The chair of the Amenity Authority Committee is worried that increases in funding sought for Community Watch are “not sustainable.”
AAC chair Donna Kempa, during a budget review this week, noted that the AAC’s share of Community Watch’s budget soared $1 million last year and will increase by more than $500,000 in the next fiscal year.
“If we have to keep going up at this rate, I don’t think it will be sustainable,” said Kempa, who had a career as a certified public accountant and auditor in Buffalo, N.Y. before moving to The Villages.
She said she supports Community Watch and believes a valuable service is being performed. However, she is concerned about rising costs.
Next year, the AAC’s portion of the Community Watch budget is expected to increase to $3.77 million. The $563,685 increase will represent a 14.06 percent jump over the previous year. The Project Wide Advisory Committee, which oversees amenities south of County Road 466, funds a larger portion of the overall Community Watch budget.
“I really think we need to look at ways to be efficient,” Kempa said.
A representative of Community Watch said patrol drivers are checking an average of 16.6 houses per minute. He said Community Watch has found some cost savings by switching to a fleet of mostly hybrid vehicles.