Board Budget Meeting Today

The board voted to close the previously named mortgage loan payment account to move it into the operating account. They are preparing for the new accounting service which will begin in January. The discussion eventually went to the budget, and the need to fund our reserves.The real shock came when the president listed the options to prepare a budget.
First option: Increase the monthly maintenance fee by up to 33%.
Second option: Draft a budget with partially funded reserves. Fully funded reserves (as required by F.S.719) would require a payment of $381,941. A partially funded reserve, approx. $75,000, would allow the budget to be drafted with no maintenance increase.
Third option: A special assessment for every shareholder.

Without a doubt, the second option is most appealing. It is necessary, however, for the shareholders to vote not to fully fund the reserves. This must be done every year!! Notices will be delivered to every shareholder, either by block captain or US Mail, explaining the situation, with a copy of the budget, and a proxy to vote on this matter. On Nov. 23, 2010, a shareholders' meeting will be held to vote on the issue of fully funding the reserves, or not fully funding the reserves.

The president also discussed the matter of pooling the reserves, and eliminating the line item method of funding them. This was shot down almost immediately with a motion by Susan and seconded by Rose, and agreed upon by all present, except Paul.

The rest of this 3+ hour meeting discussed individual elements of the budget. Many motions were made to agree upon the final figures. Rose seemed intent on keeping the figures down, but several of her motions were not accepted. Agreed upon was the elimination of the part-time position in Office staff, beginning January 1, 2011. There will be no salary increase for employees, which was loudly protested by the two past presidents in attendance.
We learned that our water bill increased in October by a whopping 25%, so the budgeted amount for 2011 reflected that increase.

Despite a few disagreements presented today, the board is doing a great job of completing the budget by the Nov 6 deadline for mailout. It is essential that everyone attends the Nov 23 meeting, or completes a proxy for a neighbor to vote for you, or the secretary to vote for you. Perhaps there will be a ballot where you can just vote yourself. That wasn't made clear today. We do need 203 votes to partially fund the reserves, and avoid a SIGNIFICANT maintenance increase or assessment.

The meeting continues at 1:00 tomorrow (Thursday). Stay tuned.