Monday, February 22, 2010

Budget Q&A, continued...

Thank you to the homeowners who attended the Budget Q&A last Wednesday. Here is a Q&A summary of the topics discussed:

(Q) Cost savings are great. But should we expect the quality of life to go down? Will we hurt our property values?
(A) No. We are committed to protecting home values, and maintaining our community’s established standard of living. We were careful not to cut spending in a way that diminishes our quality of life or risks our property values. For example, we will save money on landscaping, but will do so without reducing our service levels. (We went through a competitive bid process, with seven vendors, and selected a landscaper with comparable service levels at a reduced cost.) Another example: we will save money on insurance, but will do so without sacrificing any coverage. (We simply pushed to negotiate lower rates on our existing policies.) That said, the Board has decided to eliminate funding for non-essentials until our Reserve Fund is more fully-funded. For example, we will not spend the money for bee removal as we did in 2009.

(Q) Why is there $0 in the landscaping improvements budget?
(A) Simply put, we are eliminating funding for non-essentials (like additional landscaping) until our Reserve Fund is more fully-funded. It's worth noting that all the great landscaping improvements in 2009 were completed without any HOA funds. We hope this will continue in 2010.

(Q) What exactly are the risks of a low reserve fund?
(A) Basically, inadequate reserve funding threatens: [A] high risk of special assessments (i.e. hitting each of us with a bill for more money, to meet the association's costs), [B] damaged ability to sell our homes (because mortgage lenders don't want to lend on homes with poor reserve funding), and [C] lower property values because of these two things.

(Q) How funded is our reserve fund now? Are we at risk now?
(A) We are currently more than 40% funded, and improving monthly. (This represents a major improvement from one year ago, when we were less than 27% funded). We have reached 40% funding by managing 2009 expenses carefully. 40% funding is classified as "fair". While we will continue to improve, we are NOT currently at risk for special assessments.

All homeowners are encouraged to be familiar with the Reserve Study, available on our Association's web site.

Our five-year plan projects that we will reach 70% funding by 2015 (70% is classified as "good", and we believe 70% to be a responsible & realistic target.) Faster funding would be possible, but it would require increases to our monthly assessments. We believe this current funding plan balances our community's need for adequate reserves with our desire for low assessments.

(Q) Should we expect assessments to go up again next year?
(A) Here's what we know for sure: we do need to increase our reserve contribution again next year. (Next year, our plan calls for increasing reserve contribution $6/month/home). But this does not necessarily require an increase to assessments. If we can further reduce expenses enough to offset this increased reserve contribution, an assessments increase will not be required. If we cannot further reduce expenses enough to offset this increased reserve contribution, an assessment increase is likely. To avoid future increases, your participation & input is required. We cannot succeed without informed participation.

(Q) Why do we spend so much on a management company? Do we need them?
(A) Yes, we need a management company. Running any business requires a lot of time, resources and expertise -- including our HOA, which is a $12-million corporation. Having the help of a management company is essential to our success. Unless & until our association has [A] very high homeowner participation, and [B] a Board with strong executive experience & more available time, a management company is important. The CWD Group has agreed to hold their contracted rate for 2010 (i.e. no increase), and the Board plans to carefully monitor any extra management costs.

(Q) Aren't our dues unreasonably high already?
(A) Frankly, no. It's a fair question (and one that each Board member has asked as well), but here is a look at Snoqualmie/North Bend comparables. You will see that Mt. Si Cottages compares very favorably. The Falls, $352/month (69 units); The Cottages, $227/month (50 units); three others in the Snoqualmie area, $256, $227, $267. We remain committed to maintaining Mt. Si Cottages as an affordable community.

Monday, February 15, 2010

2010 Budget Questions & Answers

By now you'll have received the Board-approved 2010 budget in your mailbox.

If you have questions or concerns, please join us for a Budget Question & Answer discussion, Wednesday, February 17, at 6:30 p.m. at the Snoqualmie Library.

If you have questions beforehand -- or if you can't make it to meeting -- please leave a comment to this blog post and we will write a reply to you.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

2010 Budget

The Board has approved the 2010 Budget, and now it is everyone's turn to review and ratify this budget.

Please be on the lookout for this in your mail (it was mailed today, and should arrive within a day or two).

Two important budget-related meetings are scheduled for this month:
  • The budget ratification meeting is scheduled for February 24, 2010, at 6:30 p.m. at the Snoqualmie Library. As the Declarations require, the budget and assessments shall be ratified unless disapproved by at least 51% of the total ownership at this meeting. All homeowners are encouraged to attend.
  • You are also invited to a budget question & answer discussion on February 17, 2010, at 6:30 p.m. at the Snoqualmie Library. If you have questions or concerns, we hope you will make time to join us for this informative discussion.

Monday, February 1, 2010

Questions about 2010 Budget & Assessments

There has recently been discussion among homeowners about the upcoming budget for 2010.

The Board has not yet approved a 2010 budget, nor have 2010 assessments been decided upon. We have been discussing it for months, and studying funding options. The board is taking this responsibility seriously, and is committed to honoring our budget philosophy.

We plan to hold a budget ratification meeting within the next month, for homeowners to vote on the proposed budget. This is our community's budget, and we are glad for the interest this topic has received.

We plan to hold a question & answer meeting at least one week before the ratification meeting, specifically to inform homeowners of the proposal and answer questions or concerns. (The date & time will be published on this web site.)

However, if you have a question that you would like to have answered more quickly, please leave a comment to this post so that a Board member can respond to you.