[JoMar]

Originally Posted by Stu from NYC

Consider that this is not the same county as it was back in 2006. The county has grown tremendously and has had a huge influx of revenue.

As a result of good fiscal management while in the middle of a boom they were able to reduce taxes by a bit each year and kudos to the commissioners.

The problem is the developer has now realized that they can increase their profit margin by passing on costs to the residents of the county.

Good for them but not quite as good to the rest of us.

I still believe their is a happy medium for all but allowing taxes to be further reduced by some percentage.

Could you explain that one? I didn't know the Developer was a taxing authority.....thought that was the County.

[golfing eagles]

Originally Posted by Stu from NYC

Consider that this is not the same county as it was back in 2006. The county has grown tremendously and has had a huge influx of revenue.

As a result of good fiscal management while in the middle of a boom they were able to reduce taxes by a bit each year and kudos to the commissioners.

The problem is the developer has now realized that they can increase their profit margin by passing on costs to the residents of the county.

Good for them but not quite as good to the rest of us.

I still believe their is a happy medium for all but allowing taxes to be further reduced by some percentage.

They will either pass them on to the taxpayers, or pass them on to new homeowners. They are NEVER eat the cost themselves.

The most prolific poster on this subject calls it "the developer's sweetheart impact fee deal", but in reality it is the new homeowner's sweetheart deal. The impact costs will be paid, either by those that create them (new buyers), or by the general taxpayer. This prolific poster is dead set against the latter, but incorrect in arguing that the "developer" will have to pay the impact fee---they won't.

So to carry it a step further, he objects to his tax dollar going to pay for the costs a new homeowner incurs. Fine, it is a reasonable argument. However, I have never set foot in a Sumter County library and never will, so why should I pay for that? I have no children in school, and never did in Sumter County---why should I pay school tax??? I have no intention of having a fire in my home, but if I do at some point require the services of the fire dept., I'd be happy to pay for them on a fee for service basis. I have no use for a single woman that has 6 children by 6 different fathers before age 22----why should I pay to support her???

The answer is that all those things contribute to the common good. Educating children is in the best interest of everyone, not just parents. Maintaining a library benefits all, even if an individual doesn't use it himself. Having 6 kids with no mother or father benefits nobody. So, as a society we agree to support programs and institutions that benefit only some of us directly.

When thousands of new homes are built, "the developer" benefits from the sales profit. The county workforce benefits from all the construction jobs and landscaping jobs. The tax base is expanded which eventually translates to lower tax rate, as it has in the past. The increase in population attracts retailers and hence more jobs and more choice (as long as impact fees don't drive them away)

[Velvet]

Originally Posted by CWGUY

Nobody said reimbursed but you. This poster is like me and been here awhile. 2 minutes ago I looked up my 2006 (as far back as you can go online) and compared them to my (2020) last tax bill. Amount paid to Sumter Co. for property taxes and amount in school taxes both lower last bill. Millage Rate lower and assessment higher. I'm a happy camper!

Thank you Sumter Co. Leadership during those years.

Must have misread the post. I really thought he meant the current property tax was lower than in 2018.

[CWGUY]

Originally Posted by Velvet

Must have misread the post. I really thought he meant the current property tax was lower than in 2018.

Must have...... that wasn't even close to what he said.

[Fenster]

Originally Posted by Advogado

What Happened to the Rollback of Our 25% Sumter Property-Tax Increase?

Background: Last Year's Election of the Reform Candidates Estep, Miller, and Search, Who Pledged to Roll Back the Property-Tax Increase by Increasing Impact Fees. Despite the Developer's massive spending, the fielding of fake candidates (now under criminal investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement), and lies and half-truths by the incumbents: Last November, the residents of Sumter County overwhelmingly voted out three of the Developer's five puppet Sumter Commissioners; elected the EMS team of Estep, Miller, and Search; and took control of the County Commission back from the Developer.

The EMS team was elected on the basis of their promise to roll back the obscene 25% property-tax increase. That tax increase was enacted, in 2019, by the Developer's County Commissioner puppets to pay for county infrastructure necessitated by the Developer's massive expansion of The Villages, thereby preserving the Developer's sweetheart impact fee. The EMS team specifically promised to make up for the revenue lost from rolling back that property-tax increase by increasing the Developer's sweetheart impact fee to a reasonable level. To accomplish this, all the EMS team has to do, with a majority on the Commission, is to stick together and keep their campaign promise.

An Appeal to the Newly Elected County Commissioners. I was concerned that the Developer would use all the resources at his disposal to flip one member of the EMS Team and somehow convince him to renege on his campaign promise, thereby returning control of the Commission to the Developer and killing the property-tax rollback. Consequently, in a December, I made the following appeal to Commissioners Estep, Miller, and Search:
Please do not lose sight of what you were elected to do and be taken in by the Developer’s puppets’ specious arguments. You need to rollback the 25 percent tax increase (completely if possible) and make up the lost revenue by increasing the Developer’s sweetheart impact fee– to cover not just roads but also ALL county infrastructure necessitated by the Developer’s massive expansion of The Villages. Your doing so will be your legacy. Your not doing so will let down the residents of Sumter County and destroy both your reputation and your legacy. Remember, you were not elected to be friends with the Developer or with the Developer’s remaining puppet Commissioners. What was going on at the County Commission for a number of years was political malfeasance at its worst. You were elected to clean it up, not to be nice guys.

My concern, unfortunately, was justified.

The Developer's Actions to Try to Flip One Member of the EMS Team.
(1) A Pitch to the New Commissioners by Gary Lester. I understand that:
The Developer had his Community Relations Vice President, Gary Lester, separately invite EMS team members Estep and Search to meet with him in Mr. Lester's office to try to get them to back away from their promise to roll back the property tax by increasing the sweetheart impact fee. Such a meeting would not, in itself, be improper. Mr. Lester's expecting a Commissioner to traipse over to Mr. Lester's office to have it, however, was at the very least presumptuous and indicates how he was accustomed to dealing with the Developer's puppets. Most importantly, it shows that the Developer is not going to just sit back and “allow” enactment of the property-tax reduction/impact-fee increase that the voters wanted.
>Mr. Search told Mr. Lester that he would only meet with him in his (Mr. Search's) own office and did meet with him there. At the meeting, Mr. Search had County Administrator Bradley Arnold present for both advice and as a witness. Based on Mr. Search's vote at the last Commission meeting, Mr. Lester was clearly not successful in flipping Mr. Search.
>Mr. Estep also met with Mr. Lester, but I understand that the meeting was not in the office of either one. I don't know what was said or why the meeting was not in Mr. Estep's office, which one would think would be normal.
>Apparently concluding that Mr. Miller, based on his public statements, could not be flipped, Mr. Lester never even invited Mr. Miller to Mr. Lester's office and the two have not met.
(2) A Propaganda Campaign in the Developer's Newspaper. In the Daily Sun, the Developer has launched a propaganda campaign against impact fees by publishing lies and baloney disguised as front-page news*.
(3) Packing the Last County Commission Meeting. The Developer obviously dispatched his suppliers, his Republican Party insiders, and his other minions to the last County Commission meeting to pack the room and crowd out the public. His suppliers even parked their heavy equipment in the parking lot to make it impossible for the public to park there.

A Successful Flipping of an EMS Team Member? At the last Sumter County Commission meeting, the E (Craig Estep) of the EMS team, joined the Developer's two remaining puppet Commissioners (Gilpin and Breeden) to vote to delay even consideration of the road-impact-fee plan until July. Why did Mr. Estep do this? He has had over a year to study the matter, so he clearly does not need more time, as he claims. Was it something that Gary Lester said during their meeting? I don't know, but the delay marks a major victory for the Developer.

There are hundreds of millions of dollars at stake, and the delay, alone, is putting millions of dollars in the Developer's pocket at our expense--as he continues to pay impact fees at a sweetheart rate and we continue to accrue property tax at the inflated rate. Has Mr. Estep been irreversibly flipped by the Developer? We will see in the upcoming Commission meetings. In the meantime, kudos to Commissioners Miller and Search for trying to keep their promise to voters.

A Reminder to Commissioner Estep. Voters need to contact Mr. Estep and remind him of his promise to ROLLBACK THE 25% TAX INCREASE AND TO MAKE UP THE LOST REVENUE BY ENACTING REASONABLE IMPACT FEES and insist he keep his word. That is what the County Commissioner election was all about and what Mr. Estep was elected to do.

Remember, contrary to the picture painted in the front-page “articles” in the Daily Sun, this would not be a tax increase. It would be a tax shifting in order to put the cost of paying for new county infrastructure necessitated by the Developer's massive expansion of The Villages where it belongs, which is not on the backs of the existing residents. One can certainly make the argument that the massive expansion (with its resulting traffic congestion, environmental issues, crowding, draining of our aquifer, necessity of huge expenditures on county infrastructure, etc.) is detrimental for the existing residents. In any event, why should we be subsidizing it?

But central to understanding all this is the fact that the proposed impact-fee increase/property-tax rollback will not be a net tax increase. It will be a PROPERTY-TAX CUT for existing residents and existing businesses (and for future residents and future businesses as well). All Commissioner Estep needs to do to make it happen is, at the NEXT Commission meeting, remember his campaign promise, say that he has changed his mind about delaying consideration of impact fees, and vote accordingly.


*If any reader of this piece wants to understand more about impact fees and cut through the BS that was published about them in the Daily Sun, click on: Impact Fees FAQ: What Are They, Who Pays Them and Why | Development and Taxes)

He Estepped out of line and he better Estep back in!