[Two Bills]

I found this web page very interesting.
A breakdown of road impact fees for Sumter County.
Some of the totals are substantial!

Road Impact Fee Schedules | Sumter County, FL - Official Website

[Advogado]

Originally Posted by Villages Kahuna

You just have missed the news that State Representative Brett Hage (FL 33) has filed a bill that would limit the amount of impact fees that could be required to be paid by developers to a low single-digit percentage. That probably would shift the cost of roads and infrastructure development in the southern end of The Villages to the taxpayers. The alternative would be that those projects wouldn’t be done and development would slow dramatically. Another alternative is that the Developer would pay for that infrastructure as he has in the past.

Remember, the three new County commissioners who were elected ousted three long-time commissioners, a couple who also worked for TV or their contractors, who were also bought and paid for. They were the ones who voted to increase property taxes by 25%. Their replacements quickly reversed those taxes leading to all the negative news published in The Daily Sun. When you read articles in that publication, remember who owns the paper!

So who is this Representative Hage? His full-time job is working as an executive for the Developer! Last year during 2019, he was paid $141,003 from the Holding Company of The Villages. He also was paid $113,554 from T&D Distribution Inc., $14,410 from T&D Concrete Inc. and $11,000 from T&D Supplies Inc. Altogether about $280,000. That’s what you call an elected politician that’s “bought and paid for”.

http://www.ethics.state.fl.us/Docume...PDF?cp=2020913

[PennBF]

A question is when does something cross the line in providing financials to gain an advantage? Can someone/company provide money to ensure a positive vote if the person
has significant influence in the outcome of the action? At one point does contributions
become illegal? Just questions as I have no idea about any of the answers?

[Aloha1]

Originally Posted by Bilyclub

University of Florida are nonprofit hospitals and according to the Sun and the Developer U of F would be the builder of the hospital down South so no taxes anyway.

It would still be in Sumter County.

[Topspinmo]

Originally Posted by champion6

At first I found it amusing how each article was written by the "commander of the cannons" at the Daily Sun, writer David Corder. Each repeated over and over a salvo of shots at the three new commissioners. Now, I find it annoying.

It is also very annoying to see Corder attempt to convince us that he is an expert writer. Here is what I mean.

At the end of many Daily sun articles, there is a brief description of the article's author. Normally it looks like this, "Senior writer John Doe can be reached at 352-753-1234, ext. 1234, or john.doe@thevillagesmedia.com."

After articles written by David Corder, we see this, "Specialty Editor David R. Corder is a 2021 finalist for the Lucy B. Morgan Award for In-depth Reporting. His coverage of government and economic news has earned numerous honors from the Society of Professional Journalists, the Florida Society of News Editors, the Florida Press Club and the Florida Press Association. He can be reached at David.Corder@thevillagesmedia.com or 352-753-1119 ext 5241."

Pu-leez, Mr. Corder. Give it a rest!

Funny thing about finalists there can be lots of them, but at end of day they are looser.

[Stu from NYC]

Originally Posted by PennBF

A question is when does something cross the line in providing financials to gain an advantage? Can someone/company provide money to ensure a positive vote if the person
has significant influence in the outcome of the action? At one point does contributions
become illegal? Just questions as I have no idea about any of the answers?

Morally he leaves a lot to be desired

[Advogado]

Originally Posted by jjombrello

I would be in favor of recalling the three new ones.

In Sumter County, the Commissioners cannot be recalled.

If that were possible, Developer puppets Gilpin and Breeden would have been recalled last year when we, the voters, tossed out the three other Developer puppets IN THE REPUBLICAN PRIMARY by a 2-to-1 margin.

[Northwoods]

Originally Posted by donassaid

Helps to know what you are talking about. The new Commissioners are talking about raising the impact fees paid by the Develooer, not taxes. The former Commissioners raised taxes by 25% to pay for the roads in the new areas which should have been paid by The Villages Developer. The new guys ran on rolling back this ginormous tax increase. Good on them.

Actually increased impact fees are paid for any new construction. Yes, it impacts The Developer, but it equally impacts any new construction in Sumter County.
You want a new restaurant south of 44? They will now pay more to build that restaurant.
I live south of 466A and we are starving for restaurants, "big box" businesses (I'd love a Target!!! ), etc.
Unfortunately, now, it will be more expensive for any new business to build in Sumter County.

[Advogado]

Originally Posted by Northwoods

Actually increased impact fees are paid for any new construction. Yes, it impacts The Developer, but it equally impacts any new construction in Sumter County.
You want a new restaurant south of 44? They will now pay more to build that restaurant.
I live south of 466A and we are starving for restaurants, "big box" businesses (I'd love a Target!!! ), etc.
Unfortunately, now, it will be more expensive for any new business to build in Sumter County.

Some thoughts for you:
>Building costs are amortized over the life of your hypothetical restaurant and are a very small part of total costs. The higher impact fee will not dissuade anybody from building.
>In addition, the higher impact fee will be offset with lower property taxes, which are the objective of raising the impact fee. The prospective investor will realize this.
>We have been subsidizing the Developer's massive expansion of The Villages, which resulted in our property taxes being raised 25% while the Developer's sweetheart impact fee remained unchanged. We, the residents of Sumter County, got fed up with this, and we booted out three of the Developer's puppet Commissioners by a 2-to-1 margin in last year's election. Next year, we will boot out the remaining two.

[PennBF]

Allegedly, at what point does paying a Government Official to vote in a certain way become bribery or fraud and if there are more person's involved when does it become a
RICO violation?

[Advogado]

Originally Posted by PennBF

Allegedly, at what point does paying a Government Official to vote in a certain way become bribery or fraud and if there are more person's involved when does it become a
RICO violation?

It is a very thin line, and it may have been crossed here. As a starter, concerned citizens can file an ethics complaint here: http://www.ethics.state.fl.us/Docume...PDF?cp=2020913

[PAPO]

I am a future villager I’m not retired yet I should be up there within the year and I do read the Daily Sun what is another good newspaper to get information that isn’t so biased

[j_vermilya]

IMHO: the raising of the impact fees was necessary, and I believe part of the plan of the new commissioners so that the huge 25% property tax increase can be rolled back. i say thank you to all 3 of the new commissioners!

[Bill14564]

Originally Posted by nikjoep@hotmail.com

I am a future villager I’m not retired yet I should be up there within the year and I do read the Daily Sun what is another good newspaper to get information that isn’t so biased

This link will take you to one that is biased in the other direction.
EDIT: I didn't realize the site name would be censored even in the URL tag. I will DM you the site

And this paper, while not centered on the Villages, provides some useful information in our general area.