For the first-time home buyer or buyers new to Florida or a master-planned community, being required to pay a CDD fee may seem foreign...and possibly unnecessary.  After all, why should a community charge a fee on top of annual property taxes? 

THE REASON IS QUITE SIMPLE:  QUALITY OF LIFE

 A CDD (Community Development District) is a form of government within a master-planned community that maintains everything from rich landscaping to parks, recreational facilities to nature trails.....everything that makes living in such a community desirable.

CDDs also oversee road improvements, street lighting, property management, gatehouse staff, storm-water management, and waterway maintenance.  But probably the best thing about a CDD is that it will continue providing such services even after the development company finishes work and moves onto its next community.

Therefore, a CDD is something of an insurance policy guaranteeing that the community will be well-maintained next year as it was on the moving day.  Best of all the fees...sometimes...provide services at lower rates than through private utilities or municipal governments.

So how does the system work?  Basically, each homeowner pays a proportionate, annual fee that helps repurchase development bonds that were issued to create and maintain the community.  Once these bonds are retired, the CDD fees...except those that pay for ongoing operations and maintenance...disappear.

In the meantime, even when the developer leaves, homeowners can be assured that the community will keep on going.....thanks to their CDD investment.

That can be a great source of comfort to people who have invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in a new home.  People seem to really appreciate that this community offers vast open-space areas and recreation.  They appreciate the parks and that nearly all our homes here border a 165 acre lake, 17,000 acre protected Florida woodlands and other preserved areas including beautiful cypress islands.  They also appreciate the privacy of a community that provides two staffed gate houses, 24 hours a day.

All of the above services take money to maintain.  Money that comes from CDD fees.

Granted, paying for such amenities isn't for everybody.  That's the reason some people choose to live elsewhere.  But for the famlies who enjoy all the benefits of a master-planned community, a CDD fee seems to be a small price to apy for a lifestyle that many believe is priceless.

CLI Fees are currently as follows:

CLI CDD 07-08 Assessment Table click here

Cory Lake Isles POA (Deed Restrictions & Design Review)
$300 capital contribution due at transfer of title
$70 annual POA assessment

Current CDD General Operating Fund:   CLI CDD Budget

Residential Lawn Fertilization & Pesticide Treatment Program - SEE LAWN INFORMATION IN TABLE OF CONTENTS UNDER "COMMUNITY RULES WE LIVE BY"