Up to $400 million in taxable bonds will be issued by the Sumter Landing Community Development District (SLCDD) Board to purchase amenities south of County Road 466 from the Developer.
The transaction means the Developer-appointed SLCDD board will collect resident amenity fees and take responsibility for recreation centers and other amenities. The board unanimously approved the $345.3-million purchase contract and bond issue Friday morning.
The Project Wide Advisory Committee (PWAC), made up of supervisors from Community Development Districts 5-10, will have an advisory role in how the amenities are managed.
District Manager Janet Tutt said the deal will mean no changes for residents in their amenities or fee collection.
“It will be a seamless process for the residents,” she said. “As important as the financial aspect are the services being provided to the residents.”
For the Developer, the transaction means an infusion of cash at a time that he is building out the Village of Fenney on County Road 468 several miles south of State Road 44 and making plans to expand beyond it.
Don Wiley, a CDD 10 supervisor and member of PWAC, said he supported the amenities purchase, but urged the board to slow down the process.
“I think it’s moving a bit too quickly,” he said. “The residents have not been given enough time to digest this. It has not been a very visible transaction for the public to see.”
Wiley said delaying the purchase would give more time to evaluate the risks, which could include a lawsuit as in a previous amenities deal.
“We’re buying debt,” he said. “With debt comes risk. We need to make sure we’re making the right decision.”
But Joseph Nisbett, the board’s vice chairman who led the meeting, said he believes the risk is minimal due to the stability of The Villages.
Financial consultants recommended that the bond issue be made quickly before a potential hike in federal interest rates that could come in December.
“We want to stay away from that end of the year time period,” said Mike Baldwin of Citicorp in Orlando, which will handle the bond issue.
Tutt said more resident input is not needed because the amenities are being sold to the SLCDD, not the residents or their governing CDDs. She also said the value of the amenities was determined by two separate appraisals.
Villager Deb Butterfield said the SLCDD should adopt the same structure as north of CR 466, where amenities are managed by the Amenity Authority Committee (AAC).
“I believe that the AAC model north of 466 has proven to be a valuable entity,” she said. “The same concept can be done south of 466.”
The SLCDD board includes Mike Berning, head of sales and marketing for The Villages; Nisbett, owner of country clubs in The Villages; Brad Brown, who headed Villages Insurance for many years; Gerry Lachnicht of Sabal Trust Company; and Randy McDaniel, head of The Villages Charter School.
