Development District closes deal
on recreation facilities
Published April 10. 2003 
BY SARAH CHRISTY
Article Courtesy of THE REPORTER

THE VILLAGES - The Village Center Community Development District completed the purchase of recreation facilities from developer The Villages of Lake-Sumter Inc. for about $65 million at its March 26 meeting.

The facilities will be funded through bonds, which are paid for through various VCCDD revenue sources, a main one being resident recreation and amenity fees.

District administrator Pete Wahl said many other things will help pay for the facilities.

"We pay these bonds out of general revenues," Wahl said, "including room rentals, executive golf course fees, ticket costs."

He said residents are not ultimately responsible for the bond debt, as some residents, including Property Owners Association President Joe Gorman, believe.

Gorman, who attended the meeting, said he thinks Villages developer The Villages of Lake-Sumter Inc. hasn't properly informed residents of the VCCDD's purchasing powers.

"They never once asked residents whether residents approve of this purchase by the developer," Gorman said. "Villagers were not told that a portion of their monthly fees would be used to purchase facilities they thought were part of The Villages when they moved here. This (purchase) is a continuation of that."

Wahl refuted the argument that residents are responsible for the bond debt, saying that not only are residents' amenity fees not expected to increase - that will be determined when the VCCDD budget is balanced in October - but that the only responsibility residents have is to pay contractual fees agreed to when purchasing a home.

He added that once a home is sold, there is no further debt obligation to residents.

Wahl went on to compare the monthly resident amenity fee of $105 to the entrance price at a theme park.

"Even if you don't use the whole park, it's still part of the overall entry fee," he said.

The VCCDD has made five previous similar purchases since its formation in 1992, buying other recreation facilities and services, including a neighborhood watch program.

Fees paid by residents who bought a home prior to March 1, 2001, currently are being applied to those purchases.

For this latest purchase, monies from amenity fees paid by residents closing on a home between March 1, 2001, and Feb. 28, 2003, will be used.

The acquired facilities, valued at about $71 million by outside financial consultants Fishkind & Associates, include 99 holes of golf on 11 executive golf courses, and more than 100,000 square feet of recreation buildings, parks, tennis courts, swimming pools, stormwater runoff and retention ponds.

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