Where is Don when you need him

Probably exercising good judgement by staying above the fray

He has already weighed in (and very well, I might add) on a previous thread.

Independent as in paying what the govenor's/developer's appointees wanted to tax us for TVFD. We were also going to be paying for the SCFD just like we were and still are. The powers that be are too afraid of the backlash of making the 20% of Sumter County residents outside TV pay for the SCFD.

The other question papa asked was why did the villages go to AMR in the first place? That happened before our time here and we have no idea but it is an interesting question.

Independent as in knowing what the VPSD taxes would be, not reliant on Sumter County for VPSD funding, not impacted by Sumter County budget shortfalls, and not in jeopardy of having the VPSD dissolved and its resources allocated to the SCFEMS. Whereas today we don't know what the taxes will be, we are waiting to find out what funding Sumter County will provide, it WILL be less than we need because of their shortfall, and there is still the possibility that the VPSD and SCFEMS will be merged into one.

What Sumter County would have done with the budget was unknown then, just as it is unknown today. We're now two weeks away from knowing what the 2023-24 budget will finally look like, at the time of the vote we were 11 months away from having any firm information. However, the information we did have was that the SCFEMS expenses had been removed from the projected 2023-24 budget - not a guarantee but a clear step in the direction of Villagers NOT paying for that service.

Before my time too. Sumter County seems to privatize as much as possible. It appears that in 2010 or 2011 the County Administrator chose to privatize ambulance service. Rural Metro was chosen and later purchased by AMR.

I found an article on the local-news-site-that-shall-not-be-named. Try searching for "rural metro" or some part of this: 2021/05/01/for-profit-ambulance-service-keeping-villagers-waiting-for-up-to-an-hour/

Given the poor response time for AMR think the right thing was done in dumping them. We will be paying more but as long as the service does it job efficiently, no complaints from me.

But yet they would not comment or codify that TV residents would not be paying for SCFD. To me that meant they were leaving all options open.

Prior to my election to the board the decision was made not to get involved but to let the District government sell it. When certain organizations/individuals started propagating false information (intentionally?) I made the recommendation at a county workshop that the county should put out a statement to counter the false information and that by being silent would be taken as validating the misinformation. My recommendation was quickly shot down and it was restated that the board had taken the position to not get involved.

To me, it appeared that there were additional agendas at play in the process.

While the budget process is a very complex one with many moving parts and multiple laws and regulations affecting it there were a few simple factors that could have been addressed. Move the FD cost out of the budget, costs go down and the required millage to support it goes down. Both FDs would have had to have separate funding vehicles and residents/businesses would have paid into or or the other but not both.

But this is all now ancient history and we have to deal with the here and now. The are several important items in the agendas for upcoming BOCC meeting that address the funding for FDs for the upcoming year. As this is pending action by the board I can’t and won’t comment further on these for fear of violating Florida’s open meetings law (sunshine law).

As for FY25’s budget and fire department funding options, the are several on the table that need to be reviewed. Each has its own pluses and minuses to be considered. All of these have to be evaluated very quickly to ensure adequate time to take whatever action will be required to implement whatever option is decided on. Here again, for the same reason, I’ll not make further comment.

Thanks for the update Don Wiley.

This seems to be the most straightforward approach. At least you can see what’s going where.
Also, why have any funding come out of the Districts?
It’s set up to be too confusing, so people get frustrated and we land in the position we are in now.

If you’re referring to the CDDs when you say district then nothing comes from the residential cdds. Only VCCDD has any money going to vpsd as its general fund acts similar to the country general fund where all designated/earmarked funds pass through to the designated operating fund.

Is it true that Bradley Arnold, the head of the Sumter County Commissioners gets a $30,000 a year raise? Asking for a friend.:(

Mr Arnold is not on the Sumter County Commission, he is the County Administrator, his job is to execute the policies and instructions of the Board of County Commissioner and is the overall manager for the day-to-day operations of the county staff. He wears a great many hats and has tremendous responsibilities here in Sumter County. Mr Arnold has a great deal of experience in public administration and opinions on how things should be administered in the county and frequency shares his insights and opinions with board members, however, these he puts aside once direction is provided by the BOCC. While I can only speak for myself and not the other board members, I can tell you that I don’t always agree with Mr Arnold and we have frequent discussions on county policy and direction where we are at odds. In the end, regardless of his own opinions, Mr Arnold has always carried out the direction given by the BOCC.

There are some in Sumter County that don’t like Mr Arnold, it’s been my experience as a BOCC member and observer in the audience for the last few years at meetings, that this is due to Mr Arnold responding to their comments and opinions with facts, facts that they don’t like because it show their opinions or ideas to be in the wrong or misinformed.

Mr. Arnold’s annual salary, just like many other positions in the county administration and the BOCC’s salary are dictated by state statues and any annual pay rises are tied to the CPI, these salaries are all a matter of public record. His pay raise for the upcoming year is $0.00.

You “friend” appears to be an ill informed fear monger and pot stirrer looking to kick up controversy where none exist. As the expression goes, better to be thorough an idiot than to open one’s mouth and remove all doubt. Your “friend” has removed all doubt, just saying…

(EDIT: Had second thoughts about my initial response and removed it.)

The administrator deserves credit for not taking a salary increase this year.

Thanks GWN. I used the term district because I knew money came from someplace, but wasn’t sure exactly where.

The Villages governance structure is complicated. The one question I get asked by friends is around governance, who is elected, etc. Given all the interplay between county, city and the best interest of the residents of The Villages, it could not be a simple structure, especially given the growth.

County Commissioners (5) area elected
City Councils - Wildwood, Lady Lake, Fruitland Park, Leesburg - are elected (5 each)
Residential/Numbered CDD boards are elected (5 each)
Commercial CDD boards are landowner elected (5 each)
AAC is landowner elected
PWAC is appointed by their respective CDD and are one of the elected supervisors on the CDD board

The growth really only affects the number of CDD boards that exist.

VCCDD receives the funding from the county for VPSD and $4.08/mo/home ($50/yr/home) from the Amenity fee paid, both are combined together and puts it into the VPSD operating fund - transfer in-transfer out, much the same as the county does with its general fund.

So the VCCDD payment is really their payment to provide protection to their assets?

VCCDD is just another government body. Just like the tax collector transfers the ad valorum taxes collected to the county general fund and then the county transfers funds to the 182 and 183 funds (SCFEMS & VPSD); The 183 fund transfers funds to the VCCDD general fund and then VCCDD transfers it to the VPSD operating fund. VCCDD as well as other government assets (CDD, City, federal, and County) are not taxed, only privately owned and commercial owned assets are taxed.

Sad
 

Once again public safety is the sacrificial lamb of local governments. I've seen it played out too many times.

So the County can approve the VSPD regardless of the resident's vote of no.

Except the county will appoint its own board where residents have no voting rights of the board.

Did TV residents know the county can just approve it anyway?

TV residents really screwed this up.

The VPSD exists today and has existed for some time now. It currently operates similar to a contracted service to Sumter County. The VCCDD/VPSD submits a funding request to the county and the county usually provides that funding. This action will not create the VPSD, it will create a new board to administer the VPSD.

I believe the point you are trying to make is the county can create a District even though the residents voted no. The residents voted no to an Independent Fire District that would operate independently of the county. What is being discussed now is a Dependent District that operates with the approval of the county.

While I am sure there are details that I don't understand, to me this appears to be a way of allowing a new tax that can't be directly blamed on the commissioners: the board will establish taxes, not the commissioners. The tax structure was described in detail in the proposal for the IFD but we'll have to see what it looks like for a dependent district. Ideally, a dependent district will also be created for the SCFEMS so that financing can be kept separated from each other and from the Sumter county budget.

Yep, but at least it won't be appointed by the Developer, right?. On the other hand, it won't elected by the residents either.

Not the same "it" being created. The information about creating districts is available in the Florida statutes but it is likely most TV residents had no idea what was possible.

Absolutely.

///

Regarding last paragraph, both are evils. Inflation is high(no pay raise) and letting workers go(with an expanding populace) is not good. Workers will adapt and go to a place where they can get the most bang for their money. Need to have counties handle fire and EMS in each of the counties. We moved here to enjoy our retirement and not squabble over cost of an essential service.

Good thoughtful post!

Thanks for the high effort post.

After reading about yesterday's hearing it looks like the county commissioners are going to get their way.

As always, the devil will be in the details.

The new fee structure would not have been proposed if the IFD had passed but certain groups encouraged residents to vote against it.

The dependent district would not have been proposed if the fee structure had passed but certain groups encouraged the BoCC to go against their earlier decision and vote against it.

There will be an ordinance proposed that will contain the taxing structure for the dependent district but if certain groups encourage residents and/or businesses to protest then the BoCC might vote against it.

On the positive side:
- I heard that the board will eventually be elected by the residents. I had previously thought it would always be appointed.
- The BoCC did not just accept the five names put forward by the District, they intend to advertise the positions and interview candidates.
- Limits on the funding/taxing structure will be written into the ordinance. This is better than no limits at all though not quite as good as the IFD that required a referendum to increase the limits.

Concerns I still have:
- No one wants to pay more taxes but more funding is still required. Twice the vote has been to do nothing rather than accept new taxes. The dependent district could suffer the same fate
- Ideally, there will be a dependent district for the SCFEMS as well. If not then the SCFEMS would be funded out of the general fund which means we would pay for the VPSD directly AND pay for the SCFEMS through our property taxes. But while there was great concern for the timeline to establish a district for the VPSD, there was little or no discussion of the work required for a SCFEMS district.

We'll see what happens in the next couple of months.

The developer via their newspaper has now declared war on the county commissioners per editorial (not labeled as such) on the front page today.

I currently serve on the NSCUDD board which was created as a utility depended district board by the Sumter County Commissioners. I would hope that some of you might consider applying to run for a seat on a Sumter County Fire District board. I would be happy to discuss with you my thoughts about serving on a board.


PRESS RELEASE
Immediate Release:
September 21, 2023
Sumter County Seeks Applicants for
Potential Creation of The Villages Public
Safety Department District
Contact: Bradley Arnold
County Administrator
(352) 689-4400
bradley.arnold@sumtercountyfl.gov
Sumter County, FL – At the September 12, 2023 Tentative Budget Hearing, the Sumter County
Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) voted to proceed with the development of current
Village Center Community Development District service area to be governed by a dependent
fire district (Villages Public Safety Department District). The creation of this district will require
the initial appointment of individuals by name, with two serving an initial one-year term and three
serving three-year terms, so the positions will face the elections in November 2024 and
November 2026, respectively.
The BOCC will consider applicants that apply through the current boards and committees
application process. Residents that reside within the current Village Center Community
Development District fire service area, are Sumter County residents, and interested in serving
on The Villages Public Safety Department District can apply online at
Boards and Committee Vacancies | Sumter County, FL - Official Website. Applications will be accepted only through October 31, 2023.
Sumter County, FL - Official Website | Official Website