Charlie, you run.

The PWAC can't be forced to recommend anything but it would be in their best interest not to recommend against honoring existing contracts. The windmill and water tower are part of the list of things to be maintained by the PWAC. The current PWAC members may not have signed that contract but they have to honor it.

Agree
 

I agree with you and was also not pleased to get bombarded by the POA emails pushing their candidates.

I don’t think anyone should be allowed to campaign for whom they think should be elected. Freedom of choice is over rated. Newspapers like the New York Times or the Villages Daily Sun should not recommend or support particular candidates. That goes for the POA too. Too much campaigning as far as I see it. I agree with the OP that there is far too much polarization in The Villages.

I’m not anti-developer. That being said, no for profit entity should have anything close to absolute power and the developers almost iron clad grip on Sumter County is like nothing else I have ever seen before anywhere in the USA. A system of checks and balances is absolutely a good thing.

Done with the POA
 

Some years ago didn't the POA win a $40 million settlement for the historical side. The developer showed grace by saying we were lucky to have such an organization.

I have to laugh, Charlie and others say they are done with the POA. They don't tell you that they are life-long Democrats and were never in favor of the POA in the first place. Me? I'm in favor of anyone who will help me fight corruption.

How do you know life long dems?

Sorry but I am a Republican! I have served on POA's in different developments and NEVER have I seen a POA take a role in local politics nor have I seen a POA take such an adversarial role against the developer. I have no problem with what they have done in the past but I really feel our POA has lost its direction. What have they done recently? Looking at the comments on this forum, do we really expect the developer to warrant a 30+ year old bridge? Heck, we tear down sports stadiums and rebuild them when they get that old! And who funds those - taxes? - but that is OK because it's sports, right? Never heard of anyone going back to the developers and telling them they have to build a new stadium because the old one wasn't good enough. Do we really expect the developer to warrant sink holes after many years when they are naturally occurring in Florida? If the warranty period is not long enough, the emphasis should be on the district to negotiate when new districts are added. Unfortunately, the district that have already been handed (districts 1-12) over to the district management have legal agreements already signed.

Agree with you 100%. When one side is in it for profit, it is absolutely necessary to keep a watchful eye. The developer has done a wonderful job building this community, and we very much enjoy living here. But seeing that part of their business model was to tax us all for the infrastrure of an area in which we do not live, then affect State law to persue it was a wake up call. Glad to have a voice helping protect my pocketbook.

The POA has a binary choice:

A. Represent an issue and agree with the developer
B. Represent an issue and disagree with the developer.

From a political point of view, Issue A may happen 80-90% of the time, and in that case there is nothing to change/do/no reason for being. Issue B may happen 10-20% of the time, and that is the goal to change the developer to see the point of the homeowners.

Now, for the POA to make an impact, 100% of their time must be spent on B issues, so the illusion of effort is that 100% is spent on 20% of the potential issues, and so the question for the home owner is:

Do you agree with the issues being represented? If yes, then continue to support. If no, then don't continue to support. But to disagree with the POA because they are 100% against the developer means you can't distinguish between all issues and POA issues.

There is no reality, there is only perception, and that perception is usually 100% yours, but yours is not 100% everybody else's.

Professional golfers present an illusion of effort as well. You watch pros on TV and only see the best shots, but that narrows as you get closer to the end where not everyone is playing. They make golf look incredibly easy. What you don't see or haven't seen is the hours, days and years of dedicated effort to reach the point of making golf look easy.

you are only judging on what you are seeing, without referencing what you haven't seen or can't see

I do not believe this is an accurate statement or presentation of the facts. Learn how OUR local government works! Then maybe we’d have less bickering, second guessing, and backstabbing

Indigenous Peoples Day is now on calendars all across the United States. It recognizes the contribution of Native Alaskan Nations and the original Indian Tribes in North America.
Sometimes when we live in The Bubble we don’t see what is happening in all 50 states.

Yes, everything boils down to the contract which is heavily slanted in the developer's favor. District 7 tried to get that contract changed but apparently is losing that battle.

As I understand it:

District 7 feels the contract is not slanted enough towards the residents and unilaterally blocked a follow-on contract that would have created a second PWAC to handle the expenses in the southern area. As a result of District 7 actions it appears there will be no second PWAC.

It is believed that this has resulted in a significant additional cost to the northern districts. District 7 disputes that but has not provided any information to back their claim.

Or that’s why we choose to be in the bubble, because we don’t like what’s happening and are holding out hope it won’t penetrate the bubble during our lifetime.

They need some new faces.

Did not the Sumter County Board raise impact fees only to see a state representative who was on the developer's payroll get a law passed to severely limit said increase ?

The law places a cap on yearly increases in impact fees and requires impact fees increases over the cap be backed by a study justifying the increase before they can be implemented. The fees passed in Sumter County did not have a study justifying the substantial need and to my knowledge there was never even an attempt by the previous commissioners to do a study or even raise them to the allowable cap. I know I personally am glad that there is an annual cap on my property appraisal (which is used to calculate my property tax!) I am also glad there is a cap on the annual increase of the amenity fee. Why does it seem out of line that the state does the same for impact fees! If they were soooooo needed, why didn't the previous commissioners (prior to their
suspension) immediately pass an increase based on the annual cap? To me, this was just a way to work up people with half truths.

The rates that were passed were tied to an existing study.

Your property tax rate is NOT capped which is why the commissioners prior to the suspended commissioners were able to raise the rate by 25%, an amount you and I are still paying.

You are right, the millage rate is not capped but the assess value of property for Florida residents with homestead exemption is capped at, I believe, 3% per year. The assess value is used to calculate your property taxes. This last year, my market value went up almost $150,000 thousand but my assessment only raise by 3%. Had this cap not been in place, My taxes would have gone up substantially this year but, instead, the total amount due went down!

As far as the study, there was NO study done that justified the increase that was passed. That's why it could not be implemented.

Thank you for the Save Our Homes discussion. You can find a little more information on the thread about property taxes going up. In particular, if the homestead exemption does not apply then residential assessments are capped at the lesser of 10% or the CPI.

But as you point out, the rate is not capped.

You should find that the increase in impact fees proposed by the previous commissioners matches very closely the rates in this Sumter County Roadway Impact Fee Study.

The increase could not be implemented for a well-known reason that had nothing to do with it being tied to a study.

I'm shocked!

Run Forrest Run

Can’t help but wonder if this discussion isn’t just a microcosm of the win-at-any-cost mentality that currently infests our political system.

Most (some) people here will remember the phrase “the loyal opposition”. That phrase reflects the idea that even though we may have differing opinions, in the end we all play on the same team. The goal of politics was not to win at any cost, but to get the other side to the table to hammer out some compromise. Not necessarily a pretty sight, but it DID work, for well over 200 years. As Otto Von Bismarck once observed, “no one should ever watch laws or sausage being made”. But the end result, of done well, is pretty palatable. Not a feast, but at least you won’t get indigestion.

Today? Nope.

Agreed. The developer has done a great job building this place but has way to much political power in Sumter cty

Thanks for the information, I knew the homestead exemption helped by exempting up to $50K of property value from taxes, but I was unaware it also significantly capped increases in accessed values. Perhaps it should be renamed the “Screw Part Time Residents” exemption.

You don't get a discount for /not/ doing something to promote full-time residency. Part-timers don't contribute full-time to the economy, and therefore they don't get the full-time break.

They get a part-time break, in that they can rent their property when they're not there, which will cover the mortgage, taxes, utilities, and hopefully provide a few bucks' profit for their efforts.

If you want the full-time tax break, then you have to be a full-time resident. And you only get that break on the home you actually live in. So if you own 4 homes in Florida you only get one break.

Just like you can't whine about NOT getting a senior discount, when you're not yet a senior. Or the happy-hour special price, if you show up during prime-time dinner hour.

Part timers aren't being shafted. They're paying the regular price. Homeowners who live in their home full time are just getting a discount. They still pay the regular price on additional homes in the state.

Really? So the people we hire to mow our lawns, pull our weeds, put chemicals on our lawns, spray for pests, power wash our homes, tune up our irrigation systems, seal our driveways, take care of our swimming pools, service our air conditioning systems, trim our shrubs, repair our screens, etc…., which all has to be done whether we are there or not, aren’t part of the local full time economy. Many full timers can do those things themselves, so they don’t hire people who are part of the local economy. Furthermore, part timers pay for amenities, trash pick-up, base water and sewer rates, etc… for extended periods of time while not there using any of those services, effectively subsidizing the costs for full timers. In return for that they get to pay significantly more in property taxes and they get blamed for just about everything that annoys many full timers. Hmmmmmm!

Homeowners/ Homestead exemptions pretty much work that way everywhere. You must decide where you get the biggest tax break and make it your residence.

This really went off track and I am a lot to blame for it. I am sorry for that. All I wanted to get across is that I really do not feel the POA, or any POA for that matter, should endorse or subsidize a political candidate. It is OK in my mind to have candidate forums for the residents to learn about the candidates so they can make an informed choice but that should be the extent of a POAs involvement.

I saw the anti-developer attitude right away when we moved in several years away. I will not be involved with an organization that has that direction of thinking. They claim to work for the residents, when they actually seem to simply work against the developer. "For" would be great, but it does not seem to be there.

Many people would disagree with you. If you ever read the POA newsletter you would see that the POA explores both sides of troubling issues, then states why they have chosen to take a particular stance in favor of the residents. Its not "anti Developer" its "pro residents". Big difference.

Agreed. Read a variety of posts on the issues of the villages and decide for yourself.

It is here. The VHA does some good things, but has never gone against the developer even when it would have been good for the residents.

“For”?

“WITH” would be better.

Very true

The class-action law suit against the Developer
 

As pointed out in an earlier reply to your post, there have been a number of instances where the Developer has taken actions that prejudice the residents, and the POA has acted on behalf of the residents. The most glaring example, which is not mentioned in that post, are the facts that underlay the POA-backed, class-action suit against the Developer. The suit was settled with the Developer ponying up (as I recall) about $40 million dollars. If you really feel as strongly as you do about the POA, some simple arithmetic can give you your approximate share of the $40 million and you can refund it to the Developer.

Agree with OP, this conundrum is not black or white, sometimes the answer is gray.

That's old history! I sure the POA has done some great things in the past. Things change, however. Leadership changes! Objectives change! Motivation changes! Staying OUT OF POLITICS or finding funds for politicians should never be a part of a POA!