How did you recover the cost of infrastructure required by the thousands of lots you've developed? Did you put in the roads, sidewalks, entrance signs, water mains, and sewers with money out of your own pocket never to be seen again or did you pass those costs to the home buyers in the price of their homes?

Within the Special District each sub-district was contractually obligated to reimburse the developer for infrastructure. State defined and approved infrastructure related to either roads or utilities. Functionally some 93% of the development cost. The rest, like parks & recreation, trails, major signage, was a developer expense. We also provided water service and sewer treatment, which were reimbursed pro rata by all sub-districts at 100%. Sub-districts sold bonds as district assessed value warranted. This means that each sub-district was obligated to bear a debt and M&O burden of $1/$100 assessment based on home valuation by the county assessor, until such time as the developer is fully repaid. This split between debt and M&O can delay developer repayment if there are significant maintenance expenses. We were also able to have our own police force, but instead contracted with the county for the exclusive use contract with the constable. Response times were measured in seconds.

Much like the unincorporated portions of The Villages, our Special District gave us total control of use (zoning), building inspections, all permits, etc… The only permits needed outside were for gasoline tanks, sewer plant performance and alcohol sales.

If you are lucky enough to be in Sumter County you have the lowest taxes. I understand that the Bonds south of 44 are quite high. Probably double what they were just north of 44.

By Florida law, as it is in most states, real estate is required to valued for Tax purposes, at market value. As a practical matter, in a given community, the actual assessment of a property could generally be only 50% of market value, and it wouldn't matter one iota. Assessments for tax purposes, are "relative", not absolute.

Saying the existing of a CDD Bond does change the value for tax purposes or saying it's not relevant in taxation, isn't exactly correct.

If there were (2) subdivisions, side by side, equal in all respects, but one had a CDD Bond attached and other did not, the "market value" would be higher for the lots w/o a CDD Bond.

When determining Market Value for any reason, all variables should be considered. 2 apparently identical lots, side by side. One has a view of the forrest behind it, the other has a partial view of the forrest, but also looks out at a billboard for an Adult Store. Are they worth the same? An Assessor might not react to the nuances, but an application for an abatement would likely establish that they don't have the same value ... same as if one had a CDD Bond attached and one didn't.

When comparing "Assessments" between one community/county and another, it's a fool's errand to use a "rule of thumb" that homes are assessed at 85% of Market Value. Again, Assessments are merely "relative" to other properties in that same tax area. The Tax Levy, divided by the total Valuation, generates the Tax Rate, which is then apportioned.

You forgot to include amenity fees. These take the place of park districts, or forest preserve district taxes. Including those, my Marion taxes are still 12 to 15 years behind what I was paying in DuPage County Chicagoland. Sales taxes are lower here too, and there is no income tax.