The Vintage Royale Homeowners Association Board of Directors has voted to raise the yearly detached home assessment by 20% (from $720 to $864 per year). The Board has also voted to increase the monthly townhome assessment by 5% (from $320 to $336 per month). These increases will take effect in January of 2023.
While we understand that raising these assessments is difficult, we feel that in light of the following circumstances, it is unfortunately necessary.
- The Vintage Royale community is unique, and we have unique challenges. We are a relatively small community compared to other similar developments, but we have many of the same costs and share many of the same responsibilities to our residents.
- Inflation is currently running near 8%, making a “status quo” budget for 2023 a real budget cut.
- Our bylaws require all homeowners to contribute the same amount to the “common budget”. Raising the detached home annual assessment from $720 to $864 requires each townhome to contribute a like amount, or $864 yearly. Multiplying this $864 by 108 townhome means a total contribution of $93,312 from the townhomes to the common budget in 2023, an increase of $15,552 from this year’s contribution of $77,760, or $720 X 108.
- The insurance market is in turmoil. We expect our insurance to double in cost next year. We hope this is not the case and have agents and others working on our behalf to find the most cost-effective solution.
- As our community ages, repair and replacement of townhome external materials become more urgent. Of particular concern are the townhome roofs. As you can see from the attached page 10 of the comprehensive study by Encore, 3 roofs are in need of replacement in the next few years. These types of repairs are normally financed by a “reserve fund,” which is money that is set aside to address large expenditures. Unfortunately, as you can see from the attached page 14 of the reserve study and the attached most current balance sheet, our reserve fund is severely underfunded.
- If we fail to contribute enough to the reserve fund over the next several years, the alternative is a “special assessment.”
- A special assessment in our case would be a cost borne by the owners of their building in an amount sufficient to cover the cost of their building’s roof. For example, replacing the roof for Building 3 is projected to cost at least $56,000. Dividing $56,000 by the 6 units of the building results in a “special assessment” of more than $9,000 for each of the 6 units in that building. The Board wants to avoid the “special assessment” situation; we recognize this is the worst-case scenario.
- Borrowing the money is also an option, but we do not feel that this is a good solution because ultimately – with interest rates – this ends up costing even more.
So, what is the board doing?
- We are negotiating lower costs for contracted services — primarily lawncare, pool services, pest control and administrative services — while at the same time, due to inflation, being charged more for these services. (As an example, fuel surcharges for any and every visit to our neighborhood by vendors.) The tradeoff for lowering these costs however may be a slight decrease in these services. We are striving to do this with no noticeable change in the appearance or maintenance of our community.
- We will continue to fully fund all repairs and maintenance which are safety issues, urgent, or will result in structural damage or higher repair costs if not remedied immediately.
- We are working to eliminate any expenses which do not fall into either of the above categories. We call these “enhancements” in the budget. We are going to be very reluctant to approve monies for these types of expenditures in 2023. Again, this may result in changes to what you have seen and/or experienced this past year. For example, elimination of extra plantings of seasonal ornamentals, elimination of trash can cleaning, elimination of “extra” landscape services, to name just a few.
- This past year the board approved funds to bring the landscaping back up to where it should have always been maintained. Completing these projects in 2022 will allow us to spend less in 2023 for landscape repair and restoration.
- In 2022 we also dedicated funds to repair the irrigation system, which had suffered years of neglect and was failing to keep the lawns green and healthy. In 2023 these repair expenses should be greatly reduced.
- Currently the pool is being repaired. The pool coping was made of flagstone and was deteriorating, clogging the filter, and collecting on the pool bottom. In addition, we had to allocate funds to bring the pool into compliance with the County in order to reopen after the shutdown. We anticipate these repairs and upgrades will eliminate or greatly reduce pool repair expenditures in 2023 and allow us to keep the pool open year-round in 2023.
- We are also aggressively pursuing collection efforts on delinquent assessment accounts.
- Some good news! In 2022, the MUD district took over responsibility for paying the electric bill for our streetlights. They are also the ones funding, installing, and maintaining the sidewalk trail that is currently being constructed.
In conclusion, we on the board are your neighbors and we share your concerns. We do not take these HOA fee increases lightly, and we want to assure you that we are acting in what we believe is the best interest of our community and our residents. We look forward to the continued opportunity to serve you and pledge to keep everyone up to date and informed on all matters related to our great community.