CDD is short for “Community Development District”. In a CDD, the government issues bonds to the land developer to finance the initial infrastructure like roads, sewers, water, utility systems and the like. The homebuyers in that CDD must pay the bond back (principal and interest) over a period of 10, 20 or more years. This fee is added to the homebuyer’s property tax bill each year. In communities that are not in a CDD, the developer generally pays for all the infrastructure improvements themselves.
It is important to know what the CDD fee is upfront since the developer’s sales people will generally not mention it until after you may have “fallen in love” with the community, and CDD fees can be up to $2,000 or more annually. And the CDD fee can vary in each community depending on the type of home and size of the home-site.
How You Can Find Out If There Is A CDD And How Much It Is
If you are buying a resale home, the easiest way is to look up the property on the Sarasota County Tax Collector’s website located here: www.sarasotataxcollector.com.
The CDD fee will be listed as a separate line item on the annual tax bill.
When buying a new construction home you should ask the sales associate upfront for that information.
How Much Are The CDD Fees In Some Communities?
A few years ago I put together a “New Home Buyers Guide” that compared many of the features of different communities that included things like the amenities, HOA fees, and also CDD Fees. Here is a sampling:
- Bellacina By Casey Key: No CDD Fee
- Talon Preserve: No CDD Fee
- Toscana Isles: $1700-$1985 Annually
- Grand Palm: $716-$989 Annually
- Sarasota National: $1088-$1986 Annually
- Milano: No CDD Fee
- Vicenza: No CDD Fee
- Gran Paradiso: $1100-$2221 Annually
- Venetian Golf and River Club: $3842-$3980 Annually
These are just some examples, but you can see that you need to do your homework as some of these CDD Fees will definitely have an impact on your cost of ownership.
Other Things To Consider When Comparing Communities
There are two basic property locations that will affect the amount of real estate taxes that you pay. There are “Unincorporated County Areas” where the tax is levied by the county, and there are areas that are also within a “City” and you will pay a City Tax in addition to the County Tax. In Sarasota County that would be The City of Sarasota, The City of Venice, and the City of North Port. Here is the rate for each of the cities:
- Sarasota: .32%
- Venice: .49%
- North Port: .$38%
On an example home with an appraised value of $500,000 that would add an additional tax burden of $1600 in Sarasota, $2450 in Venice, and $1900 in North Port. While there are other factors that affect how much you would pay in real estate taxes, it will be less in an unincorporated area.
If you would like my assessment of any properties that you may be considering, drop me a note or comment below!