Widow who uses few amenities contends monthly fee has become a burden

To the Editor:

I’m a 75-year-old widow who lives alone with her dog. I participate in a few activities in The Villages; however, I don’t play golf or pickleball, or use one of the regional pools. I go to a rec center once, maybe twice a month, and haven’t been to one of the squares in three years. Yet, I pay the same in amenity fees as almost everyone else here, including those couples who have one or two of their older, and usually troubled, kids living with them. There are numerous older widows/widowers or divorcees who rarely leave their homes due to poor health or other reasons. Other than the neighborhood pools and a few other activities, someone is tracking every time a card is used to access one of The Villages’ amenities and could tell me how often I use my card. Therefore, I believe it is unfair to charge every homeowner the same fees and that the huge database maintained by The Villages could be used to allocate a much fairer system. When these fees increase, it’s a real burden for some of our older residents, especially when other living expenses are increasing so much. A few dollars may not impact most residents, but for those of us living on a small fixed income, every dollar counts. One place to start would be to charge an additional fee for every home with more than two residents and charge a lesser fee for a single homeowner.

Beth Pendergraft
Village of Pennecamp