Villagers are urging three Sumter County commissioners to stand their ground on impact fees as anger at state Rep. Brett Hage has reached a boiling point.
Commissioners will meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 23 at Everglades Recreation Center and the item at the top of their agenda is impact fees. You can see the proposed resolution at this link: Sumter County Ordinance
The spotlight will be on Commissioners Craig Estep, Oren Miller and Gary Search, who rode the wave to victory in 2020 after the commissioners they defeated joined in a 2019 vote to raise property taxes by 25 percent. The new commissioners appear poised to shift that burden from homeowners to builders, including the Developer of The Villages.
“I am all for the three commissioners and pray they hold their ground. The Morse family has extremely too much power. I do not believe a one-time impact fee will stop growth,” said Dennis Watenpool of the Village of Hemingway.
Villager Keith Coe said he was appalled at the property tax increase dumped on homeowners in 2019.
“With last year’s election and a changing of the guard, I felt as though the cavalry was coming to save us from The Villages Inc. and their bought county representatives,” Coe said.
But then Hage, who is drawing a paycheck from The Villages, filed legislation in Tallahassee to protect The Villages from a potential impact fee hike.
“Can anything be more blatantly obvious than this bill? This charlatan doesn’t represent us, he represents only the Morses’ interests. Time for him to go. Can a recall vote be organized or maybe an impeachment proceeding? Time for you to go pal, time for you to go,” Coe said.
Villager Jim Hughes said it’s “another dirty trick” by the Developer and his “lapdog” Hage.
“Please suggest to the commissioners that if Hage is successful, to limit all improvements to the Developer’s infrastructure in the new areas until the funds are made available by the Developer’s impact fees. The rest of The Villages are in no hurry to see these areas developed,” Hughes said.
Rita Hendricks of the Village of Tamarind Grove agrees that most Villagers would be satisfied with the current size of Florida’s Friendliest Hometown. She also questions Hage’s motives for the bill.
“Why is an elected official passing a bill solely to help the owners of The Villages? This seems very unorthodox, and a huge conflict of interest. The person was elected to serve all constituents. How does this help out those who elected him? It doesn’t,” she said.
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