Talk of The Villages Florida - Sumter Commissioners Risk Lawsuit

Talk of The Villages Florida (https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/)

- The Villages, Florida, General Discussion (https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/villages-florida-general-discussion-73/)

- - Sumter Commissioners Risk Lawsuit (https://www.talkofthevillages.com/forums/villages-florida-general-discussion-73/sumter-commissioners-risk-lawsuit-317371/)

Quote:

Originally Posted by tophcfa (Post 1914937)

You better have somebody drop you off, there won’t be any place to park.

That is one of the biggest parking lots in TV.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rmd2 (Post 1914982)

All three of them said they would roll it back!

Yes, they certainly did, and they promised to make a property-tax rollback possible by requiring the Developer to pay a reasonable impact fee.

Miller is doing everything he can to make it happen and happen now. Unfortunately, Estep and Search initially agreed to postpone action until July-- apparently unaware of the Developer's Tallahassee maneuver to keep his sweetheart deal by limiting impact-fee increases to 3% after July 1.

Quote:

Originally Posted by rmd2 (Post 1914988)

That is one of the biggest parking lots in TV.

Last time the developer had T&D and other contractors fill the parking lot with big trucks and construction trailers, so there was no place for cars to park.

It will be immediate and on your next tax bill.

Yes, true. But the need for additional facilities each year is increasing the staffing, payroll, pension and all the other costs subject to inflation each year. I support the Fire Department and Emergency Services 200%, but the growth of the Villages also means the growth of the Department and additional costs, plus inflation.

Quote:

Originally Posted by maggie1 (Post 1914980)

While I "sort" of understand the issue at hand, that this is merely a decision to increase the maximum fire protection assessment from $125 to $360, it doesn't indicate that we in Sumter County will see this increase anytime soon. Yeah, right! If it is increased for future operations then you can bet the future will be here before you know it. The largest population in Sumter is here in The Villages. What are the assessment rates in Lake and Marion, which also is part of The Villages? How long has the maximum $125 been in effect from what it was before. Are the yearly calls for service by fire and EMS at such an increasing rate that it requires the fire assessment to be raised more than 200%? Look, folks, I want a good safety force too, but we are not New York City, where calls for service are a constant. We don't have the monstrous office buildings, and very few high rises in our county to address should there be a fire. We are mostly retired, older people on fixed incomes and many will not be in a position to afford these increases as they come about. I hope some of you that plan to attend the meeting will ask about the calls for service - what is the increase in CFS over the last five years in Sumter County. What is the assessment in Lake and Marion, and require them to qualify the need for the increase. We will be back in Ohio by the time the meeting takes place, or else we would have been there to ask a few of these questions ourselves.

I can answer two of your questions. First, from the Lake County web site, the Fire Protection assessment in Lake County is $206.00 per house per year.

Second, we have lived in The Villages for five years. The maximum cap on the Fire Assessment in The Villages in Sumter County has remained at $125 for the five years. I do not know how many years before that. Our annual Fire Assessment has remained at $124 for each of the tax years. So no increase in the max or the actual assessment for at least five years, maybe more. We all know costs have risen in those five years.

Totally agree. It’s late in the game and that 25% ship has sailed. Perhaps tough but thoughtful negotiations can recoup a little. However coming up with a long term strategy that offers protection to all parties is a must. Name calling and threatening will only make things worse.

Our annual Fire Assessment has remained at $124 for each of the tax years. So no increase in the max or the actual assessment for at least five years, maybe more. We all know costs have risen in those five years.[/QUOTE]

Everything has risen in cost except the developers impact fees. The impact fees should be paying for the new firehouses and roads due to new developments.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Advogado (Post 1914796)

Did it occur to you that the Developer's impact fee is 0% with regard to fire protection?

Why should the developer have to pay anything for fire protection? The FD exists to protect the home owners property so it is the obligation of the owners to pay for it.

Don't your taxes cover fire dept. and police. What you are say makes it a problem

Pease tell me what's the tax difference is between homes that lie outside of the villages and the one's that lie in the villages.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Number 10 GI (Post 1915033)

Why should the developer have to pay anything for fire protection? The FD exists to protect the home owners property so it is the obligation of the owners to pay for it.

The developer doesn't actually pay anything. Sure, they might foot the bill while during construction but the cost of the impact fee is passed along to the buyer the same as the cost of lumber and bathroom fixtures.

Assessing impact fees on new construction is a way of making the property owners pay for the additional infrastructure needed to support their homes and businesses.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Number 10 GI (Post 1915033)

Why should the developer have to pay anything for fire protection? The FD exists to protect the home owners property so it is the obligation of the owners to pay for it.

This issue should have been decided by the last Commissioner election.

The voters overwhelmingly decided that the Developer should pay for the infrastructure (which would include fire stations, trucks, and other equipment) necessitated by his massive expansion of The Villages. In many other counties, he would have to do so, but not here-- thanks to his puppets who formerly controlled the County Commission.

Obviously, he should not pay for fire services to the existing community, and nobody is suggesting he do so.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Advogado (Post 1915068)

This issue should have been decided by the last Commissioner election.

The voters overwhelmingly decided that the Developer should pay for the infrastructure (which would include fire stations, trucks, and other equipment) necessitated by his massive expansion of The Villages). In many other counties, he would have to do so, but not here-- thanks to his puppets who formerly controlled the County Commission.

Obviously, he should not pay for fire services to the existing community, and nobody is suggesting he do so.

Since you stated this I assume you know what counties......which ones?

Ok, so unless I'm missing something here. There are 74,242 homes in Sumter co. as of July 2019. There were 1609 businesses that were employer establishments. There was a total of 7,013 non employee businesses. Let's just look at home max tax increases. I see this as a Max tax increase of 288%. 74,242 homes X $235 each home. =$17,464,870. That's without assessments on the businesses. So sorry for asking but What the Heck? Where does the developer or the county pay for any of the new fire stations or EMTs? 25% here, 288% there? It seems to me we paid for our fire stations and EMTs already in our bond. What am I missing? Even at $50,000 wage for firemen that's 349 new firemen. Or that's 26 new fire trucks at $660,000 per truck. Or 17 new fire stations at a million dollars each. So What are they asking for here? I think they need to do some explaining.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bogie Shooter (Post 1915071)

Since you stated this I assume you know what counties......which ones?

I will name one off the top of my head for you. In North Collier County, the Developer would pay a fire-impact fee of $476/house if the house is less than 4,000 sq. ft. If => than 4,000 square feet, it would be $833/ house. In Sumter County, of course, he pays a fire-impact fee of zero. If you are curious about other counties, Google the county's name and impact fees.