[iaudit]

Steve

Your response was way out of line. It is obvious that, in this case, you do not know what you are talking about. Read what Villages07 wrote, these bonds are the ones incurred by the Central District and are being repaid by our amenity fees. They are not the infrastructure bonds we pay with our tax bill on an annual basis.

Ms. Ritchey was pointing out how an adverse IRS ruling will have financial implications on the residents of the villages. This means more money out of our pockets, like raising the on-line golf scheduling, that benefits the developer to our detriment.

[ohiogolf]

Lauren:

I fully appreciate your obligation as a column writer to put an educated slant on your writings. I thought your article was excellent and informative. However, like some of the others who have replied herein, please do not think of the Village resident as some fool who simply buys into the Village lifestyle without their eyes wide open to the obligations, including the bond. I am a retired attorney for one of the largest corporations in the world. We bought new in the Villages last year with full knowledge and understanding of the bond, its cost and its interest rate obligation. We were not fooled or shocked by the bond.
Your article about the IRS ruling is enlightening for the fact that the IRS did not buy into the nature of the bonds as meeting tax exempt standards. I will be very interested in your follow-up article tomorrow. But again, please do not view a Village resident as a feeble minded person who does not understand their circumstances. You would be pleasently surprised otherwise.
Take care and keep up the good work.

[collie1228]

Thanks Russ - I'm sure I needed to be scolded from you. I remain thankful to her for surfacing this issue that might, at some point, impact my decision to purchase real estate in The Villages.

[Russ_Boston]

Originally Posted by collie1228

Thanks Russ - I'm sure I needed to be scolded from you. I remain thankful to her for surfacing this issue that might, at some point, impact my decision to purchase real estate in The Villages.

I'm sorry that you felt scolded. I really didn't mean it that way.

[Carla B]

In rereading Ms. Ritchie's article in the Sentinel, in that piece she was talking about the recreation bonds. In her post on TOTV today, she threw into the mix the bonds we each pay on our residence and asked if we knew about them when we bought. Well, yeah, we did. Maybe her comments on these bonds in her thread today caused confusion in the minds of more than just myself.

[Russ_Boston]

Carla - after re-reading it I can see the confusion and why Ohio and others might get miffed. So I apologize to any that I've offended.

This is confusing though and that is why I asked for just facts and not opinion towards Ms. Ritchie.

[starflyte1]

Thanks V7, you explained it well. Everyone knows about the bonds that are paid with the purchase of the house, but not everyone is aware of the high debt other bonds for amenities bought from the developers. That fact kept us from buying in TV many years earlier, but when we did buy in Dec, we were aware of the bond liability, and purchased a smaller home than we would have had the bonds not existed. The IRS liability may become a totally new liabilty, but we are comfortable with our purchase.

[shuffleboard]

The real problem is that... will the properties that we are paying for, be still here when the bonds are paid off?

I did not know when I bought here that I owed $18,000 debt for the common areas and would be paying for them through my amenities fees for the next 30 years. I did not realize that 1/2 of my ammenities fees goes toward paying off bonds!

Take for example the Savannah Performing center. Will it be still functionong in 30 years? Look what happened to Paradise Center.. It was temite infested and ready to fall down, before they gutted it and rebuilt it!

If they take away the favored tax status for these bonds and we (the residents) have to pay a higher interest rate, will it take away from the maintenance of our common properties? Will we get a special assessment to cover the shortfall? I think the increase in the ammenity fee is tied to CPI so that can't be changed

Will this situation result in home prices going down as prospective buyers are turned off by the negative practices of the developer?

Time will tell

Originally Posted by graciegirl

I appreciate your taking the time to tell us this.

Lauren. I do believe that most of us are aware of the bond debt before we buy. I certainly hope so. We discuss it here a lot I know.

What do others think?

[Alex]

Good article Ms. Ritchie.
Once I figured out I had no say in The Villages I sold (with profit) and relocated to a very nearby community. Good news, I am happier all the way around. I did a great deal of research and realize many people are very happy where they live outside The Villages.
Don't knock other places if you have never lived there. I think you are all paying too much to the developer and I really hope you don't end up paying more.

[Russ_Boston]

Originally Posted by shuffleboard

I did not know when I bought here that I owed $18,000 debt for the common areas and would be paying for them through my amenities fees for the next 30 years.

How is that possible? There must be some paperwork that mentioned that you had a bond to pay.

[batman911]

After all is said and done, who owns the ammenities now and who will own them after the bonds are paid? When will the home owners be able to elect Central District board members? Does the developer currently subsidize the cost of maintenance for the ammenities?

[SteveZ]

Originally Posted by iaudit

Steve

Your response was way out of line. It is obvious that, in this case, you do not know what you are talking about. Read what Villages07 wrote, these bonds are the ones incurred by the Central District and are being repaid by our amenity fees. They are not the infrastructure bonds we pay with our tax bill on an annual basis.

Ms. Ritchey was pointing out how an adverse IRS ruling will have financial implications on the residents of the villages. This means more money out of our pockets, like raising the on-line golf scheduling, that benefits the developer to our detriment.

As someone who has lived in Central FL for the past 25 years (except for 4 in DC), I'm no fan of the Sentinel. In the Orlando area, it's the only"game in town." I'm glad to be in an area outside its normal distribution.

Whatever the IRS does, that's between the IRS and the account being audited. If IRS rules against an account, then both sides are off to tax court because of the money level involved. When the final answer comes is anyone's guess.

Tax issues come up all the time in businesses, and most large businesses have a cadre of accountants and lawyers on call just for situations like this. The law firm representing Mr. Morse and all is one of the most respected in Central FL and the nation, and not one inexperienced in these matters.

Ms. Ritchie wrote her article in a manner of judge, jury and executioner, and intentionally sculpted it so as to cause fear and make herself (and the Sentinel) as the savior of us all. Shades of Harold Hill and 76 Trombones!

Time - and the legal process - will resolve the matter, and all the flame-fanning of the Sentinel won't change that. Facts, not insinuation, will prevail.

The Sentinel is in the business of selling newspapers, and wants to penetrate this market. Whipping up retirees into a frenzy is one way to try to make it appear as necessary reading, but it is a cheap marketing ploy.

I really don't care whether one auditor within the IRS isn't satisfied. There's a lot of auditors in IRS, and IRS also has a hierarchy to deal with before and if anything ever becomes "final." And then there's tax court and the appellate process.

In other words.....much ado about nothing. But that's my opinion, and it's as valid as any columnist - and I am not being compensated in any manner on the subject or to create the subject into more than it is!

In the end, I'm content to be living here. It's more affordable than anywhere else I"ve found, and I believe I more than get my money's worth.

[iaudit]

The Sentinel had a link to the entire IRS report:

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/media...3/45365631.pdf

It is a rather long read, over 100 pages, but it shows the extent to which the Central district highly overpaid for all the recreation facilities. I would suggest starting around page 73, where the appraisal method used to purchase the facilities is analyzed.

[djl8412]

Thank you Lauren. I, for one, tried to convey an opinion to some Villages residents that they need to be concerned about the meat of your column and not consumed with a possible personal agenda. I think you have explained yourself extremely well. KEEP WRITING!

[djl8412]

OhioGolf:

Please don't infer that Ms. Ritchie was inferring that Villages residents are old fools and feeble minded. While the majority of us did research the bonds, amenity fees, taxes, etc. before we bought here, I can't believe there are some who didn't fully understand all these facets and the more Ms. Ritchie writes, the more we can see how confusing it can be. I think all of us will have surprises in the future and it should be transparent.