[Muncle]

DickY put the following link into a late posting in the Bond issue today $355m due thread. I thought Tutt's comments deserved their own thread.

http://www.districtgov.org/images/wh...news200906.pdf

It is a column written by Janet Tutt giving facts and the District's view on the IRS Bond issue. It is the cover story in today's Recreation News insert in the Daily Sun, but is not yet available on their web site --- likely by midday or so. http://www.thevillagesdailysun.com/

Once again, it's a pretty reasonable column with no big surprises to those who've followed events and have reserved their panic mode for when there is indeed reason to panic.



`

[pili]

Well put!! All kind of crazy rumors have been going around due to Orlando Sentinel article. It's pretty obvious the Sentinel has a grudge against developer and has stretched the truth a bit. As you said, save the panic for when there is a need.

[Indy-Guy]

This link should take you to Janet Tutt's Recreation News article titled
IRS has taken no action on audit of VCCDD'S bonds

http://www.thevillagesdailysun.com/c...ns/recnews.pdf


This article will only be at this site for one week as they only post the current edition.

[dgammon6]

Thanks Janet. My brother bought a house here 3 months ago and was really upset when he saw the article in the Orlando paper. I have been trying to find Janet's previous article to put him at ease and was unable to find it. He feels better now.

[downeaster]

Originally Posted by Muncle

DickY put the following link into a late posting in the Bond issue today $355m due thread. I thought Tutt's comments deserved their own thread.

http://www.districtgov.org/images/wh...news200906.pdf

`

See my thread below. I too thought it deserved its own thread.
Is there any way to merge these two threads? If so, I would be happy to take second billing.

BTW, Muncle, I hope you don't mind my cutting some of your quote out. I am just responding to the "own thread" issue but decided to leave the URL in as well.

[Muncle]

Originally Posted by downeaster

See my thread below. I too thought it deserved its own thread.

Sorry Downeaster. I looked all thru New Posts this AM to make sure no one else had started the new thread. Don't know how I missed the one you had begun hours earlier. I guess I just don't do mornings well. My bad.

Oh, re editing of the quote to include only the pertinent part, I strongly favor that procedure. Makes the reference more identifiable and maybe saves a few bits and bytes in this otherwise wasteful world. I wish more folks would use at least small quotes from posts they're referencing. It's rather frustrating to read where the writer adamantly agrees or vehemently disagrees with some point, but since there's 47 posts above it, you have no idea of the context.


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[Bogie Shooter]

Originally Posted by dgammon6

Thanks Janet. My brother bought a house here 3 months ago and was really upset when he saw the article in the Orlando paper. I have been trying to find Janet's previous article to put him at ease and was unable to find it. He feels better now.

Both articles are at the District Gov site.

[Quixote]

Though I am a wannabee, Ive been following this and want to say thank you for this thoughtful sensible approach to the hysteria being put on by the Orlando newspaper. Making people upset for no reason when the law hasnt yet finished its investigation to push an agenda and or to sell more newspapers is sinking to a level thats just plain wrong to do. I will never read that rag of a newspaper when the day comes that I live in the Villages.

[djl8412]

Originally Posted by pili

Well put!! All kind of crazy rumors have been going around due to Orlando Sentinel article. It's pretty obvious the Sentinel has a grudge against developer and has stretched the truth a bit. As you said, save the panic for when there is a need.

My goodness, will you please document your accusation of the "obvious" grudge against the developer. If this is true, the Sentinel staff must have a grudge against every business, government and individual they dare criticize in their columns. Yes, rumors spread as a result of readers' misinterpretation of articles or their own slant on what they THINK they've read but you have to better than careless inuendos about the writers.

[Russ_Boston]

The bottom line is that all the talk in the world by either party or any homeowner or any wannabe is going to get to the answer any quicker.

We are now all aware of the situation, which is good, and we can wait for the outcome and move on from there.

[ricthemic]

Originally Posted by Russ_Boston

The bottom line is that all the talk in the world by either party or any homeowner or any wannabe is going to get to the answer any quicker.

We are now all aware of the situation, which is good, and we can wait for the outcome and move on from there.

It is true, no one knows how this will play out, but:
Russ from Boston, you like me are wannabes, perhaps to different degrees.
But like you, our " bottom line" (which is zero right now) differs from those who mortgaged or sold their northern house and transferred their equity into TV. So please don't be offended but you, me or others on the sidelines do not have a bottom line as of now. Consider the thousand plus Village homeowners, for what ever reason, some more desperate than others, are trying to sell their houses now.
What would happen if your home town in MA was getting negative news while you were trying to sell... Then you would have a Bottom Line.

Rich also from Boston
GO SOX

[djl8412]

At least that "rag of a newspaper" has included some factual information over a long period of time. You can count the number of times The Daily Sun has even mentioned this investigation on about 3 fingers. These articles themselves are not MAKING people upset but some become upset due to confusion and their own misunderstanding and many, I'm sure are mistakenly jumping to a doom and gloom picture. The Sentinel didn't make up the fact that there is indeed an issue with TV and IRS and it IS serious and residents should pay attention. This all-too-often knee jerk comment that the columnists and Sentinel in general have a bias is absurd and undocumented.

[Russ_Boston]

I disagree that the wannbes don't have a dog in this fight. It may very well be holding some back from making the leap. Granted we don't have any financial concerns as of this moment from the pending descision but that doesn't mean that we can't be keeping one eye on the issue.

My point is that we can talk all we want but no one, including those with a home in TV, can do anything about it until we know of the outcome. There is a saying on Wall St. "Buy the rumor, sell the fact". If house prices in TV are being affected by this case (I highly doubt that) then the best scenerio for those people would be a quick decision instead of constant chatter.

If I were ready to pull the trigger today I don't think this would stop me though.

[katezbox]

Originally Posted by djl8412

At least that "rag of a newspaper" has included some factual information over a long period of time. You can count the number of times The Daily Sun has even mentioned this investigation on about 3 fingers. These articles themselves are not MAKING people upset but some become upset due to confusion and their own misunderstanding and many, I'm sure are mistakenly jumping to a doom and gloom picture. The Sentinel didn't make up the fact that there is indeed an issue with TV and IRS and it IS serious and residents should pay attention. This all-too-often knee jerk comment that the columnists and Sentinel in general have a bias is absurd and undocumented.

The "rag of a newspaper" has sensationalized this to sell more papers at the newsstands. The Sun (while far from objective) - has no need to over report the story. Keeping in mind that all newspapers are the mouthpiece of someone and have their own slant - I find it hard pressed that the following statements from the most recent (and IMHO the least biased) article by L. Ritchie, are in fact, NOT sensationalized...

"in fact, virtually everything but the 38,000 houses in "America's Friendliest Hometown" -- have been financed by various tax-free bonds.

If a deal isn't reached, the IRS has threatened to look into eight similar loans obtained through bond sales. That could expose the governments to millions more in tax liability.

"If I was a resident of The Villages, I would be outraged by the transaction," IRS Agent Dominick Servadio Jr. wrote in a letter to the Village Center.

Villages residents are watching the investigation unfold, mostly with bewilderment. The sale prices were set by two appraisers using a complicated method that the IRS contends was incorrectly calculated.


"It (is) obvious that the residents' amenity fees could be much lower, or there would be a lot more of the fees available for maintenance of the facilities if these were arm's length transactions"



I absolutely do not dispute the need to be informed - so Villagers and prospective Villagers don't appear to be as "bewildered" (i.e. dotty old geezers driving erratically around in their golf carts ) - but speculation will get us nowhere in a hurry.

k

[Advogado]

Originally Posted by katezbox

The "rag of a newspaper" has sensationalized this to sell more papers at the newsstands. The Sun (while far from objective) - has no need to over report the story. Keeping in mind that all newspapers are the mouthpiece of someone and have their own slant - I find it hard pressed that the following statements from the most recent (and IMHO the least biased) article by L. Ritchie, are in fact, sensationalized...

"in fact, virtually everything but the 38,000 houses in "America's Friendliest Hometown" -- have been financed by various tax-free bonds.

If a deal isn't reached, the IRS has threatened to look into eight similar loans obtained through bond sales. That could expose the governments to millions more in tax liability.

"If I was a resident of The Villages, I would be outraged by the transaction," IRS Agent Dominick Servadio Jr. wrote in a letter to the Village Center.

Villages residents are watching the investigation unfold, mostly with bewilderment. The sale prices were set by two appraisers using a complicated method that the IRS contends was incorrectly calculated.


"It (is) obvious that the residents' amenity fees could be much lower, or there would be a lot more of the fees available for maintenance of the facilities if these were arm's length transactions"



I absolutely do not dispute the need to be informed - so Villagers and prospective Villagers don't appear to be as "bewildered" (i.e. dotty old geezers driving erratically around in their golf carts ) - but speculation will get us nowhere in a hurry.

k

Reply to Katezbox:

I also wish the the initial Lauren Ritchie articles had been less sensationalized and contained fewer factual errors-- errors which she never has acknowledged. However, if you read the IRS documents, you will see that, unfortunately, each of the excerpts that you cite in your post as being "sensationalized" are, indeed, factually correct. It is really too bad that the Developer-owned Daily Sun suppressed this major story rather than reporting it in a balanced matter. If you want to attack any newspaper regarding this story, I would suggest it be the Sun, not the Sentinel.

In terms of the attacks by yourself and others on the "speculation" in this thread, I haven't seen speculation in the posts here. I have only seen an attempt by concerned residents to understand the implications for Villagers (and what action they should take) if the rosy outlook painted by Janet Tutt and some posters to this tread turns out to be wrong.