Originally Posted by Goldwingnut
(Post 1729264)
Your "holiday" idea lacks the an understanding of the Amenity Fee.
First off, the squares and theaters are not amenities and not supported by the amenity fee directly, yes the recreation activities that do occur there help bring business to the merchants but no amenity fee funds are paid to the merchants, and the cost for the nightly music does not come out of the amenity fees.
I pulled up my copy of the current year's budget for the amenity district south of CR466 and took a look at what costs could be cut if we cut the revenue as a result of your "holiday" idea. Remember, in the state of Florida the law requires a balanced budget.
Here's the major categories:
Total budget: $71,814,495 (south of 466)
Debt Service: $23,342,191 - this is the payback of the bonds from 2016 used by the CDD to purchase the amenities, can't not pay this bill, it is a contractual obligation with the bond holders.
Operating Supplies: $2,656,666 - we might be able to cut a little here, the Recreation supplies are $258,00 of this and since few activities are going on they may be a savings in the $21,500 costs but not much. The rest is made up of repair and operating costs of the facilities that will still be incurred.
Printing and binding: $565,020 - this cost will probably go up a little as things are rescheduled and new materials will need to be produced.
Repairs and Maintenance services: $16,079,147 - nothing to cut here, the buildings and landscaping will still need to be maintained.
Insurance: $696,443 - Good luck there getting an insurance company to lower their rate, if asked they would probably raise the rate because of the added risk right now.
Rentals and Leases: $112,241 - all of these will expect to be paid regardless of what is going on.
Utilities: $2,983,124 - Still have to keep the air conditioning on. The toilets may be flushed a few times less each day and it may save a little out of the $263,256 in the water sewer portion of this cost.
Contract Services: $7,258,557 - this includes $2,547,773 for the executive golf courses operation and $2,063,859 that goes to the Dept of Safety (fire stations) that provides a higher level of service than the rest of the county. Nothing can be cut here, the firemen still work and the grass still grows.
Professional Services: $15,318,804 - this is the cost for staffing the amenity portion of The Villages - Administrative, Community Watch, Property management, Recreation dept ($6,733,088), engineering, legal, technology services, etc. These people are still working, shall we lay them off or just not pay them during this "holiday"? Because of this mess they are probably working harder than ever to support the community.
That's most of the costs, there are a few minor additional cost, I've attached this year's budget for amenity fund and project wide fund if you want the detail.
Since we are obligated by state law to balance our budget, which services shall we cut to fund this ill-conceived "holiday"? What bills shall we not pay? What facility shall we not maintain? Who shall we layoff and not pay?
Many of us here in The Villages have lived in "the bubble" too long and have forgotten there is a real world out there that sill has to operate and live by rules, even while we enjoy ourselves in our retirement. The administrative costs alone for calculating and applying any minor savings each of the 42,154 homes would realize from such a holiday would far exceed any savings that might possible be achieved. It really sucks having to step back into the real world.
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