Editor's Note: This article was originally published in 2012.
Last week, Bloomberg BusinessWeek came out with an interesting profile of The Villages developer Gary Morse. In their words:
Billionaire H. Gary Morse, 75, controls almost every facet of life at the Villages, one of the world’s largest retirement communities.
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As I wrote in the most recent issue of The Villages Monthly last week, it's interesting that BusinessWeek has chosen to profile Morse (an extremely private person) at this time.
One reason I think they did it is that the obvious success of The Villages sticks out like a sore thumb. A community that sells more than 2,000 homes a year far outpacing its closest competitor anywhere in the country is going to make people just a little bit curious as to how they have accomplished this in a (to put it mildly) slumping real estate market.
The other reason has to do with politics. For those of you who don't own a television we are in an Presidential election year. Morse's political support and big contributions have put him on the radar. In the past he has supported several Republican politicians (Bush 41 and Bush 43 are both widely rumored as friends) and he is currently Presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s state finance co-chair.
It would be silly for me to do a complete line-by-line recap here when you can just click through to read the article. I've provided the link for you at the bottom of this post. When you get over there, read through some of the comments and be sure to click “Like” on the comment I left if you agree:
The profile talks about the Morse family history, their control over most of The Villages, and the wealth they have amassed over the years. There are some interesting insights in the article. I knew about the 147-foot yacht…but not the four jets. I must be slipping 🙂
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Most of the article focuses on the “Special Taxing Districts”, the tax exempt bonds or CDD's as you will hear and see them referred to that the Morse family has tapped to both build The Villages (golf courses, water utilities, etc.) and the family bank account.
As you probably know, the IRS has taken quite a bit of interest in these transactions, even going so far as in 2009 requesting a settlement requiring a $16.5 million tax on the outstanding bonds, a refinance of $355 million worth of the bonds through “taxable” bonds, and calling for an end to these types of bond issues in the future. This is all still going back and forth between the districts and the IRS.
It's all very good reading for those who already live in The Villages, as well as those considering it for their next home.
Though I don't have the proverbial crystal ball, I've always just had a feeling that this issue will work out in The Villages favor. I don't see the IRS or anybody else pointing to a specific law that the districts have broken. It's more like, well, we “don't think” you should have done this, or been able to do that. The last quote in the article sort of backs me up on this:
“The IRS isn’t going to waste its time with the Villages,” Dan Carter, President of hedge fund ITG Holdings said in a phone interview. “There are going to be a lot of others that the IRS will have an easier time proving their point with. The Villages is more gray.”
Here's a link to the full text of the article:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2012-06-04/hidden-billionaire-morse-a-man-behind-curtain-at-villages
(Update: This article used to be available for everyone to read, but unfortunately, you must now be a Bloomberg Professional Service Subscriber to read it.
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James Eicker says
My wife and I moved to The Villages almost two years ago. I have never live in another place that has made me feel so comfortable and safe. It’s just a beautiful place to live and there is so much to do here in The Villages. When we moved down here neither of us were golfers and hadn’t planned on playing golf. We were in our home for only a couple of weeks and our neighbors started coming around and asking if we were golfers. Well after a couple of months we decided we would try the game. We now golf about three times a week. When we’re not golfing, we’re playing cards, going out to lunch or dinner with friends and neighbors, or doing any number of things that are available to us here in The Villages. I say thanks to the Morse family for building for us a wonderful place to call home in our retirement years.
Barbara Claussen says
My husband and I love living here in The Villages. I always say that The Villages is the happiest dictorship in the world.
Marjory McWethy says
I have lived in the villages since 02, first part time, then more time! I am a widow and feel so comfortable being alone and having my wonderful neighbors. Politics will always be here and you cannot keep everyone happy. There ARE so many here who will not leave! they are happy and content with all we have at our fingertips. Just hop in your golf cart and GO.
Patricia Phillips says
I have lived in The Villages for over 13 years and I worked for The Villages for 11 1/2 of those years. I wouldn’t live anywhere else and can’t imagine why people begrudge the “family” from making all the money they do. I say good for them and thanks to them for making this such a wonderful place to live.
Tom Farina says
Thank God for Gary Morse. He has made thousands of people very happy especially both the residents as well as the many people he employed to create this fantastic commumity.
LoveTV says
DeafDeaf…Maybe if you contact the people running the events you want to attend you might get a better response. I attended a bingo game last week and there was a table with a signer. I can see having a signer for district government general meetings and Lifelong Learning College classes, as needed, but to blame the developer or the recreation department goes beyond reason.
DeafDeaf says
The news is fine except that the developer, the district government, the recreation department, the entertainment providers, and Lifelong Learning College are not very sensitive for people with hearing loss – they refuse and still refuse to require or provide (reasonable) visual communication access for them. The Villages, as of now, is not still friendly to the residents with hearing loss and also people whose hearing are diminished with age! I am waiting for them to become deaf and to see how they feel about us!
Sharon Wild says
Most of us are intelligent, educated, retired adults. We are happy to finally have someone else do all that work. We do have T.Vs., newspapers and phones that connect to the outside world and most of us travel there occassionally too. No one seemed upset when Walt Disney did it. Why all those almost insulting comments about Mr. Morse?