I agree get rid of all of them but the tax increase is here to stay because of the 30 year contract.

Civil enough for me.

Finally, finally someone has hit the nail on the head (with the possible exception of that $900 number which comes from where?).

In most areas of the country the infrastructure in a new development is paid for by the developer, which of course means the new homeowner. So what is the difference to a new home buyer in TV of a 20K bond or 20K in tax----zero. What's the difference to a lifelong resident of rural Sumter Co. that owns a third generation home paid off long ago---probably pretty large. In essence, it is not the taxpayers subsidizing the "ultra rich" developers, it is all the taxpayers of the county subsidizing mostly northern transplants inside the Villages.
That being said, the taxpayers of the Villages subsidize other projects within Sumter Co. Does anyone doubt that TV has been a miracle for the county, which at one point was the poorest county in Florida? Remember, this entire thread started with the OP babbling on about the "ultra rich" developers. IMHO, the whole country could use more "ultra rich" developers that build what we have here.

The individual was very civil, what is your problem?

Infrastructure has always been paid through impact fees paid by the developer/builder. These were lowered by the hand-picked commissioners this past year and loaded into a 25% tax increase. You NY people that keep saying everything is great here because in NY it is more sound nuts to me. Since when is NY the model we all should aspire to? If you like the Morses deciding 100% of what goes on in Sumter county keep the current yes-men in office. I think it is time for new blood and new thinking.

It's funny/sad all the whining after-the-fact. The budget process and information was available to the public months prior to the vote and raising of the property taxes. If you are so upset about the tax increase and the funding of certain project........where were you during the process ALL MOST A YEAR AGO???? You decided not to be involved.



Blame yourself if you are not happy.


:ho:

The developer had a vision about forty years ago and has struck to that vision and improved it along the way. Show me one other developer with the same foresight. As a business, that foresight must make a profit. Please stop with the political theatrics on the 24% tax increase. If you checked into it, the taxes basically remained the same for 7 + years, and remain less than most nicely developed areas in the country. Places like Sun City Center wish that their developer was like ours instead of Del Webb. So many places in the US are run by politicians that don’t have the foresight and stick to it that we have, and most of those places are bankrupt or have taxes multiple times higher than we have. You moved here for what was built and provided by the developer (including low taxes). You said you owned a multi million dollar company.....did you run it or did you let the people in your community run it?

The cost to live in TV isn’t as affordable as its advertised. It’s definitely getting more for the wealthy. A 350K (1856 sq ft) house in Fenny comes with a $7000 tax and bond bill. The Morse family have the wealth to live happier ever after. Mr. Schwartz dream is quietly slipping away.

Nope. I completely undestand. And, I have chosen to form my opinion based upon my own understanding of the facts.

Those with weak arguments resort to insult.

Mr. Schwartz dream of selling property to retiring persons is alive and much larger than he could have ever envisioned. Imagine the pride you would feel if you son took over your business and expanding it over and over again.

The interesting thing is several of these commissioners are fello villagers.

If you pay off your bond, your taxes will be less than ours were in Virginia, which is not a high-tax state compared to most others.

Interesting take
 

Sounds like a campaign rant to me. Are you running for a County Commission Seat?
Every community I have lived in we all paid for these improvements. And, good for the Morses. They have earned every penny they make and have provided us with a wonderful lifestyle

How so? Population of Sumter Co., 128,754. Population of the Sumter portion of TV, at least half that. Would expect even more Villagers on the commission

Why the attack? I appreciated the information.
 

Seriously, you do not see a problem with county officials signing off on a 30-year no bid deal where the developer is in full control? That's one bad deal for taxpayers.

As to your "increasing the tax base" argument, my life's experience tells me that is totally bogus. It's like a dog chasing it's tail. New development means costs for new roads, new water supplies, new sewers, new schools, etc. I have lived in other fast growing communities and I have NEVER seen my taxes go down as a result of that fast growth.

Seriously, no. Politics is politics and wherever you go, there is someone in charge behind the scenes. It's just more obvious in TV

And as far as your bogus life experience goes (oops, got that backwards, Freudian slip), just go to a few posts ago and you'll see that taxes went down, right here in River City.

Civility lacking by some people
 

I agree the OP was very civil with his opinion. But, some people think too highly of themselves.

I do not agree with your post.

I have lived here for better than a dozen years and have observed the way the Morse family maintain and support the community. Yes, the Morse family are both successful and rich. That does not mean they are greedy or unprincipled.

I believe this "campaign" is to get a group of political people in power that I do not support. Many on this thread have agreed with me and many are trustworthy and long term posters who have excellent antennae, and better yet, common sense.

I don't see the total "civility" in implying the developers make shady deals at the taxpayers expense and get away with it because they are "ultra rich" and hang out with other "ultra rich" people. I'm also confused by the OP's position that he made millions running his business, but has an objection to the developers making millions running their business. It just sounds a bit disingenuous to me, IMHO.

You should send this to major newspapers in Florida ... and to the US Attorney for this district. They can determine the legitimacy of these statements.

I’m a little new to TV, is it only TV getting their taxes raised or is ALL of Sumter County residents getting their taxes raised?? Where are those people? Are t they complaining?

Just the county part of the tax bill was raised, and for all of Sumter county. The areas outside the Villages are primarily Oxford, Wildwood, and south to Bushnell. No idea if they are complaining, but based on the response from Villagers, probably. After all, our newspaper only reports happy news.

Double ditto here. :ohdear:

Thank u for this detailed info. I knew about some of this happening but not everything. I will forward this message along. Again thank you.

I don’t like the fact that Rainey has no competition. That’s not right.
NOT good business!

It's GREAT business (for Rainey):1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl:

I contacted every county commissioner involved in the process via e-mail, some never responded and others responded with the exact same canned response. The public meetings were packed and the opinions of every tax payer opposed to the massive tax increase were brushed off. The same canned explanation for the massive tax increase were simply repeated over and over. The process was a total hoax as the outcome was pre-determined. That’s what makes this very sad, because now people won’t bother to get involved in the future now that it has been proven to them that there is no real process.

Please reread my post. I never stated that I have made millions! I was replying to someone that attacked me about hating rich people.

People speak about Sumter County not having tax increases for many years. With adding over 60,000 homes to the county taxpayers role there was never a need! With the estimated 65,000 new homes to be built in the near future south of CR44 why did the commissioners increase tax rates. Maybe many of us can clearly afford to pay the increase...BUT is it fair for all the poor people living outside TV in Sumter County to pay for TV infrastructure...this is a big deal.

It just seems since the untimely death of Gary Morse, who was a great visionary, the rules have changed!

Someone here has stated if I had a problem with what the commissioners were doing I should have become involved! I did try to get involved like many other villagers but we where locked out from the commissioners meeting at Rohan Rec center.

I love living in the Villages! It is time to open our eyes and minds that we fully know how the rules are changing! That was the main purpose of my post!

Well, I apologize. That wasn't the message I got from the OP.
I'm sure you realize that the contractors for the infrastructure get paid now, the 60,000 homes start paying tax later. Very possible that in the future tax rates will decrease, just as they have in the past

https://www.talkofthevillages.com/fo...umter+increase
https://www.talkofthevillages.com/fo...umter+increase
https://www.talkofthevillages.com/fo...umter+increase
https://www.talkofthevillages.com/fo...umter+increase
https://www.talkofthevillages.com/fo...umter+increase

I have 40 years in Construction, and know for a fact, If you don’t have to put work out to bid,,,
Someone in the Pockets,, AND THAT IS A FACT !!!

Well, you probably won't be able to do anything about the raise in taxes, complaining here. You'll just have to suck it up & pay them or move. Complaining isn't going to make them feel sorry for you. If you want to live in TV & can't afford to pay the 1 drink tax raise, cut back on something else. You're not going to beat City Hall !

This is a forum, not a business!

There were many people that protested at that time. Their concerns fell on deaf ears.

You're right. That is very interesting.

If you are that concerned, live elsewhere. It was clearly obvious to anyone buying here that they would pay a premium for the home PLUS a bond (or remaining bond if buying previously owned), plus other monthly and annual fees. Even in 2012 when we bought, the taxes were higher than anywhere else we were considering. So if knowing that you still bought here, why complain about it all now? This may not be the best community for people retiring on a tight budget, but other amenities make it really attractive. So the family that thought it up made a few billion, that’s America. I’m not saying there may not be some things taken advantage of by the developers who have the influence to do it, but if that really concerns you I think you will be much less frustrated living elsewhere than trying to change things here. Best of luck either way.

There are people who moved in only in the last 2-3 years, who bought because of the promise of low taxes, an "almost-paid-off" or fully paid off bond, low maintenance and amenity fees, and tons of amenities and other perks of living in the vicinity (such as the free entertainment in the squares, which is a perk of living in the vicinity and not an amenity).

They've only been here a couple of years and then BOOM - they discover their maintenance fees don't really cover all the maintenance. Their amenities are not impossible, but certainly less carefree to participate in and enjoy, when the snowbirds come down. The promise of an on-premise hospital and emergency facilities are darkened by the hospital rating and high turnover, which was only announced in the last year. The taxes have increased for the first time in 9 years - meaning, the previous 9 years showed a trend, and there was no reason for new homeowners to think this was going to change the year after they moved in. They had no reason to think they needed to prepare immediately, for next year's tax increase - because the trend showed there was NO tax increase for the past 9 years.

This doesn't affect me on a personal level, since I don't live in Sumter county. But it would have, if I had chosen a different area of the Villages to live in, when we moved in last year. In fact - when we purchased our house, it was 2 days after the increase in amenity fees. If we had closed 2 days prior, we would not have had to pay the increase. So even that piddly little $3 or $5/month change - affected us directly. Again, something that did NOT happen every year, and so there was no expectation that it would - until we were put into a situation where we had to decide to move to our retirement home a couple of years before retirement.

For us, personally, it is a non-issue. But for hundreds who moved here because it was advertised one way - and everything changed before they had a chance to prepare for it - it is absolutely an issue.

Gross exaggeration of the big picture imo.

That was at the tax increase meetings. That was too late, the budget was already approved months ago. Where were the protest during the budget process??? That is where the impact is made.

You missed the opportunity for involvement......the expenditures are determined during the budget process. The budget was approved months before your emails were sent.



The process was "pre-determined" because the county had to cover the approved budget expenditures.


:ohdear: