COURTESY : Ocala Star Banner
Published July 30, 2003 
BY CHRIS CURRY

OCALA - Marion County has pulled out of the running to acquire a water and wastewater utility from the developer of The Villages. The county's withdrawal likely means that the special government district in charge of major purchases in the retirement community is set to borrow money through bonds to buy the company, Little Sumter Utility.

The Village Center district board of supervisors, composed of the developer's business associates, has scheduled a public hearing for 1:30 p.m. Sept. 5 to vote on whether to pursue the purchase. A consultant hired by the district is currently conducting a financial analysis of Little Sumter to determine a sale price based on the company's income.

According to Little Sumter's 2002 report to the Public Service Commission, the company has approximately $38.6 million in assets and $21.9 million in total long-term debt.

Marion County Utilities Director Vince Riccobono said the county is now looking to contract with Little Sumter to provide service to south county residents outside The Villages.

"We're working on an agreement to get capacity for water and wastewater," Riccobono said. "It seems to be a win-win situation. It helps us serve our customers down there, but they would retain ownership in The Villages."

According to Little Sumter's 2002 report to the state, the company has a total 8,811 water customers and 8,436 wastewater customers in The Villages. An agreement with the developer of The Villages gave Marion County the right of first negotiation on any potential sale of Little Sumter. But for Marion County to operate the utility, new agreements would have had to be reached with the Lake and Sumter county commissions, because Little Sumter serves Villages residents in those counties.

If Marion had purchased Little Sumter, customers might have seen a rate increase. Marion County's current rates are about 20 percent higher for water and a little more than twice as much for sewer than those Little Sumter currently charges, according to information from the Marion County Web site and the Florida Public Service Commission.

In addition to Little Sumter, the Village Center district is also moving forward with plans to purchase Trashbusters, a garbage collection company owned by The Villages' developer. The district's board of supervisors has authorized staff to borrow up to $25 million in bonds for that purchase. A validation hearing on that bond issuance is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Sept. 4 at the Lake County Courthouse, 550 W. Main St. in Tavares.

Village Center district administrator Pete Wahl said the district is buying companies from the developer so services such as water, wastewater and garbage collection will be under government ownership instead of being provided by the private sector.

"That's a guarantee to the residents that the services will always be there," Wahl said.

Debt repayment on bonds now comprises nearly half the Village Center district's proposed $26.9 million budget for the 2003-04 fiscal year. Wahl said resident amenities fees and other sources provided an established revenue stream to the district for repayment of those bonds.