THE VILLAGES — The Nov. 7 ballot will ask some Villages retirees if they want more authority over nearly $30 million in amenities fees.
The “straw ballot” culls opinion and is not legally binding, but the vote could create a panel that gives more residents a greater ability to direct the spending of amenity fees.
The straw ballot could bring one of the biggest shifts in political influence in Villages history, although it applies only to residents living north of County Road 466.
The ballot question became official last week when Marion County commissioners approved the language. County commissioners in Lake and Sumter had already accepted it.
Currently, a board primarily appointed by the community’s developer determines how to spend money, governs all the recreation and executive golf courses, and sets many policies governing day-to-day operations in The Villages.
It also is responsible for $228 million in bond debt that helped build the first residential districts in the giant retirement community.
The November vote would not automatically change the current system. But if residents want change, the developer and the current board plan to begin an intricate process of divvying up the responsibilities of The Villages Center Community Development District.
Known as the VCCDD, the district collects amenity fees from Marion, Lake and Sumter residents who live north of C.R. 466.
Some Villages residents have long complained that they have no vote in the big-money decisions.
This spring, developer Gary Morse suggested asking retirees living in the older sections of The Villages if they want a change.
“We are happy working with [the current districts] as they stand, and together we have succeeded in making many, many happy residents,” Morse wrote in a letter to VCCDD board members. “Some residents have, however, expressed a desire to have more involvement in the governance of the community wide activities that your board currently oversees.”
The ballot question asks residents to vote “yes” if they like the system the way it is and “no” if they want to change it.
The Property Owners’ Association in The Villages is typically critical of the developer, but President Joe Gorman has heralded Morse’s initiative. Gorman is concerned that having to vote “no” to change something may confuse the already complicated concept. The organization has set up a hotline to explain the ballot issue to residents.
