[dewilson58]

Originally Posted by tophcfa

Just received mine in the mail, ouch. However, I’ll reserve final judgement until I see the tax bill in its entirety and see how things net out? I hate shell games.

Will be impossible to see it "net out" unfortunately.

You would have to look at last year's detailed budget and the new detailed budget to see the expenditure is gone.

[Bill14564]

Originally Posted by dewilson58

Will be impossible to see it "net out" unfortunately.

You would have to look at last year's detailed budget and the new detailed budget to see the expenditure is gone.

How is that a problem?

[dewilson58]

Originally Posted by Bill14564

How is that a problem?

Looking, Looking and still Looking.

Can't see where I said that is a problem.

[Bill14564]

Originally Posted by dewilson58

Looking, Looking and still Looking.

Can't see where I said that is a problem.

Guess I was confused by your use of the word “impossible.”

[PugMom]

Originally Posted by Indydealmaker

Inappropriate post by an unhappy person.

[Normal]

Originally Posted by dewilson58

Will be impossible to see it "net out" unfortunately.

You would have to look at last year's detailed budget and the new detailed budget to see the expenditure is gone.

Just go to Meetings, Agendas, and Minutes | Sumter County, FL - Official Website

The budget workshop was just done last month.

[kcrazorbackfan]

Originally Posted by jim@jedward.com

I'm in District 13. My Fire Assessment went from $125/yr to $321/yr, a 256% increase. What the....?

Wow, $.88 per day. The end of civilization as we know it.

[Pairadocs]

Originally Posted by Gettingoutofdodge

They lost in the general election. They lost in the community vote at Everglades last year. So then the Commissioners created a new governing board and gave them the power to raise the fire assessment. They will also raise the mil value on a part of our taxes. I read the document and it’s very confusing. The new areas all need fire houses. The developer will build them and then lease them back to us.

On a side note, on May 5 I went to the UHF emergency room on 44. I had a septic knee from a cortisone shot I had on May 1st. I waited from 7PM for an ambulance to take me to the Village Hospital. None came. An ambulance came from Orlando to take me to the hospital. I got admitted at 1 am. My nurse was waiting at my room for me.
So when I needed a Village Ambulance for transport to the Villages Hospital, none was available to me! Why?
I was in the Village Hospital 5 days and it was an amazing experience, 4th floor, observation. They were all amazing as was the medical care. I didn’t want to go there, but so glad that I did.
Back to topic. There is a meeting on this in June. If I am better, I will go. Everyone should go and voice their opinion’s. They are also planning to raise the Ammenity fees again.
I love the Villages, but it’s time to stop them from using us as an ATM machine.

Sorry about your experience but so happy to hear at least the delay did not turn tragic given your condition. BUT, raising amenity fees AGAIN, seems after years of reasonable incremental increases in all areas, taxes, fees, water and other utilities, waste pick-up, etc. etc., it's just accelerating at a rate most villagers can't shoulder. May be a range of causes, most of which are mentioned with regularity on this sight: growing greed of each generation of the founding family, moving so far from the original developer's "dream" of an exceptional retirement for people of very humble, average, means, the original "where every man can belong to a country club and live like a king", the political savagery that grew with the growing population in a once mild and peaceful political environment, the growing diversity of the population, and just too many factors that have developed that have changed the community over the years. Not surprising that so many issues, including crime, radical changes in what is allowed in regard to renting (I can still remember the LIST of items that MUST be in your home IF you rent it, and how tightly all renting was controlled. But growth has made that impossible, made pool attendants at EVERY pool impossible now, so many surrounding governments competing for every dollar, it's not what it used to be, we who have been here 15, 20, and more years know that. But, where it is all going to "end", if it does "end", is unknown. Some have said for several years now it's ripe to go "bust" completely, others are more optimistic even if prices have been on a downward course from the highs. I sometime wonder if a complete change in local county government would help ? Would changing long time sheriff's turn the tide of crime, speeding, daily auto accidents, auto plunging into street lights and through concrete courtyard walls... and very seldom involving seniors, most in their 20's and seem to always "flee" on foot after these 2 and 3 a.m. accidents.This is not the sleepy, friendly little village anymore, but nothing stays the same, that's the trouble with most seniors, we often wish things could be "like they used to be", I can remember my grandmother saying that very thing when our small town of just under 20K in far south Florida, grew to 40K with all the "strangers" moving in... LOL !

[Pairadocs]

Originally Posted by kcrazorbackfan

Wow, $.88 per day. The end of civilization as we know it.

True when you look at it in isolation. I would agree. But what most of us miss, I think, is seeing EACH financial item in our lives, food, gasoline, price of tires, insurance premiums, property taxes, even the price of a pair of shoes, in an isolated frame. Oh, gosh, milk has gone up 65% and eggs have increased 200% percent. Taxes "only" rose 20%, and fire or ambulance service only increased by $.88 per day. Then suddenly, as a retired relative of ours said a week ago, "SUDDENLY" you realize that it's all going over the cliff. No matter how careful you are with your S.S., or your retirement pension (if you have one), or with your savings (if you've managed to have that in addition to S.S. or a pension from a job, the light bulb comes on, you realize it's NOT the $.88 per day X 365, it's ALL the $.88 per day X every item in your life, from food, to clothing to new shingles or new shoes. When people say, it's ONLY $.88 more per day, less than $320.00, they are engaging in very short sighted thinking, and for most people that can be tragic. Most seniors have no way to work more hours, increase their income, obtain raises and promotions. The present economic picture is not a happy one for many of us for sure.

[Maker]

Originally Posted by kcrazorbackfan

Wow, $.88 per day. The end of civilization as we know it.

The point is that for $0.88 you can spend more wisely or you can throw money away for nothing but lining pockets.
For example, two gas stations are next to each other. You can buy gas at either. One will be twice as expensive as the other. So you pick the lower price one. Smart spending generates savings. What can be done with the savings when scaled up to multi million dollar budgets? Lower taxes is one option. Buy more ambulances is another option. Hire more firefighters is also an option.

My opinion is that money is not being spent responsibly. The transparent accounting is not being shown, if it even happens. A deep line item audit on all spending is lacking. Nobody cares how much is being spent when nobody is held accountable.

[Gatorfan1]

Originally Posted by crash

We voted for the county to take over ambulance service they have 12 ambulances under AMR we had three. We voted no for the independent district because it would raise our fee and then let them put in the dependent district which is the same thing after we screamed that they cut service because the county cut funding. So what did you expect the budget is 23 million and it is not going to come from your property taxes. We want the service but we don’t want to pay for it. Sorry it doesn’t work that way. $300 a year for fire service isn’t bad and won’t kill you but no service just might.

Part of what you paid before was in your property taxes which is no longer funding the Fire Dept. but will probably go to pay for the roads. I am sure the commissioners will say they have cut your property taxes and not include the new fee in that because it is not a tax but a fee. Kind of like a magician don’t look what my left hand is doing only look at the right.

Or all of Sumter County?

[tophcfa]

Originally Posted by dewilson58

Will be impossible to see it "net out" unfortunately.

In my view, it’s extremely easy. Perhaps I’m dumping things down too much, but I hate playing shell games. When I get my annual tax bill, I will pull out last years bill. I will then compare the check I wrote last year with the amount I have to write this year, and calculate the percentage difference. I prefer to focus on the bottom line, not a bunch of transparency clouding noise.