Barony Place I/Barony Place II

Do the Members (homeowners) of the HOA really know just how much the services of CAMS are costing them? Is it over $500,000/year??? Looking at the monthly financial statements, you will easily spot Line Item 6000 - Management Fee's [ sic ] of $75,500, which is the amount budgeted for the year. You will see Line Item 6005, On-Site Maintenance [sic] of $140,000, which is the budgeted expense for the year. You might wonder which "Maintenance" is costing $140,000 and why "Maintenance" is listed under Administrative Expenses, but you might be busy and blow on by that. The problem that I have pointed out for years to the Board is that the $140,000 is not Maintenance; it is Management . This is why it is listed under Administrative Expenses. That's the amount which the HOA pays to CAMS for the compensation of the women in the office. Teresa, Kenyana, and Angela (who is not even in the office). When I looked at the June 2023 financials that were available at the Au...

Remember back when the HOA board announced the new security plan for the pools that included a "fob" system for entry. You and I have a vague memory of that; right? Something about a $40,000 contract to Johnson Controls. When I was at the office on Wednesday, August 9, I inquired about the fob system, since the end of the pool season is rapidly approaching. The answer was that it has been delayed. Looking back through Board Minutes, I came to this entry in the Minutes for the February 7, 2023 monthly board meeting. "The Board approved the Johnson Control [ sic ] contract for $42,373, to add a fob entry system to both pools." So the contract was approved at some time between the December 6, 2022 and the February 7, 2023 meetings (there was no meeting in January). The Contracts Committee apparently approved it. That would be Justin Martin and Cliff Wilson. Did the Finance Committee ever see the contract? The Safety Committee? The Minutes for the March, April, May, and...

For the past three months, a graph has shown up as part of the monthly financial reporting. The first thought of anyone looking at it ought to be "WHAT THE HECK IS THIS?" In the legend, one line on the graph is for Operating Cash. A second line is for "Net Cash". But no second line is on the graph.  The graph is enough to give any observant person a heart attack. Why is the cash varying so greatly? Why was Operating Cash so low ($200,000) in June, July, August 2022? Why did it go down to less than $100,000 (October 2022)? Why did it increase so sharply in May 2023? To find the answers, I went back to the end-of-month Total Operating Cash balances, as shown on monthly financial statements. I did not find the basis for the numbers on the graph. Can you? Let's look at the history over the past year. Here are the end-of-month totals for Operating Cash. Compare them with the graph. May 2022 $643,449.21 June 2022 $711.397.58 July 2022 $855,079.75 August 2022 $869,719....

In the June 30, 2023 financials that were released at the August 8th board meeting, some numbers just don't make sense. See if you agree. Total Receivables (Line 1200) are $432,483.29. Allowance for Uncollectible Accounts (Line 1300) is $454,495.41. Why does the Uncollectible total exceed the Accounts Receivables? At one point in the meeting the Treasurer said it was too complicated for people to  understand. Was he talking about this? It was hard to tell because he did not speak up so all could hear, and the board does not use the portable sound system that it did when pre-COVID meetings were held at The Haven. How long has Line 1300 exceeded Line 1200 on the Balance Sheets? Only one year, but look at the other years.                         Line 1200        Line 1300                             A/Rs         ...

The June 2023 financials were available at last night's HOA board meeting. Even though it was August 8, the July 2023 financials were not available. Why not? Be sure to look at the useless chart on Page 1. Does anyone on the board understand it? Did anyone question it? Receivables at 6/30/2023 total $432,483.29. The financials continue to mislead homeowner-Members by reporting Current, over-30, over-60, over-90. By 6/30/2023 ALL past-due amounts are over 90 days, and the numbers for Current, over-30, and over-60 should be $0. Why do the Treasurer and the Board condone that misleading reporting in the CAMS financials? Page 4 definitions must come from Financials for Dummies and is completely unnecessary. The HOA continues to carry excessive amounts in Cash & Cash Equivalent Operating Accounts of $867,548.47. The average monthly budget is $121,171. Is it prudent to keep 600% of that in Operating Funds? What did the Auditor have to say about that? (You can go to the office and re...

The PRM is a fascinating manual. On Page 17 of the PRM appears this.  Article III Administration    C. Financial Procedures       4) Budget Preparation Procedures:          c. "The budget process involves a wide cross-section of community members, Board              members, and Property Manager Representatives."  Really? Who puts the word out to attract their interest? When and how are they selected?  Who picks those "community members"?   Are you interested in being part of the budget process? Speak up now. Contact the Board.

At last night's board meeting, a Voting Member asked a very important question about the integrity of the bidding process for the management contract.  The management contract, currently held by CAMS, is up for renewal. The man asking the question, who was a past president of the HOA board, got mostly smoke from one board member.  He asked about the "process". He asked if bids are in sealed envelopes and not opened until the committee meets to consider the bids. He also asked if the Finance Committee gets to weigh in on the bids. The answer I heard was that bids are not kept in sealed envelopes. And I already knew that the Finance Committee didn't see past bids. The bids are considered by the Contracts Committee, composed of Justin and one other homeowner. Read the Procedures Reference Manual for the sections on the Finance Committee and the Contracts Committee.  Bids should not be directed to CAMS, because CAMS will be one of the bidders. Bids should be directed to t...