Was the 2026 Budget Ever Approved?

Click to Enlarge

 

Here is the top portion of the 2026 budget, as posted on the HOA's website. Want to see it for yourself? Go to https://summithomeowners.com  Hover over RESIDENTS. Click on  DOCUMENTS. Click on Annual Budgets. Click on 2026.

The first thing you'll notice is the heading above the right column, where it reads Finance Proposed 2026 Budget.

The second thing you'll notice is the date on the page of the "Finance Proposed 2026 Budget". That date is June 30, 2025. Had the Finance Committee even started work on the 2026 Budget by June 30th? My guess is that it certainly wasn't done with the budget!

Today is June 16, 2026. You would expect to find the "2026 Approved Budget" on the HOA's website. Instead, you see the "2026 Proposed Budget".

WHY? There are some possible reasons.

1. Carelessness. No one discerned the importance of publishing the Approved Budget, not the Proposed Budget.

2. Inattention. Didn't anyone (Board Members? Finance Committee members? Voting Members? Homeowners (Members)? Property Management employees?) notice that the 2026 Approved Budget hadn't been posted?

2. There is no 2026 Approved Budget.

3. The Board of Directors never approved the 2026 Proposed Budget.

Supporting No. 3 is the fact that no set of Board Minutes reports that the Finance Committee submitted the 2026 Proposed Budget to the Board; that the Board ever considered and discussed the Proposed Budget; that the Board ever voted on the 2026 Proposed Budget; that the Board ever approved the 2026 Proposed Budget.

The closest that the Minutes ever get to the 2026 Budget is mention in the November 18, 2025 Board Minutes, where this Finance Committee Report appears: 

"The Board announced that the 2026 budget was available at the check-in tables and will also be mailed to all homeowners with the January assessment statements. Homeowners who did not receive a copy were encouraged to stop by the office, although printed copies will accompany the January bills. No further questions or discussion was presented under Finance."

For it to be available at the check-in tables, it must have been approved before that night's meeting; right? Prior to the November 18, 2025 Board Meeting Danny Trapp was the Board President, and William Hill was the Board Treasurer.

A logical and reasonable question is, "When was the 2026 budget approved?"

Was it ever approved? Who approved it? 

The Finance Committee Report is worded incorrectly. That Committee doesn't announce anything for the Board. If the Board has something to announce, then one of the Board Members makes the announcement!

If the 2026 Proposed Budget wasn't ever approved, what is the right thing for the Board to do now?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

About Fines in The Summit's HOA

Do you bother to inspect the Budget when it is proposed for the following year? Do you ever examine the monthly financial reports of the HOA? How much do you think the HOA will collect in fines this year? How much do you think the HOA collected in Fines last year? The Line in the Budget that you'll want to look at is Line 4600 Fines - Violations. Sitting down? In 2024 the HOA collected $57,446.91 in Fines. The amount budgeted in 2024 was $20,000. In 2025 the HOA expects to collect $50,000. As of June 30, 2025 the HOA has collected $38,670. At this pace the HOA will collect $77,340 in the full year, or $27,340 (55%) more than estimated in the Budget. Why are fines running so high? Should the Board just grin and rub their hands together in glee, or should the Board create an ad hoc Committee to examine the Fines category and determine what can be done to reduce the penalties on its Members? If you were the Board President, what would you do? Just smile and spend the money, or invest...
Read more

"Neighborhood Reps Needed"

For the past few months, the Summit Scoop has carried an "ad" on Page 1 for "Neighborhood Reps Needed." Interested persons are invited to contact the Summit office. The ad informs homeowners that the neighborhoods of Indigo Springs, Autumn Glen, Waverly Place, and Pineclave need Neighborhood Representatives. What the ad doesn't tell you is those four neighborhoods represent 19.6% of the Association. More than 475 homeowners (out of 2,480) are not represented and have not been represented in years past. The responsibility for assisting neighborhoods in filling the position of Neighborhood Reps falls to the (HOA's) Neighborhood Committee, currently chaired by Reginald Mack and previously chaired by Jesse McClinton.  What does the office tell a person who contacts it about becoming a Neighborhood Rep? Does the office tell the interested person to pick up a form and "get signatures", or does the office tell that person to read and comply with the By-La...
Read more

Sept. 2nd Board Meeting - Any of This?

At last night's Board of Directors meeting, were any of these items discussed? Was there any discussion by the Board about removing Danny Trapp as Board President? Update on lawsuit against Gus Philpott and (failed) Motion for Contempt that had been filed on May 28, heard on July 24, and decided against the HOA on August 29? How did that Motion even get filed in May without the approval of the Board? Report on the total costs on the lawsuit already paid by the HOA and the pending bills for legal work already performed? Discussion about how the lawsuit against resident (not homeowner) Gus Philpott even got started, since it is prohibited by the CC&Rs and was never approved by the Voting Members or  by the Board of Directors? Who is responsible for that? Who, if anyone, authorized Board President Danny Trapp to direct that the lawsuit be filed in December by the HOA's then-new law firm in the name of the HOA? Delivery of the 2024 Annual Audit? Did the auditor, Becca Brendle,...
Read more