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The Pemberley HOA monthly assessments are carefully considered every year to determine not only how much will be needed to cover your monthly budgetary expenses (such as landscaping, insurance, fence maintenance, etc.), but also how much we’ll need to put into our savings or “reserve” for the repair or replacement of common area amenities.
With few exceptions, everything on the property outside of our doors and windows comprise the “common areas” of our community. Each part of our common areas must be maintained at a cost shared by each unit. As a general rule, we don’t budget monthly for the major repair or replacement of the various parts of the common areas because it’s impossible to foresee exactly when the pool heater will need to be replaced, a tree will die or the roof will need to be replaced. So for major maintenance expenses such as these, we draw funds from our reserve account.
It’s difficult to predict how much money we should have on hand for such expenses, so we look to the experts who have provided us a Reserve Study as a road map to adequate long term savings. This reserve study, which recommends that the HOA be saving a minimum of $4,800 per month, can be obtained by any Pemberley owner by clicking here. While are not financially able to meet this savings goal in 2009, we are hoping to make big strides in building a healthy reserve savings.
We also incur many “smaller” expenses every year, like tree trimming and electrical issues, but also recognize that we have substantial expenses ahead like re-roofing the buildings and resurfacing our parking lots. To ensure fairness to all, every owner at Pemberley: past, present and future contributes to the reserve account for the maintenance of each part of the common area through their monthly assessments.
Additionally in 2008, Federal Lending changes were announced by Fannie Mae / Freddie Mac / FHA stating that every condominium community which desires to qualify for these Federally backed loans, must be actively saving at least 10% of their annual/monthly income. If our HOA was to not meet these criteria, then the vast majority of the loans in the country would not be available to Pemberley Owners looking to refinance and prospective buyers. This could dramatically hurt the property values at Pemberley.
A few years back a smaller, older 24-unit complex in Utah County had a portion of their roof collapse. Without the necessary reserve funds to cover the repairs, the management board took out a loan and then imposed a $600 special assessment on each unit to repay the debt. Though the $600 assessment was spread out over six months, many owners simply didn’t have the ability to pay the extra $100 per month in addition to their regular monthly dues. As a result the HOA defaulted on their loan. With careful planning and money management, Pemberley is trying to learn from the misfortunes of others and we’re doing our best to plan for a financially healthy tomorrow.
After a complete review of the foreseen expenses for 2009, we have determined that the monthly HOA fees must increase to $173.50 per month effective January 1, 2009. Please download the proposed budget here for more details of the expected expenditures. There will be a final opportunity for homeowner input at the December board meeting scheduled to take place on Friday, December 12 at 6pm in the clubhouse. An official letter announcing the increase is expected to be mailed via USPS the following Monday.
Please note that accounting books for the Pemberley operating account are open for review by any owner that desires. If you wish to review those reports, please call the Advantage Management offices at 801-235-7368 to schedule an appointment.
Lastly we remind you that this decision is not made lightly, without serious consideration. Please know that we spent many hours discussing items that could be eliminated from the budget to avoid the necessity of increasing dues. In our continuing efforts to serve the community, we will continue to look for ways to improve the community and cut costs, while maintaining the long term values of your property. |