Community Development District 7 supervisors are contending that apartment dwellers are not paying their fair share for the upkeep of The Villages.
CDD 7 supervisors have hired independent attorney Michael Eckert who has been researching the assessable acreage formula which sets out the amount of money each CDD pays toward the upkeep of The Villages. Residents fund the upkeep, from flowers to multi-modal paths, through their maintenance assessments.
CDD 7 supervisors have longed chafed at the notion that half of their budget goes toward the Project Wide Advisory Committee. They also resent the fact that residents of CDD 7 are funding PWAC at a rate of about 8 to 9 percent while the commercial districts at Lake Sumter Landing and Brownwood pay only about 1 percent.
Also contributing to the funding imbalance are The Lofts at Brownwood, the first large-scale apartment complex in The Villages. The apartments are owned by the Developer of The Villages.
Apartments and commercial districts who are paying less are creating an unfair burden on homeowners, who are saddled with the lopsided assessable acreage formula, supervisors said at Thursday’s meeting at SeaBreeze Recreation Center.
“This calculation occurred before The Villages decided to build apartments. It should be based on ‘occupiable units.’ Obviously, that is something (The Villages Developer) would oppose,” said Supervisor Steve Lapp.
Even though The Lofts at Brownwood are located in Community Development District 9, CDD 7 Board Chairman Jerry Vicenti said all residents are paying the price.
With more apartments in The Villages on the horizon, homeowners will continue to carry the load.
“You don’t pay by height. When you build up, it’s free,” Vicenti said.
