[Ignatz]

Great show, Don! We watched yesterday on You Tube. Your talk answered my questions and even some I didn't know that I had! LOL

Appreciate your taking the time to put this together and share with the masses.

BTW, what's going on over at 470 & Meggison? LOL!!!! (Can't wait till they finally share the big secret with us.)

[clouwho]

Could you explain your $2800? What is included? Thanks

If you are referencing taxes and maintenance (and now the stupid fire assessment), NO ONE I know is paying $1000.

Originally Posted by Cranky

Should talk about the 31% increase for Middleton. That maintenance fee increase brings our Middleton home to $2800 for the year. I wish we were paying less than a $1000 like most of the villages.

[golfing eagles]

Originally Posted by clouwho

Could you explain your $2800? What is included? Thanks

If you are referencing taxes and maintenance (and now the stupid fire assessment), NO ONE I know is paying $1000.

Didn't realize fire protection was "stupid".

And if you are referring to the new way fire protection is assessed, remember the independent fire district was voted down, mostly due to the uninformed fear mongering and anti-developer stance of the POA, so now the county is in control, not TV. So while technically your cost of fire protection should remain the same, it is now up to the county to set the budget and you will pay what they decide.

[Goldwingnut]

Originally Posted by golfing eagles

Didn't realize fire protection was "stupid".

And if you are referring to the new way fire protection is assessed, remember the independent fire district was voted down, mostly due to the uninformed fear mongering and anti-developer stance of the POA, so now the county is in control, not TV. So while technically your cost of fire protection should remain the same, it is now up to the county to set the budget and you will pay what they decide.

The VPSDDD board sets the rates in the VPSD district which includes the Sumter County portion of The Villages and Middleton. It is submitted to the BOCC for final approval. The BOCC does not get involved with the setting of their budget or policies - unless they get crazy stupid in which case they can reject it and tell them to do it again.

[frayedends]

I probably missed it in the video, but the line items shows EMAC fee and that is what went up the most. What I missed is what that fee actually is spent on. Landscape maintenance is a separate line item.

[Northwoods]

Middleton does not have a monthly amenity fee.

[Bill14564]

Originally Posted by frayedends

I probably missed it in the video, but the line items shows EMAC fee and that is what went up the most. What I missed is what that fee actually is spent on. Landscape maintenance is a separate line item.

Go to the EMAC budget and see where the money is spent. The largest increase in that budget was Landscape Maintenance.

There is landscape specific to the CDD that is contracted and paid for directly by the CDD - that is the "separate line item" you are seeing. There is also landscape within the CDD area that is covered and maintained with EMAC funds - a large portion of the EMAC fee goes towards that work.

CDD14 Landscape maintained by EMAC, per Exhibit A of the EMAC agreement, is Chandler Drive south of the unmanned gates.

Landscaping maintained by CDD14 would be most (all?) of the other roadways within the CDD.

See Exhibit A for more details.

[Goldwingnut]

Originally Posted by frayedends

I probably missed it in the video, but the line items shows EMAC fee and that is what went up the most. What I missed is what that fee actually is spent on. Landscape maintenance is a separate line item.

Most of the landscaping is handled by EMAC in the form of larger area contracts with the other cdds (15 in this case), also this includes maintenance of the retention ponds and pumping equipment, again also multi-cdd contracts.

Only a small portion of the landscaping and maintenance contracts are kept CDD specific.

EMAC and PWAC both rely on the large contracts/volume purchasing to save the member districts money. Think of it as bulk buying at Sams or Costco.

EMAC and PWAC also incorporate risk sharing - a major cost incident would be shared by all member districts regardless of which district it occurs. This becomes more and more beneficial as EMAC grows.

[frayedends]

Got it. Makes sense. Thanks to both last 2 posts explaining.

[DebMil]

Originally Posted by xcaligirl

I am able to access this video on YouTube this morning. Thanks for posting it. HUGE increase! I don't think I'd be too happy 'after the fact'. Be nice to see what others think and for me to finish listening to the entire video!

Does everyone realize this is the smaller once per year fee on your taxes? Not the CDD fee?

[Bill14564]

Originally Posted by DebMil

Does everyone realize this is the smaller once per year fee on your taxes? Not the CDD fee?

This is the once per year fee but that fee IS the CDD maintenance fee.

The once per month fee is the amenity fee which does not go to your numbered CDD.

[Nana2Teddy]

We got a letter in the mail informing us of our increase. I think it was something like $85 in CDD 13.

[Shipping up to Boston]

Originally Posted by golfing eagles

Question - does anyone think "elected officials" are far superior in conserving tax dollars???

‘Far superior’? Probably not

Yet the current BOCC deserves some recognition....the millage rate, I believe is at its lowest ever considered in County history.....and the lowest, non coastal rate in the state.

[Altavia]

Originally Posted by Shipping up to Boston

‘Far superior’? Probably not

Yet the current BOCC deserves some recognition....the millage rate, I believe is at its lowest ever considered in County history.....and the lowest, non coastal rate in the state.

Agree - adding 2+ billion dollars to the propety tax base per year doesn't hurt ;-)

[Bill14564]

Originally Posted by Shipping up to Boston

‘Far superior’? Probably not

Yet the current BOCC deserves some recognition....the millage rate, I believe is at its lowest ever considered in County history.....and the lowest, non coastal rate in the state.

Originally Posted by Altavia

Agree - adding 2+ billion dollars to the propety tax base per year doesn't hurt ;-)

Millage rate may be at its lowest ever but you and I will be paying the same amount in property tax this year as we did last year. The rate is lower due to increased property values and additional homes, not because the BoCC lowered its spending.

The amount collected in property tax this year is projected to be $2M more than last year. At the same time, because of the new VPSDDD the county will spend $7M less than last year on fire protection. Decrease spending by $7M, increase income by $2M, and then advertise the rolled-back rate as a reduction even though you and I will be paying nearly the same amount. That does deserve some recognition.

The VPSDDD deserves recognition too for throwing around the 1.31mills reduction number when in reality the number was 0.32mills (which we aren't getting) but this is a topic for a different thread.