A Village of Marsh Bend homeowner is insisting residents in Community Development District 12 are being overcharged for their maintenance assessments.
Resident Dean Johnson has stubbornly asked questioned for months about the assessment being charged to residents in CDD 12, which was the first community development district formed south of State Road 44 in The Villages.
Johnson’s questions, raised Thursday morning during a preliminary budget review at CDD 12’s meeting at Everglades Recreation Center, focused on the amount he and other residents are paying, in particular for common areas.
CDD 12’s operating budget for 2022-23 will be $3.9 million, which is an 8 percent increase over the previous year.
“The increase is due to additional expenses for Project Wide fees, a full 12 months under the District’s Community Standards program along with the increased activity in the deed compliance complaints and architectural review cases within District 12,” said Budget Director Brandy Cook.
Johnson said the “system is not equitable” and he fears that he and other CDD 12 residents are being overassessed. He added that it appears CDD 12 is paying far more than other residents of other CDDs because of the enormous common areas of CDD 12.
“Reduce our assessment and find out if our entire District is being overassessed,” Johnson said.
His insistence prompted CDD 12 supervisors to consider a future workshop session to explore questions about the assessment.
“This has raised some questions for me, and I have realized how much I don’t know about assessable acreage,” said Supervisor David Robbins.