A new home in Middleton, inside the City of Wildwood in Sumter County, carries a district bond billed on the Sumter County tax bill. The amount depends on which home series the lot belongs to. In Unit 9 the Series 2024 bond principal is $28,600.33 per lot in the Field Day series, $31,953.76 in Recess and $40,540.26 in The Range. Each is repaid in 30 annual installments at 4.75 percent, first billed in 2026 and last in 2055. Carried the full term, those lots pay $56,524.32, $63,151.91 and $80,121.82 once interest and district administration are added.
Who levies the Middleton assessment and what the money built
Middleton Community Development District A was established by City of Wildwood Ordinance No. O2022-35 on May 9, 2022, and covers approximately 2,484.60 acres inside the city limits. The district states that it issues Special Assessment Revenue Bonds and spends the proceeds on roadway improvements, landscaping, open areas, streetlights, multi-modal paths, master drainage systems and a water and wastewater distribution and collection system, with the bonds supported by assessments levied on the benefiting properties.
Section 190.022(1), Florida Statutes, lets a district board levy special assessments using the procedures for levy and collection in chapter 170 or chapter 197. Section 190.022(2) allows district assessments to be made payable in no more than 30 yearly installments, which is the term Middleton used. Section 170.09 makes the assessment lien coequal with state, county, district and municipal taxes and superior in dignity to all other liens, titles and claims until it is paid.
The Sumter County Tax Collector describes where the charges land. In the non-ad valorem section of the tax bill you find the Municipal Bond Assessment, indicated with a “B”, and the Maintenance Assessment, indicated with an “A”. The district’s own amortization schedules head their first column Tax Bill Due, which is the same mechanism a buyer meets anywhere a district finances the infrastructure. Our explainer on what a CDD assessment adds to a Florida payment covers the general structure, and the figures below are what it looks like on one Sumter County subdivision.
Three home series in one unit, three different bond amounts
Middleton Unit 9 platted 149 lots across 33.60 acres and carries $5,116,954 of the $25,600,000 Series 2024 principal. The district publishes a separate amortization schedule for each home series in the unit, and those series names match the ones on Middleton’s own homes pages.
| Unit 9 home series | Lots | Bond principal per lot | Interest | District admin | Total through 2055 | Average annual |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Field Day (9-C) | 68 | $28,600.33 | $24,193.38 | $3,730.61 | $56,524.32 | $1,884.14 |
| Recess (9-B) | 13 | $31,953.76 | $27,030.12 | $4,168.03 | $63,151.91 | $2,105.06 |
| The Range (9-D) | 68 | $40,540.26 | $34,293.52 | $5,288.04 | $80,121.82 | $2,670.73 |
Inside the same unit, the gap between a Field Day lot and a Range lot is $11,939.93 of principal and $23,597.50 across the full term. The allocation is mechanical. The unit’s $10,112,909 of total assessments is spread over 27.1 net assessable acres, then divided by the lots in each series, so a series that occupies more acres per lot carries more bond. In all three series the interest and administration add 97.6 percent on top of principal, which means a lot carried to 2055 pays close to double what the bond financed.
What the cost sheet combines and the schedule separates
Middleton’s own estimated cost of living sheet, piece code MID014_1026, prints a single monthly line labeled Development District Assessment (Bond+Maintenance+Fire): $230 for a Playground home at a $200,000 sale price, $330 for Recess at $269,000, $350 for Field Day at $309,000 and $499 for The Range at $376,000. The sheet states these rest on average sale price by series with a homestead exemption and are subject to change without notice. They describe the community at large rather than Unit 9.
Set the Unit 9 schedules beside that line. The bond by itself averages $157.01 a month for Field Day, $175.42 for Recess and $222.56 for The Range. What remains inside the combined figure is the annual maintenance assessment and the Sumter County fire assessment, and both of those continue after the bond retires in 2055.
Prepaying the bond
The district states that each homeowner may prepay the bond assessment against their property at any time, while the maintenance assessment is ongoing and determined at the annual budget hearings by the Board of Supervisors. The Sumter County Tax Collector directs bond payoff inquiries, interest rates and amortization schedules to the Village District Office at 352-751-3900.
The payoff figure changes every year. The Balance column on the Unit 9-C schedule shows $27,611.61 of principal remaining after the 2027 bill and $22,092.64 after the 2036 bill. On a resale, who pays the bond off is a contract term, and any unpaid balance travels with the property to the next owner. Budgeting for the first bill matters too, because a new home’s first Florida tax bill often reflects the land only, and the full assessment arrives the year after.
Two more things the recorded documents decide
The Declaration of Covenants and Restrictions for Middleton Unit No. 9 was recorded in Sumter County on August 19, 2025 by The Villages Development Company, LLC. Architectural review sits with the Declarant or its appointed agent rather than with a homeowner board, and the board has 30 days to review a submission once it arrives in satisfactory form. Section 2.33 limits leasing to residential use for a minimum of six months, requires every lease in writing, and lets the Declarant terminate a lease when a tenant defaults, with the Declarant exempt from the section.
Trash service runs through a hauler the Declarant selects, charges begin when the owner buys the homesite, and the fee is payable year-round regardless of occupancy. The Unit 9 Declaration names no homeowners association and sets no age restriction, which separates Middleton from the age-restricted new construction elsewhere in Sumter County. Maintenance of the common areas runs through the CDD, which the Declaration defines as Middleton Community Development District A.
What to ask before you sign
- Request the bond amortization schedule for your exact unit and home series. The district publishes them unit by unit, and the community average will not match your lot.
- Ask for the current maintenance assessment on that lot and the date the board last set it. The adopted budget resolution approves fund totals and leaves the per-lot rate to a schedule in the district’s official record.
- Confirm which district the homesite sits in. Middleton A, Middleton B, Middleton Downtown and Coleman Ridge each adopt their own budget.
- Price the bond two ways before choosing a series: the annual installment on the tax bill, and the payoff figure from the District Office.
- On a resale, get it in writing whether the seller pays the bond at closing. Nothing in the schedule requires it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a new Middleton home have an HOA?
The Declaration for Unit No. 9 names no homeowners association. It assigns architectural review to the Declarant or its appointed agent and assigns maintenance of the common areas to Middleton Community Development District A, whose five-member Board of Supervisors is elected and adopts the budget each year.
How much is the bond on a Middleton home?
It depends on the unit and the home series. The published Unit 9 schedules run from $28,600.33 to $40,540.26 of principal per lot at 4.75 percent interest over 30 annual installments. Other units carry their own schedules, so ask for the one matching your lot number. A comparable breakdown for an Osceola County community appears in our Tohoqua CDD assessment guide.
Can I rent out a Middleton home?
Section 2.33 of the Unit No. 9 Declaration restricts leasing to residential use for a minimum period of six months, requires leases in writing, and gives the Declarant the right to terminate a lease on a tenant default. A stay shorter than six months is outside what that document permits.
Where to go from here
Two numbers decide the carrying cost of a Middleton homesite for the next three decades: the bond principal attached to the series you choose, and the maintenance assessment the board sets each year. Both are public before you sign.
If you are weighing new construction in Sumter County against new construction in our core Orange and Lake County markets, book a strategy session with our team at mvphomegroup.com/nelsoncruz. We start by putting the bond schedule, the maintenance assessment and the tax estimate for one specific lot on a single page. This is general information about district assessments and recorded restrictions, not legal or tax advice.
Nelson Cruz, P.A.
Founder & CEO
MVP Home Group, Real Broker LLC
Nelson brings nearly two decades in law enforcement to his work in real estate. View Nelson’s profile or contact our team at 407-901-9939 or [email protected].
Featured image: AI-generated editorial illustration of a newly finished subdivision street with new asphalt, a concrete curb and sidewalk, a streetlight pole, a stormwater curb inlet, rolls of sod and young staked palms in front of new stucco homes. No readable text. Not a particular property or community.