$50/yr. dues increase is not enough

The Board of Directors is poised to announce an increase in annual dues of $50.00. Expenses have gone up.

But that's not new. Expenses went up every year in the recent past. And past Boards bragged about how they hadn't raised dues in many years. The previous boards were irresponsible and, like the Federal Government, just kicked the can down the road.

In recent years Boards cut contributions to Reserves. The current (2024) Budget eliminated them completely. Not allowed, if you read the Governing Document. CC&Rs, Art. X, §6

The last board approved an unbalanced budget. The 2024 Year started with a $27,000 deficit.  Not allowed, if you read the Governing Documents.

"An unbalanced budget is not allowed. Income must equal Expenses." (PRM, Art. III, §C, ¶(4)l)

The last board allowed a fraudulent election of four directors. Previous boards also did that. Not allowed, if you read the Governing Documents.

Why will the Board increase the annual dues (Assessment) only $50.00 and not more? Because that is all they are allowed to do.

The Board can increase dues up to 10% without getting the approval of the Voting Members. ($510 x 10% = $51.00) This helps them avoid a Major problem, since there aren't enough legitimate Voting Members to make a quorum for a meeting to approve a dues increase. In fact, there is only one (1) legitimate Voting Member, and that one is from Barony Place. There should be 28 Voting Members.

If there are 1-2 others hiding in the weeds, I don't know about them. But there definitely aren't 14 others.

How much should the dues go up? The proposed Annual Budget is supposed to be built from the ground up. The Budget Committee (which has no members) is supposed to identify all the expected expenses of the Association, including a responsible contribution to Reserves (CC&Rs, Art. X, §6), and then determine where the money comes from.

"The Income Budget is not started until the Expense Budget is completed." (PRM, Art. III, §C, ¶(4)f)

In other words, you don't manipulate the Expenses to fit the Income. 

Thanks to the Finance Committee and the new Treasurer (since November 2023), the Association is earning much higher interest rates on money in the banks. No longer is the HOA earning 0.5% on a big chuck of its money!

The proposed Budget for 2025 should be available at the October board meeting. Are any "community" members involved on the Budget Committee? Has anyone on the Board read Section C(1) in Article II of the Procedures Reference Manual?

"This committee, a sub-committee of the Finance Committee, is responsible for establishing a balanced annual budget, and presenting it to the Finance Committee for review and to the Board for approval. The budgeting process considers input from all levels and includes members from the general community."

Perhaps a homeowner will ask at the October 1st board meeting who the members of the Budget Committee are.

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