The Villages vs. Nearby 55+ Communities: How the Fees Really Work
Every 55+ community in this area charges a fee. What differs is who sets it, what it buys, and what protects you from an increase. Those differences last as long as you own the home.
The short version: buyers compare these communities on price and amenities. The bigger difference is structural. Some fees are set by a board you can vote out. Some are set by a government district and ride on your tax bill. Some are set by a private owner you never vote for. This page sorts the communities buyers actually cross-shop with The Villages by how each one is run — with a source and date on every figure.
Who runs each community, and what you pay
The table below covers fee structure only — not fee amounts and not home prices. Sourced dollar figures follow in the sections after it. "CDD" means a community development district: a special unit of local government, created under Florida Statute Chapter 190, that borrows money for infrastructure or amenities and bills each home on the annual property tax bill.
| Community | County | Governance | What you pay | Who sets it | Golf included? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Villages | Sumter / Lake / Marion | District government + deed covenant — no HOA | Monthly amenity fee, plus CDD bond and maintenance assessments on the tax bill | District boards; the amenity fee adjusts by CPI under the deed | Executive courses: walking play included. Championship courses separate. |
| Del Webb Spruce Creek G&CC | Marion (Summerfield) | Resident-controlled HOA | Monthly HOA dues. No CDD. | Resident-elected board | No — course is privately owned, pay to play |
| Stonecrest | Marion (Summerfield) | Resident-controlled POA | Monthly POA dues (villas pay more). No CDD found — confirm on the tax bill. | Resident board | No — separate club membership |
| Spruce Creek South | Marion (Summerfield) | Investor-owned — no HOA since 2014 | Monthly fee to a private owner. No CDD. | The private owner — residents have no vote | No — course open to the public, pay to play |
| Oak Run | Marion (Ocala) | Developer-owned in perpetuity | Monthly service fee to the developer. No CDD. | Oak Run Associates, unilaterally — residents never vote | No — semi-private course, separate |
| On Top of the World | Marion (Ocala) | HOA; the original core is 99-year leasehold, not fee simple | Monthly HOA fee, varies by neighborhood | Association — 2026 fee sheets are published | No — pay to play |
| Del Webb Stone Creek | Marion (Ocala) | HOA (builder still selling) | Monthly HOA dues. CDD status unresolved — check the tax bill on the specific home. | HOA / management company | No — public course, pay to play |
| Arlington Ridge | Lake (Leesburg) | HOA plus a full Chapter 190 CDD | HOA dues AND an annual CDD assessment on the tax bill | HOA board + CDD board of supervisors | No — but the CDD assessment funds golf operations for every home |
| Plantation at Leesburg | Lake (unincorporated) | Resident-controlled HOA | Monthly HOA dues. No CDD — confirmed against Lake County GIS. | Resident board; board approval required to buy or lease | No — two courses, separate membership |
Fee structures verified August 2026 from community, HOA, and district sources plus county parcel records. Structures and amounts change — always verify the current figures and the tax bill for any specific home before you buy.
Four ways a 55+ community can be run
Every community on this page uses one of four models. The model decides who controls your fee — and that matters more over twenty years of ownership than the fee amount on day one.
Resident-controlled HOA — example: Del Webb Spruce Creek
An HOA is a homeowners association. It is a nonprofit run by a board the residents elect. At Del Webb Spruce Creek Golf & Country Club, dues are $211.00 per month per household (the HOA's published FAQ, August 2026). The HOA owns its recreation facilities outright — the builder deeded them to the association. There is no CDD: the HOA's FAQ says so, and two 2025 parcel tax bills from different phases confirm it. One caution: the community's 36-hole golf course is not HOA-owned. It sold to a private buyer in October 2024 and now operates as a semi-private, pay-to-play course. Residents control their dues; they do not control the golf course.
CDD — example: Arlington Ridge
A CDD is a community development district — a special-purpose local government under Florida Statute Chapter 190. It borrows money, then bills every home on the property tax bill. At Arlington Ridge, the FY2026 CDD assessment is $3,259.93 to $3,884.93 per home, depending on the phase (the district's adopted FY2026 budget). The operating portion alone is $2,688.78 — up about 50% in four years. The district's budget also runs the golf course and the restaurant. Every home funds those operations, whether the owner golfs or dines or not. There is a separate HOA fee on top that covers lawn care, basic cable, and fiber internet; the HOA does not publish its current schedule, so verify the amount directly. The Villages uses CDDs too, but differently — its bond pays for roads and pipes, not golf operations. See the bond explained for how that works.
Investor-owned — example: Spruce Creek South
Spruce Creek South is not an HOA community. Its HOA dissolved in 2014. The gate, the pool, and the golf course belong to a private, for-profit owner. On November 13, 2025, the whole package sold for $14.9 million to a new owner (recorded Marion County deed). Residents pay that owner a monthly fee. There is no board, no election, and no vote on increases. The current fee amount is not published anywhere — verify it in writing before you buy. The lowest sticker fee in this group is also the least protected one.
Developer-owned in perpetuity — example: Oak Run
At Oak Run, the developer never handed the community over. Oak Run Associates, Ltd. owns everything except the homes and their lots — the roads' common areas, the gates, the recreation centers. It sets a monthly "service fee" on its own authority, may raise it once a year, and residents never vote on it. There is an entity called the "Oak Run Homeowners Association," but it is a social club — it governs nothing. The fee covers trash pickup, 24-hour staffed gates, basic cable, and the recreation facilities; golf is separate. Oak Run publishes no fee schedule, so this page prints no figure — get the current fee for the specific neighborhood directly from Oak Run Associates before you offer. There is no CDD; a 2025 parcel tax bill confirms it.
Where The Villages sits
The Villages fits none of the four models. It has no HOA at all. Instead, three things stack together:
- The amenity fee — about $204 per month for new buyers (early 2026). It is a contract tied to the home's deed, and it adjusts by CPI on each home's anniversary. It covers the recreation centers, pools, and walking play on the executive golf courses.
- The CDD bond — a loan for the roads and pipes in your section, paid back on the tax bill each year. It transfers with the home unless it is paid off. Older northern homes have mostly paid it down; the newest southern homes carry the largest balances.
- The CDD maintenance assessment — an ongoing charge, also on the tax bill, that funds common-area upkeep. It has no end date.
Deed restrictions and an architectural review process govern what you can change on the home — no HOA does not mean no rules. The districts publish their budgets, and the amenity fee's adjustment mechanism is written into the deed, so the whole stack is verifiable by address. The full breakdown, with every cost and its source, is on the cost of living page.
The other communities, briefly
On Top of the World (Ocala) publishes its fees: $226.03 to $493.63 per month depending on neighborhood, per the association's 2026 fee sheets. Its original core is sold on a 99-year leasehold — more on that below. Plantation at Leesburg charged $165 per month in 2025 ($180 for homes still paying a golf special assessment); the 2026 schedule was not yet verified as of August 2026. Resale buyers there also pay a one-time pro-rated share of a $1,260 golf assessment at closing, and the board must approve every purchase or lease. Del Webb Stone Creek is still building; its CDD status is genuinely unresolved — sources conflict, so the only reliable answer is the tax bill on the specific home. Stonecrest runs on resident-controlled POA dues, with villas paying a higher tier; verify the current schedule with the POA.
What each side genuinely does better
Neither side wins everything. Here is the honest version of both columns.
Where The Villages wins
- The golf cart lifestyle. No alternative has it. Carts reach groceries, medical, dining, and the town squares. Stonecrest — the closest community — says in its own FAQ that carts cannot reach The Villages.
- Golf economics for regular players. Walking play on 45 executive courses is included in the amenity fee. At the alternatives, golf is always extra: club memberships at Arlington Ridge and Plantation run $3,670 and $3,850 a year (published 2025–26 club schedules), and the rest charge per round.
- Amenity and social scale. 130 recreation centers and five town squares with free nightly entertainment. Each alternative has one amenity campus.
- No purchase gatekeeping. Plantation and On Top of the World require approval before you can buy. The Villages has no approval process.
- Fee transparency. District budgets are public, and the amenity fee's adjustment rule is in the deed. Compare that to a fee set by a private owner or raised at a developer's discretion.
Where the alternatives win
- A lower, simpler monthly stack — usually. One HOA or POA payment, versus The Villages' amenity fee plus bond plus maintenance. The exception is Arlington Ridge, where the CDD assessment erases the saving.
- No infrastructure bond. Plantation's no-CDD status is county-GIS-verified, and parcel tax bills confirm the same at Del Webb Spruce Creek and Oak Run. A newer Villages home can carry $3,000–$5,000+ per year in bond that these buyers never see.
- Staffed gates. Every alternative is gated, most with 24-hour staffed entrances. The Villages is an open community.
- Bundled services at some. Arlington Ridge's HOA fee includes lawn care, cable, and internet. In The Villages, lawn service is always out of pocket.
- Lower entry price and a smaller-community feel. Several alternatives sell for less, and buyers who find The Villages' scale impersonal are describing a real trade-off, not imagining one.
Things buyers get wrong about these communities
Del Webb Spruce Creek is not Spruce Creek South
They sit near each other in Summerfield, and listing portals mix them up constantly. They could not be more different: one has a resident-controlled HOA that owns its amenities; the other has no HOA and an investor-owned amenity package. Three ways to tell them apart: the plat name in the legal description reads "Spruce Creek Golf and Country Club" versus "Spruce Creek South"; Del Webb Spruce Creek's staffed gate is on Del Webb Boulevard off US 441/27; and Del Webb Spruce Creek addresses carry "Del Webb Blvd" or interior streets platted under that name.
There is no cart route from Stonecrest into The Villages
Stonecrest sits less than three miles from The Villages, and buyers assume the cart paths connect. They do not. Stonecrest's own FAQ says carts cannot reach The Villages — they reach the neighboring Walmart, Aldi, and Lowe's, and that is the extent of it. Also: Stonecrest is in Marion County, not Sumter. County determines the tax rate, so this matters.
On Top of the World's core is a 99-year leasehold
In the original OTOW sections, you do not buy the land — you buy a 99-year leasehold interest, with a contractual minimum down payment of 20%. Newer sections are fee simple, meaning you own the land outright. Leasehold affects financing and resale in ways a fee-simple buyer never encounters. Confirm which tenure applies to any specific OTOW home before you offer.
The $513.97 on Marion County tax bills is not a community fee
Every unincorporated Marion County home pays the same county-wide package on its tax bill: a $283.97 fire assessment (tax year 2025), plus solid waste and stormwater charges, totaling $513.97. It shows up at Oak Run, Stonecrest, both Spruce Creeks, and everywhere else in unincorporated Marion. Some listings and forums present it as a community charge. It is not — it is the county, and moving between Marion communities does not change it.
The Villages vs. other 55+ communities — common questions
No. Some are run by a resident-elected HOA or POA. At Oak Run, the developer owns the amenities and sets the fee. At Spruce Creek South, the HOA dissolved in 2014 and a private investor owns the amenities. The Villages itself has no HOA — it uses an amenity fee tied to the deed, plus community development districts.
Arlington Ridge carries a full Chapter 190 CDD — $3,259.93 to $3,884.93 per home for FY2026, per the district's adopted budget. The Villages has its own CDD bond and maintenance assessments. Del Webb Stone Creek's CDD status is unresolved — check the tax bill on the specific home. Plantation at Leesburg, Del Webb Spruce Creek, and Oak Run have no CDD.
No. They are neighboring Summerfield communities with very different structures. Del Webb Spruce Creek Golf & Country Club has an active resident-controlled HOA that owns its amenities. Spruce Creek South's HOA dissolved in 2014, and its amenities belong to a private investor. The plat name on a home's legal description tells them apart.
No. Stonecrest's own FAQ says there is no golf cart route into The Villages. Carts can reach the neighboring retail area — Walmart, Aldi, and Lowe's — but not The Villages' cart path network.
No. The Villages has no HOA. New buyers pay an amenity fee of about $204 per month (early 2026), set by the deed covenant, plus CDD bond and maintenance assessments on the property tax bill.
Only in The Villages, where walking play on the 45 executive courses is included in the amenity fee. At every alternative community on this page, golf is a separate club membership or a per-round fee.
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