimes you get stung"

I disagree; I believe the new law is more than that. Simply put, I see the debate on the law to be along the lines of "tastes great / less filling," but I fear that going into any detail would cross the line on political references.

[Elaine Dickinson]

Originally Posted by golfing eagles

Let's be more honest. This is NOT a free speech issue. Disney is a publicly traded corporation. As such, it's obligation, in fact it's only legal obligation, is to try to make money for it's shareholders. Does anyone think that Disney is going to enhance it's bottom line by taking a stand in favor of questionable curriculum for 5 year olds????

Agree! Former McDonald's CEO Ed Rensi is partnering with a team of advocacy groups to launch The Boardroom Initiative, a coalition with a mission to push back against U.S. corporations whose boardrooms are becoming too political.

Rensi will serve as executive chairman of the initiative that comprises conservative advocacy group The Job Creators Network founded by Home Depot co-founder Bernie Marcus along with two other conservative advocacy groups, The Free Enterprise Group and Second Vote. Their stated goal: to defend shareholders and employees of public companies from "woke" policies and ensure corporate accountability.

"Corporations have no business being on the right or the left because they represent everybody there and their sole job is to build equity for their investors" said Rensi.

[Bogie Shooter]

Originally Posted by me4vt

Looks like the Moderator isn’t doing their job today! Political Post everywhere!!

Have the rules changed????

There are two threads on this topic full of political posts.

[bp243]

Originally Posted by MartinSE

They are being targeted because they stated their opinion. Not allowed in Florida.

Florida does not have state income tax, a big part of the reason is Disney. They bring in 50 million tourists per year. They pay over a billion in income tax per year. They bring in over $75 billion in tourist revenue per year. They employ over 40,000 central Florida residents.

But, they committed a sin, by stating that they support thousands of employees and millions of guests, and worst of all they did it publicly.

So much for fee speech.

I hope they don’t move out of the state, I kind of like not paying state income tax.

Wow…you nailed it! Thank you!!

[nhtexasrn]

Originally Posted by MartinSE

They are being targeted because they stated their opinion. Not allowed in Florida.

Florida does not have state income tax, a big part of the reason is Disney. They bring in 50 million tourists per year. They pay over a billion in income tax per year. They bring in over $75 billion in tourist revenue per year. They employ over 40,000 central Florida residents.

But, they committed a sin, by stating that they support thousands of employees and millions of guests, and worst of all they did it publicly.

So much for fee speech.

I hope they don’t move out of the state, I kind of like not paying state income tax.

Free speech does not include the indoctrination of small children and taking away parent's rights to monitor and have a say in what their children are being taught. Texas has no state income tax and there is no Disney there. Disney should stay out of politics and just do what they do best. By the way, in the so called "don't say gay" bill, the word "gay" is nowhere to be found. It is a bill to protect parental rights and to keep sexuality from being taught to small children. That is a parent's job when the child is the appropriate age.

[Bill14564]

Originally Posted by Villages Kahuna

...

The question I have is whether the legislation passed yesterday will prevent the issuance of the bonds by The Villages in the first place? That is, will the Developer be required to fund the infrastructure and recreational facilities and then try to repay themselves thru much higher sales prices of new homes?

I haven’t read any analysis of the new Florida law, but it seems to me that it will change the fundamental formula which has permitted over thirty years of successful development of The Villages and rapidly speed the responsibility for providing and all the services normally provided by governmental agencies. The question that follows of course is whether real estate taxes will have to immediately put in place to provide and fund the governance of The Villages which had been provided by the Developer over the initial ten-year period following completion of various phases of the development?

...

The amendment to the existing law applies only to districts established prior to 1968. Since the Villages districts were established after that, the new law does not affect the Villages at all.