[rrb48310]

Here is my email communication with my commissioner...

My vote, obviously, is to not raise property taxes by 25%.

I have a question, why did I read in the fall that Sumter County tax rate was going down again then in the summer I read a HUGE increase? What happened?


The response,

Good to hear from you.
In the fall of last year we did reduce the tax millage for the 2018/2019 budget year. We are currently reviewing the 2019/2020 budget which will be approved in October. The compete budget proposal will be posted on our website.
The main reason for the increase is for road improvements and public safety.
Our two busiest roads, Buena Vista and Morse will be resurfaced at a cost of $12m. That work will start later this month. The public safety expense increases are school safety. We will have a least 2 deputies at each school and the schools will be hardened.
We have reduced taxes for the last fourteen years so I know this comes as a unpleasant surprise. The good news is that with adoption of the proposed tax millage we will still have the one of the lowest rates in the state.

[Goldwingnut]

A friend of mine sent the following email to County Commissioner and received a response that also follows.

Mr. Burgress,
Put the tax burden on existing home owners is repugnant. We in The Villages will NOT Tolerate this terrible rate increase.
I moved to Sumter in part due to lower taxes.
Your proposed tax rate increase of 25% in one year is extraordinary and unnecessary. This type of rate increase will cause a great political impact on you, government and the developer. We Villagers are not stupid!
Worst of all this is lapse of trust in Government. We have taxation without representation.
I suggest you re-think your solution to the County’s financial issues.

Mr. Burgess response:

Thank you for your e-mail regarding the 2019-2020 Sumter County Budget and tentative tax increase.

The BOCC Budget stretches over all areas of our growing County and requires increased expenditures.

Improving and maintaining our County’s transportation infrastructure is a major priority in this year’s Budget. The time is right to make a big investment in our major roads. One specific example is our dedication of $12 million dollars toward the resurfacing of two of our County’s busiest roadways – Buena Vista Blvd. and Morse Blvd.

An equally important priority for this year is further enhancement of school safety and increased support for our Sheriff’s Department. In light of the Parkland shooting, the State of Florida has passed new laws that require us as County taxpayers to make increased payments for school safety. This Budget will be investing in that security with additional trained officers and the hardening of every school campus.

These priorities are a big commitment in Sumter County’s present and future….and will require our first tax increase since 2004. Fourteen straight years of tax decreases have served our citizens well and demonstrated our commitment to wise and frugal spending. Even with this year’s increase, we remain a relatively low tax county, strategically positioned for future success. The steps we are taking now will enable us to keep future taxes low, service levels high and our citizens safe.

Thank you for your interest in our County Budget. Attached are the budget workshop documents in the following link:

Agenda - 07/11/2019

Don Burgess
Commissioner
Sumter County

Looking at the exchange the takeaway is this:
My friend got an expected response for basically getting in Mr. Burgess' face and yelling at him, "thank you, next question please". Had he asked pointed and specific questions about the proposed budget the responses would have much likely been different. The response was obviously an canned response that was prepared in advance to respond to such email. As a District Supervisor I would have responded to the email in a similar manner to such rantings as anything else would service no purpose as it would be falling on deaf ears and a closed mind.

If similar statements are made at the meeting next Tuesday at the meeting at the Colony Rec Center, similar responses, if any, will be received and absolutely nothing will be accomplished.

To get specific answers then the questions need to be specific, direct, factual, answerable, void of emotion, and have to put them on the spot to answer with a response that will justify to the majority that this, or any other, increase is justified.

If you plan to ask questions at the meeting they should be as described above and you should do adequate research to ensure the answers have not already been asked. Statements such as "I'm on a fixed income" are both irrelevant and not a part of the issue. If your questions are making them squirm sweat, stumble over their answers, or resort to canned answers then the issue needs to be pressed until adequate answers are received.

Specific to Mr. Burgess' response:
Past tax increases, or lack there of, are irrelevant to the subject at hand.

The school funding issues avoids the issue that the combined state and local school taxes levied on each home in Sumter county is 5.507 millage points, or $1652 annually for a $300,000 assessable home. The 2300 homes added by The Villages last year accounted for approximal $3,800,000 added school taxes and exactly 0 student population increase (far below the national, state, and local averages). Why is this not adequate to fund these additional costs?

The new roads needed is already address by road impact fees charged by the county and the new home impact fee of $2600 per home that is charged. The new home impact fee for 2300 home is nearly $6,000,000, why was this not applied to the roads being built? The impact fee is also supposed to pay for added infrastructure, parks, schools, jails, etc. most of this is not applicable to the funds collected for development here in the villages, school are obvious-zero impact, parks and infrastructure we pay for with our bonds, maintenance assessments, and monthly amenity fee, the county is off the hook for these. There should be more than enough to address the roads.

Using the resurfacing of Morse and Buena Vista as a justification for increased taxes is disingenuous and lacks merit, did they raise taxes last year to cover the cost of resurfacing the other roads that were accomplished throughout the county? If we pay it this year, it's a one time expense, what happens to the money next year, will we see a tax decrease? Not likely. Why was there no planning to address these roads in previous year's budgets, it was no surprise that these would be needing resurfacing as these are, in Mr. Burgess' words "...two of the County's busiest roadways...".

The claim that the county is growing and requires increased expenditures does not mix well with the higher than average tax base provided by The Villages and the lower than average service requirements. Remember half our population is not here half the year and we're not exactly a haven for crime require extraordinary police coverage.

The impact fees, tax base increase, and school tax increases have occurred for may years now and will continue at a similar rate for the foreseeable future.

The statement that even though we are getting a tax increase we're still one of the lowest tax rates is laughable. We're going to put the screws to you this year, but you should like it because other people are getting it worse than you. Really?

I'll see you all at next week's meeting.

Here are my sources for the information on the impact fees.

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

Sumter County, FL - Official Website

[Bogie Shooter]

As usual the voice of reason and backed up with facts.
Must make a lot of previous posters want to delete their hyper unfounded comments...…...

[Velvet]

Nope. Such possibility of tax raises is not a source of amusement to some people.

[Velvet]

Originally Posted by graciegirl

When we know the facts and knowledge it will be no whoopy do.

As usual.

I bet you will be right, and I do hope so. Always appreciate the voice of experience.

[Bogie Shooter]

It's amusing what some people are saying.

[PennBF]

The major reason the Villages lost a lawsuit of $40M is because no reserve funds were put aside for repair and replace to the Paradise Country Club in the historic section and it was totally run down. Allegedly even mice in the walls? When told to fix it the Villages said "we have no funds and can't to it" Reserves were never put aside. Thus the law suit and the fine for this neglect was $40,000,000,000. We now face the county not projecting future needs and preparing for them. They just stand up and say we didn't plan so outrages increases will be made to your tax base. This is what you are being governed by?? Any first grade person knows you have to put aside funds in case of an emergency. The residents should demand the County do a base budget plan and go to bare bones spending to off set the neglence of not planning. Does any normal person not realize the roads will need attention in future years or there will be wear and tear on the bridges,etc. What a shame!

[JoMar]

Originally Posted by PennBF

The major reason the Villages lost a lawsuit of $40M is because no reserve funds were put aside for repair and replace to the Paradise Country Club in the historic section and it was totally run down. Allegedly even mice in the walls? When told to fix it the Villages said "we have no funds and can't to it" Reserves were never put aside. Thus the law suit and the fine for this neglect was $40,000,000,000. We now face the county not projecting future needs and preparing for them. They just stand up and say we didn't plan so outrages increases will be made to your tax base. This is what you are being governed by?? Any first grade person knows you have to put aside funds in case of an emergency. The residents should demand the County do a base budget plan and go to bare bones spending to off set the neglence of not planning. Does any normal person not realize the roads will need attention in future years or there will be wear and tear on the bridges,etc. What a shame!

And if they do bare bones spending then the complaints will come in that they aren't doing enough....no win

[Goldwingnut]

Originally Posted by PennBF

The major reason the Villages lost a lawsuit of $40M is because no reserve funds were put aside for repair and replace to the Paradise Country Club in the historic section and it was totally run down. Allegedly even mice in the walls? When told to fix it the Villages said "we have no funds and can't to it" Reserves were never put aside. Thus the law suit and the fine for this neglect was $40,000,000,000. We now face the county not projecting future needs and preparing for them. They just stand up and say we didn't plan so outrages increases will be made to your tax base. This is what you are being governed by?? Any first grade person knows you have to put aside funds in case of an emergency. The residents should demand the County do a base budget plan and go to bare bones spending to off set the neglence of not planning. Does any normal person not realize the roads will need attention in future years or there will be wear and tear on the bridges,etc. What a shame!

Your point is valid (zero count excepting ) about not looking to the future, unacceptable.

The questions in my mind focus around the growth in revenue vs expenses, for 14 years they touted how well the county is managed and able to control costs and suddenly they can't and need a 25% increase.

Their justifications all have holes in them! School budgets and police officers to support yet the total school taxes collected increase by millions each year with a disproportionally small increase in student - the majority of the county population is in The Childless Villages.

Need to build more roads to support the growth, what happened to the $2600 impact fee each new home is charged? It was supposed to build these roads!

Need to resurface Buena Vista and Morse, they collect impact fees with every gallon of gas we purchase and justified it with having to maintain the roads, the report is available online! Where have they been spending the money? How did they pay for the road work done last year without a tax increase? What makes Morse and BV so special, is it because they are in The Villages and "they can afford to pay more"?

Let's not forget the rest of the residents in Sumter County. It's no secret that people in The Villages are generally more financially secure than most. Take a drive down some of the back roads of the county, there are a lot of people that survive on less that what many of us spend on going out to eat each year. How do they pay the increase when living paycheck-to-paycheck? This is going to affect all of use and will hurt the lower income people more than others.

I have grown tired of The Villages residents being the cash cow for Sumpter County, Lady Lake, Wildwood, and Fruitland Park. A fair and unbiased accounting and justification is required before any increase is justified.

[Navy (SSBN 633)]

3 of the 5 Commissioners are up for Re election in 2020...just saying

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by Navy (SSBN 633)

3 of the 5 Commissioners are up for Re election in 2020...just saying

Yup. Gotta figure - for the past 14 years, whoever has been running the show has been running a show of illusions. And now it's time to pay for the fancy facade. The good news, is it won't cost nearly as much as it costs in MOST of the rest of the country. The bad news, is that the $2500 yearly tax bill will be around $750 more this year.

Take that $750 and spread it out over the last 14 years of not having to pay for what was actually costing you the whole time, and you're actually getting a bargain.

But if you didn't like the idea that your awesome low taxes might catch up to you and bite you in the backside, you should've voted for people who were more interested in collecting for future expenses instead of showing off how little they charge you.

What they SHOULD do, is impose a couple of yearly assessments AND a modest tax increase. New homes being built can have an extra $4000 added to the sales price and funneled directly to the county coffers for their needs. Homes less than 5 years old and being sold can have an automatic $2000 fee added to the sales price, which goes to the county. Homes 5-14 years get an extra $1000 added to the sales price. Homes over 14 years old get no added cost to selling the home. Apartment buildings being built can have an additional $400 per unit added to the finished structure's tax bill for this one year only.

Then do all the above for one more year. Applies only to home sales, and the county wouldn't care who pays it, as long as it gets paid upon closing.

And then, ALL homes get an extra 5% tax increase.

[rrb48310]

Originally Posted by PennBF

The major reason the Villages lost a lawsuit of $40M is because no reserve funds were put aside for repair and replace to the Paradise Country Club in the historic section and it was totally run down. Allegedly even mice in the walls? When told to fix it the Villages said "we have no funds and can't to it" Reserves were never put aside. Thus the law suit and the fine for this neglect was $40,000,000,000. We now face the county not projecting future needs and preparing for them. They just stand up and say we didn't plan so outrages increases will be made to your tax base. This is what you are being governed by?? Any first grade person knows you have to put aside funds in case of an emergency. The residents should demand the County do a base budget plan and go to bare bones spending to off set the neglence of not planning. Does any normal person not realize the roads will need attention in future years or there will be wear and tear on the bridges,etc. What a shame!

If ya don’t learn from history, it will repeat. So how much will the next lawsuit award be?

[Bogie Shooter]

Originally Posted by Jazuela

Yup. Gotta figure - for the past 14 years, whoever has been running the show has been running a show of illusions. And now it's time to pay for the fancy facade. The good news, is it won't cost nearly as much as it costs in MOST of the rest of the country. The bad news, is that the $2500 yearly tax bill will be around $750 more this year.

Take that $750 and spread it out over the last 14 years of not having to pay for what was actually costing you the whole time, and you're actually getting a bargain.

But if you didn't like the idea that your awesome low taxes might catch up to you and bite you in the backside, you should've voted for people who were more interested in collecting for future expenses instead of showing off how little they charge you.

What they SHOULD do, is impose a couple of yearly assessments AND a modest tax increase. New homes being built can have an extra $4000 added to the sales price and funneled directly to the county coffers for their needs. Homes less than 5 years old and being sold can have an automatic $2000 fee added to the sales price, which goes to the county. Homes 5-14 years get an extra $1000 added to the sales price. Homes over 14 years old get no added cost to selling the home. Apartment buildings being built can have an additional $400 per unit added to the finished structure's tax bill for this one year only.

Then do all the above for one more year. Applies only to home sales, and the county wouldn't care who pays it, as long as it gets paid upon closing.

And then, ALL homes get an extra 5% tax increase.

Triple the impact fee.....wow!


From post #114
Need to build more roads to support the growth, what happened to the $2600 impact fee each new home is charged?

[Bogie Shooter]

Originally Posted by rrb48310

If ya don’t learn from history, it will repeat. So how much will the next lawsuit award be?

Suing the county would be a long shot, wouldn't it?
Or is your statement some sort of doublespeak?

[PennBF]

Goldwingnut: Good note and well thought out. Also the note to remember is that some are up for election and vote them out. They are not capable to be reps of the Villages. I regret there are those who are challenged when it comes to positive creative ideas. Unfortunately we are saddled with these people. They are the ones who bully others, think they are funny when being sarcastic ride the fence rather than "taking a stand", are negative without a positive input. This stream of notes highlight these individuals. As the saying goes, "good collaspe when good men don't care".