[stan the man]

Originally Posted by tophcfa

Take away golf cart access and the customer base is seriously reduced.

Sams, Home Depot, Best Buy all seem to be doing well despite the KIng and his court fighting no golf cart access but carts can cross 472.

[james robertson]

Impact fees can only be used to finance road construction or improvement. Why not have the limit apply in both directions, and limit expenditures for these same items to the road development fees collected?

[Dond1959]

Originally Posted by Villages Kahuna

If the county can’t raise impact fees on further Developer-proposed commercial and residential expansion to the south, then without increased property taxes, there would be no way Sumter County could build the roads and infrastructure necessary for the proposed new development.

If the Developer decides not to pay for the roads to service his development as he has in the past, then it follows that the pace of development to the south will slow, maybe dramatically.

So how much will that effect residents who live 10-15 miles north of the new planned expansion of The Villages? That would include me and the answer is not much at all. In fact, if further construction to the south stopped immediately, that might be a ‘positive’ result on our community which many of us think has gotten way too big, way too fast.

What do you think?

The issue with stopping growth is you will create a significant level of unemployment to thousands and thousands of people who work for the developer or people and companies that support the developer. This will impact the entire county because of revenue shortfalls leading to raised property taxes not to mention the suffering of families of the unemployed.

I wish people would read Don Wileys comments about impact fees and watch his videos. He has done the research and can explain how it works. Basically, if you raise impact fees Sumter county will lose some of our gas tax revenue generated by the thousands and thousands of vehicles that drive the turnpike and 75 and stop for gas in our county. Don can explain it much better, but it isn’t as simple as raising impact fees and getting that amount back in a property tax reduction. Don commented about this a few weeks ago in another of the endless posts about impact fees.

[Bogie Shooter]

Originally Posted by john352

When you vote someone "Out". You are voting someone in, who could be a total puppet of the developer.

Or someone who knows what they are doing.

[justjim]

Originally Posted by Northwoods

I guess my view is: Developer 1 Commissioners: 0

You have to know your adversary. It's like playing against the Patriots (and trust me... I hate the Patriots so I'm only using that analogy because they have dominated football in recent history), You can either bury your head in the sand and whine because you lost... or you can understand what you are up against and realize you have a formidable foe.

As you said... Developer 1. So commissioners have to figure out how to win in this environment. Whining that the adversary is bigger or stronger probably isn't going to work in the long term.

Your post makes a lot of sense. Politics isn’t rational... }

[Altavia]

Originally Posted by Villages Kahuna

If the
]

. In fact, if further construction to the south stopped immediately, that might be a ‘positive’ result on our community which many of us think has gotten way too big, way too fast.

What do you think?

20,000 hard working, tax paying development employees, contractors and construction workers would lose their jobs...

[Stu from NYC]

Originally Posted by Robbie0723

20,000 hard working, tax paying development employees, contractors and construction workers would lose their jobs...

That many? Seems like to high a figure

[eyc234]

Originally Posted by Dond1959

The issue with stopping growth is you will create a significant level of unemployment to thousands and thousands of people who work for the developer or people and companies that support the developer. This will impact the entire county because of revenue shortfalls leading to raised property taxes not to mention the suffering of families of the unemployed.

I wish people would read Don Wileys comments about impact fees and watch his videos. He has done the research and can explain how it works. Basically, if you raise impact fees Sumter county will lose some of our gas tax revenue generated by the thousands and thousands of vehicles that drive the turnpike and 75 and stop for gas in our county. Don can explain it much better, but it isn’t as simple as raising impact fees and getting that amount back in a property tax reduction. Don commented about this a few weeks ago in another of the endless posts about impact fees.

Dond great post of what the majority of people miss, there are multiple sides to a problem and most things are interconnected to something else. In our world there are few things that are black and white.

[TomPerry]

Originally Posted by dewilson58

Impact Fee threads are always entertaining.

The Three ran on one thing and only one thing......Increase Impact Fees & Reverse the 25% Property Tax Increase. Day One, they decided to pick a fight. Problem: they came to a gun fight with a knife. No plan, No experience, No knowledge. Doomed to fail prior to getting elected. The Three got an education and got their a**es kicked.

Unfortunately, Villagers didn't stop and realize The Three had No plan, No experience, No knowledge and voted for a guaranteed failure. Empty campaign promises.

Thanks for the entertainment.

How very true!! Could the OP, the Three Amigos and their supporters PLEASE cite the legal authority that permits funds raised from Impact Fees to be used to lower the General Budget of the County in order to Refund the 25% Real Estate Tax Increase? I bet they cannot!!! They didn’t even bring a knife to the fight!!!

[JoMar]

Originally Posted by Bogie Shooter

Or someone who knows what they are doing.

Why, they didn't do it in the last election....voted out three guys and put in three with no experience, knowledge or ability. When you vote with emotions it's what you get.

[Altavia]

Originally Posted by Stu from NYC

That many? Seems like to high a figure

You need to take a tour doing construction in the new areas.

[Stu from NYC]

Originally Posted by Robbie0723

You need to take a tour doing construction in the new areas.

Actually I had and saw quite a few cars and workers but not thousands of them.

[Northwoods]

Originally Posted by Dond1959

The issue with stopping growth is you will create a significant level of unemployment to thousands and thousands of people who work for the developer or people and companies that support the developer. This will impact the entire county because of revenue shortfalls leading to raised property taxes not to mention the suffering of families of the unemployed.

I wish people would read Don Wileys comments about impact fees and watch his videos. He has done the research and can explain how it works. Basically, if you raise impact fees Sumter county will lose some of our gas tax revenue generated by the thousands and thousands of vehicles that drive the turnpike and 75 and stop for gas in our county. Don can explain it much better, but it isn’t as simple as raising impact fees and getting that amount back in a property tax reduction. Don commented about this a few weeks ago in another of the endless posts about impact fees.

I 100% agree with you. I think many people see Don (Goldwingnut) as a knowledgeable, thoughtful commentator about The Villages.
Well, here’s what “Shelter Reform for Sumter County”. ( Angie Fox - Oren Miller’s wife is admin) says about Don...
“Don Wiley speaks for The Villages. He says he doesn’t but he does.”
“Don and The Developer are lying.”
So... those of you who appreciate Don’s perspective should know Oren’s wife feel’s Don is a spokesperson for The Villages.
Personally. I don’t think that’s true at all. I think Don gives his perspective as he sees it. And I think he tried very hard to be objective.

[Altavia]

Originally Posted by Northwoods

I 100% agree with you. I think many people see Don (Goldwingnut) as a knowledgeable, thoughtful commentator about The Villages.
Well, here’s what “Shelter Reform for Sumter County”. ( Angie Fox - Oren Miller’s wife is admin) says about Don...
“Don Wiley speaks for The Villages. He says he doesn’t but he does.”
“Don and The Developer are lying.”
So... those of you who appreciate Don’s perspective should know Oren’s wife feel’s Don is a spokesperson for The Villages.
Personally. I don’t think that’s true at all. I think Don gives his perspective as he sees it. And I think he tried very hard to be objective.

Very interesting...

There has been no response to the actual budget showing:

Not a dime of the increase was used to develop new county roads.

The majority of the increase was used for resurfacing of Morse and Buena Vista Blvds.

The road resurfacing was a one-time cost and represented about 50% of the tax increase, we should have seen a 10-12% decrease the following year.

For 2020, every department in the county increased their budgets with 10 to 20% increases.

Impact fees can still be increased. Only the rate of increase has been limited.

[Goldwingnut]

Originally Posted by Northwoods

I 100% agree with you. I think many people see Don (Goldwingnut) as a knowledgeable, thoughtful commentator about The Villages.
Well, here’s what “Shelter Reform for Sumter County”. ( Angie Fox - Oren Miller’s wife is admin) says about Don...
“Don Wiley speaks for The Villages. He says he doesn’t but he does.”
“Don and The Developer are lying.”
So... those of you who appreciate Don’s perspective should know Oren’s wife feel’s Don is a spokesperson for The Villages.
Personally. I don’t think that’s true at all. I think Don gives his perspective as he sees it. And I think he tried very hard to be objective.

I guess if you were to ask the developer, you'd probably get a totally different perspective; there's little love lost between us. I'm a thorn in their side on the CDD board, PWAC, and with my videos, they don't like that I don't fear them and they can't control me.

Apparently, anyone who doesn't agree with the view of the newly elected county commissioners is in league with the developer and a liar. If you've read my posts on the topic of the impact fees you'll see that I am very much opposed to the increases and the current direction of the BOCC. This is not because I favor the developer, it's because I've done the research, read the report, run the numbers, and understand what is going on with the budget. I try to bring these facts to light for the general public. Of course, those that believe the social media and propaganda put out by the 3 new commissioners revel against any opposing viewpoint and rebuke any that may oppose them, regardless of any facts presented. When I presented numbers in two of my videos that showed the actual cost impact of the proposed impact fees I was castigated fiercely for my political views on the subject, facts have a habit of aggravating those with differing viewpoints. I'll not stop presenting these facts in future videos.

My perspective on the impact fees comes from objective and careful research, hours of study, and a background in business. Many have forgotten since moving into our little bubble, that it really is about the money for businesses. Money is how each and every one of us were able to move to this community. Money is a necessity for any lifestyle. Money is why businesses are in business. These facts were not a bad thing when many moved here, but that was quickly forgotten as they've wrapped themselves in this very luxurious lifestyle. You can tax business all you want, they don't pay taxes, they collect these taxes from their customers as a part of the cost of doing business, they don't take it from their profits, they raise their prices.

Do my videos present an overall positive opinion of The Villages? Undeniably yes. I love where I live, enjoy the lifestyle, and couldn't think of a better place for my wife and I to retire to. I was in the construction business for nearly 20 years before retirement and have see the good and the bad side of the business, the bad side of my last employer is why I decided to retire early. Durning my 20 years I worked for the same company as a technician, design engineer, operation manager for a 3 state area, and as a project manager and have a pretty good perspective of much of the industry. While I'm frequently at odds with the developer, I have a tremendous amount of respect for what they do and how they do it. I see things a lot different than most, they are very well organized and process oriented, they are very tough on their contractors and subcontractors but also very fair, they are very cost conscious and squeeze every dime they can from every source, based on my discussions with many of the contractors building the houses here they also pay promptly (good cash flow can make all the difference in the world for a business) and are fiercely loyal to the contractors and suppliers that they partner with. These are all hallmarks of a well-run and successful company, it's hard not to respect them. But I don't always agree with them.

I appreciate Northwoods and the many others who continue to send me email about posts on other social media platforms. Except when I post a new video for you to enjoy, I spend very little time on these websites, and rarely do I monitor them. I do read ToTV frequently because its format allows me to skip the complaints about dog poop, trolls, and poor drivers, and read the stuff and opinions of others of those items that interest me. If we've learned anything from the past election cycle, it's that social media is a powerful tool that is easily manipulated by those with their own agenda and a kneejerk reaction to it is a downward spiral.