[Jakel]

This is probably a stupid question, but what do the authorities do with the new taxes?? If the Villages builds and sells hundreds of homes a month, the new owners immediately pay taxes. If the average tax amount is, say $2000, and they may add 1000 homes, or more, over a period of 6 months, that would be like $2,000,000. There are no schools to build, no teachers to hire, no roads to plow, the Bonds pay for the roads and infastructure...I doubt they are hiring new police officers....I am just wondering where the money goes. Just curious...thought someone could shed some light on this for me?? Hope to be moving there this summer!!

[redwitch]

The taxes go to the respective county. There are a few towns surrounding TV -- Lady Lake, Belleview, Summerfield, Wildwood, Fruitland Park all directly adjoin TV. Ocala is part of Marion County. There are more towns in all three counties (Lake, Marion, Sumter). So, there are schools, roads, etc. that need to be maintained. The amenity fees pay for TV (rec centers, swimming pools, etc.). Hope this helps.

[jblum315]

The roads within TV are also county-owned and county maintained. If it weren't for TV taxes, Sumter, Marion and Lake counties would be in dire straits.

[graciegirl]

There is a new government building in which the new library is housed. 466a and 44 have been widened recently and an overpass built.

[Dynasty]

I'm sure as TV builds out we will see our tax rates decrease greatly, at minimum we should see a 25% decrease. That is unless Sumter County could possibly come up with a way to spend the increased revenue, but I don't see that happening.

[NJblue]

I believe that because of depressed property values throughout the county that the overall tax base has declined. This would normally call for an increase in the tax rate to compensate for the loss. However, because of the growth from TV, the county coffers have been more than filled, so the net result was that the county lowered its tax rate.

[batman911]

Does anyone know who audits the County financial and contracting records? Are the reports published?

[73Goat]

I've been asking my Congressman the same question for years.

[batman911]

Found the audit reports for Sumter County.

http://sumtercountyfl.gov/DocumentCenterii.aspx?FID=9

Look under Budget Department and then Audit Reports. Interesting how much is spent on the Sheriff's Department and construction of detention facilities in a county where I believe a majority of the residents are over 50 years old. The county also has issued bonds to fund several projects which means they pay millions in interest each year.

[villages07]

Batman ...there is a large federal prison in Bushnell. Not having looked at the budget/audit, I would imagine it also generates a lot of revenue to offset the expenditures.