The parcel ledger
Taxes & Fees
One address. Four cost layers. Build the bill before the offer.
Estimate property tax →The full stack
The four things on your bill — and the one that varies most
Owning a home here costs more than the mortgage, and the extra sits in four layers: property tax set by your county and any city you're inside, an infrastructure bond repaying the district's original borrowing, an annual amenity fee written into the deed, and a perpetual CDD maintenance assessment. Three of those four are effectively fixed for a given address — you can look them up and they'll be roughly what the seller pays. The bond is the exception, and it is the one buyers miss. It ranges from zero on an older paid-off home to $28,000 or more on a newer one, it appears on the tax bill rather than the closing statement, and listings don't reliably disclose it. Two identical homes at the same asking price can differ by roughly $160–$225 a month for fifteen years or more purely because of it. Check it before you make an offer — the official lookup covers all three counties, and there's a step-by-step walkthrough further down this page. If the terminology on this page is new to you, the Glossary defines bond, CDD, amenity fee and millage in plain English.
Property tax
County, school, districts and sometimes city millage.
Infrastructure bond
Parcel-specific debt that can eventually be paid off.
Amenity fee
A deed covenant that adjusts with CPI.
CDD maintenance
A perpetual annual district assessment.
Run the address math
See what location does to the same purchase price.
Choose the jurisdiction, then layer in the parcel’s actual bond and CDD figures.
Enable JavaScript to compare six Villages-area tax locations.
Six tax locations
Side-by-Side: Total Millage by County & City (Where It Sits Matters)
These are certified 2026 rates, checked November 8 against the county property appraisers. A mill is $1 per $1,000 of taxable value. The examples model a $400,000 assessed value with the 2026 homestead exemptions calculated separately for school and non-school taxes. They exclude flat CDD assessments. Lake uses the named tax codes below; other fire or hospital districts can change the rate for a particular address.
Sumter — unincorporated Villages
2026 tax yearSumter — inside City of Wildwood, Villages fire district
2026 tax yearLake — unincorporated, code 0001
2026 tax yearLake — Lady Lake, Villages fire code FVCD
2026 tax yearLake — Villages of Fruitland Park, code VOFP
2026 tax yearMarion — Villages, district 6701
2026 tax yearInside the rate
The Component Breakdown (What Makes Up Each Rate)
The 2026 Sumter Villages benchmark includes county 4.8900, school 4.7490, SWFWMD 0.1831 and Villages fire 0.0464 mills. Wildwood adds 2.8287. Lake code 0001 includes school 6.0540 plus county, water, hospital, stormwater and fire levies. Its Lady Lake FVCD and Fruitland Park VOFP codes omit the county stormwater and fire millages and add the applicable city rate. Marion district 6701 combines county 4.2800, school 6.2940, SJRWMD 0.1793, law-enforcement MSTU 3.7200 and EMS MSTU 1.1100. Use the exact parcel tax code rather than assuming every home in a county has the same rate.
| Component | Sumter Villages | Lake code 0001 | Marion Villages 6701 |
|---|---|---|---|
| County general / BOCC | 4.8900 | 5.0254 | 4.2800 |
| County debt / ambulance / law / EMS | — | 0.5348 | 4.8300 |
| School board | 4.7490 | 6.0540 | 6.2940 |
| Water districts | 0.1831 | 0.4733 | 0.1793 |
| Hospital district | — | 0.4046 | — |
| Stormwater + fire | 0.0464 | 0.9757 | — |
| Total | 9.8685 | 13.4678 | 15.5833 |
The boundary premium
How Being Inside City Limits Changes Your Bill
City limits and fire districts both matter. In the Sumter Villages fire district, Wildwood adds 2.8287 mills to the 9.8685 unincorporated benchmark, giving 12.6972. Other Sumter parcels can fall in the county fire district, whose 2026 rate is 4.6000 mills rather than the Villages district's 0.0464. Lake's Villages codes are 16.1431 mills for Lady Lake FVCD and 16.4055 for Fruitland Park VOFP; these must not be confused with the ordinary city codes that include county fire tax. Marion's named Villages district 6701 is unincorporated at 15.5833 mills. Confirm the code on the parcel record before comparing homes.
The cost buyers miss
The Infrastructure Bond — What It Is
Most homes in The Villages carry an outstanding 'bond' — a capital assessment used to repay the Community Development District's original infrastructure borrowing (roads, tunnels, water systems, multi-modal paths). The bond is separate from, and in addition to, your mortgage. It is paid as a line item on your annual property tax bill. Older homes (pre-2000s) may have little or no bond remaining; newer homes often have original bonds of $23,000–$28,000 or more. Bond balances on resale homes vary widely: some sellers have paid them off, others have not.
Choose county
Sumter, Lake or Marion.
Choose district
Match the home’s district number.
Open unit schedule
Read the current remaining balance and annual payment.
Look Up Your Outstanding Bond Balance (all three counties)
One official tool covers all three counties. Go to the Villages CDD Finance & Bonds page — districtgov.org/services/administration/finance/ — and use the amortization-schedule lookup. It's a three-step dropdown: (1) pick your COUNTY — Sumter, Lake, or Marion; (2) pick your DISTRICT number; (3) pick your UNIT number. That opens a PDF amortization schedule showing your annual bond payment and, most importantly, the REMAINING BALANCE for every year through payoff. Read the current tax-year row for your outstanding balance. To find your district and unit: they're on your Villages ID card as the 'U/L' number — the first letter is your county (S = Sumter, L = Lake, M = Marion), followed by the unit number, then the lot number. (If you don't have the card handy, the county property appraiser's parcel search also lists the unit.) For an EXACT payoff quote (which adds accrued interest and a $10 county lien-release filing fee) or if a unit isn't in the dropdown, call the District Bond Assessments & Payoff team at 352-751-3900 (Finance main line 352-753-0421). Tip: the same page lets you pay a bond off early at any time. Always confirm a home's remaining bond before you make an offer — a paid-off bond versus a $25,000 balance is a real difference in what you're actually buying, and listings don't always disclose it.
Paying the bond off early — what actually changes, and what doesn't
Once you know the balance, the next question is whether to clear it. This is mechanics, not advice, and the honest answer depends on numbers only you have. What is worth understanding before you decide: the bond is amortised, so the yearly payment is part principal and part interest, and paying it off early cancels the remaining INTEREST — that saving is the real return, and your parcel's own amortisation schedule shows it year by year rather than as an estimate. Against that sits the money's alternative use, and the fact that a paid-off bond does not reliably add its own cost back to the sale price: it makes the home easier to compare against a bonded neighbour, which is not the same as a dollar-for-dollar return. Two things people get wrong in both directions. Clearing the bond does NOT reduce the amenity fee or the CDD maintenance assessment — those are separate obligations that continue regardless, and the maintenance one is perpetual. And an unpaid bond does not block a sale; it simply transfers with the parcel, which is why it belongs in the price conversation rather than in a panic before closing. Payoff figures and the procedure come from the District, not from an agent, and a quote is good only through the date it states.
Household charge
Annual Amenity Fee
The developer's official cost-of-living page, checked November 8, 2026, advertises a $209 monthly amenity fee ($2,508 a year). Use that as a planning baseline, not a promise for every resale home: the actual amount follows the property's deed covenant and its adjustment anniversary. Request the seller's current amenity bill and confirm the amount at closing. The advertised fee covers executive golf, recreation and other shared amenities; championship golf and other optional activities can have separate charges.
Parcel charge
CDD Maintenance Assessment
Separate from the bond, each parcel pays an ongoing CDD maintenance assessment that covers operations and upkeep of district infrastructure (road maintenance, stormwater, common areas). Unlike the bond (which disappears when paid off), the maintenance assessment is perpetual and is re-set each year based on the district's adopted budget. Amounts vary significantly by district and home type: a patio villa in an older district may pay ~$350/year, while Marion County premier districts can exceed $1,000/year. Combined annual CDD assessments (bond payment + maintenance) across all districts range from roughly $1,600 to over $6,000 per year. Amounts for a specific parcel appear on the annual TRIM (Truth in Millage) notice and on the property tax bill.
Assumptions and structure
Understand the machinery before trusting the total.
Florida Homestead Exemption
For 2026, a qualifying permanent residence receives up to $25,000 of homestead exemption for all property taxes, plus up to $26,411 for non-school taxes on assessed value above $50,000. The additional exemption is adjusted annually for inflation; the maximum combined reduction is $51,411 for non-school taxes, while school taxes receive only the basic $25,000. Eligibility depends on permanent residence as of January 1; apply with the county property appraiser by March 1 and confirm any exceptions directly.
Florida Has No State Property or Income Tax — It's All Local
Property tax in Florida is entirely local: there is no state property tax and no state income tax. Your bill is the sum of separate levies from the county commission, the county school board, one water-management district, various special districts (fire, EMS, hospital, stormwater), and — only if your home is inside an incorporated city — that city's municipal millage. Each levy is quoted in 'mills' ($1 per $1,000 of taxable value). Because The Villages sits in three different counties, and parts of it are inside city limits while most is unincorporated, the same-priced home can carry very different taxes depending on exactly where it sits. The comparison below shows how much.
*How the $400k example is calculated
The table treats $400,000 as an illustrative assessed value. For 2026, school taxable value is $375,000 after the basic $25,000 exemption; non-school taxable value is $348,589 after the basic exemption and the additional $26,411. Sumter Villages therefore models $375,000 × 4.7490 ÷ 1,000 plus $348,589 × 5.1195 ÷ 1,000, or about $3,565 a year. Purchase price is only a planning proxy for a new assessment. Save Our Homes, other exemptions and parcel-specific levies can change the result; CDD bond and maintenance assessments are additional flat charges.
How to Keep Tax Numbers Current on a Real Offer
Use the tables above to understand the county and city differences, then switch to parcel-level proof before you write an offer. Property-tax rates reset every fall, exact tax districts depend on the address, and the real bill is shaped by assessed value, exemptions, fire district, city limits, school-tax treatment, and flat non-ad-valorem CDD lines. The source of truth is the current TRIM notice or tax bill for that parcel, plus the county property appraiser's tax-district record. Ask the listing agent for the latest tax bill, then verify it against the county site and the Villages CDD bond/maintenance lookup.
Illustrative 'True Monthly Cost' — ~$400K Home
For a $400,000 assessed-value example in the unincorporated Sumter Villages fire district, 2026 homestead treatment gives about $3,565/year in property tax, or $297/month. Adding illustrative amounts of $209 amenity fee, $160 bond payment, $50 CDD maintenance and $300 homeowners insurance gives about $1,016/month before mortgage and utilities. These are planning assumptions, not a quote: use the parcel's current tax bill, bond schedule, deed fee and insurance quotes.
No HOA — But Amenity Covenant Is Binding
The Villages has no traditional homeowners association (HOA) with board elections and community votes on fees. Instead, the amenity fee obligation is written directly into the deed as a covenant that runs with the land. This means a new buyer takes on the existing covenant terms at closing — including the CPI escalation provision — with no HOA vote to change the structure. The developer (and successors) set the prevailing rate for new sales. This is an important structural distinction from typical HOA communities.