Will HOA Rates Rise? HOA Meeting Tomorrow, Budget on Agenda

The St. Charles Place HOA board will discuss its budget for next year at tomorrow night's meeting. Our HOA fees will almost certainly rise next year.

The board had what's called a reserve study done. That's when a company comes in, inspects our community and its finances, and writes a report about how well we're putting money away for future repairs on our buildings, our roofs, our roads, our pool, and anything else that might need fixing or replacing someday.

Its verdict? We're not doing as well as we should.

We are lucky that one of our board members happens to be a CPA, and she has diligently crunched numbers to see what we can do to save the money we need, while also paying our regular expenses, such as the water, electricity, and insurance bills (which are our largest costs).

Her verdict? We can't do it without raising HOA fees.

Don't blame her. Our management company's accountant submitted a preliminary budget with a pretty sizable fee hike. The board had a lot of discussion both at at the last regularly scheduled meeting, and at a special meeting the following week devoted solely to the budget, which was also open to any unit owner.

But it's not too late to offer your input. Are there things we spend money on that we don't need? Are there ways to get the goods and services we do need for less money? Bring your ideas to the meeting tomorrow night.

How much might fees rise? The board doesn't know yet. It will depend in part on whether we can change the way we fund our reserve accounts. That will also come up at the meeting, which happens at the usual place, the River of Life Christian Center on Krycul Ave., at 7 p.m.


View Larger Map