Glenbrooke Homeowners Association Finances
by Jim Gore
I was a little disappointed in the 2009 auditor’s report; finding an incorrect table of contents, inconsistent page numbering, labels left over from the prior year, and some questionable comments in the footnotes; all of which made me doubt that sufficient care went into the report. For that reason, I asked for (and eventually received) detailed information about the association’s finances for 2009. What follows is my admittedly incomplete understanding - I welcome comments from those with better data, or a better understanding of the details.
In this post, I will provide some details about the association’s income. When I’ve completed a review of the general ledger for 2009, I’ll sumarize the association’s expenses too.
Almost all income came from assessments on lots sold or ready to be sold. Lots which are yet to be sold were assessed at $124 per month, and houses (which have landscaping expenses) were assessed quarterly at the equivalent of $159 per month. I was especially interested in knowing if our association was having issues with missing payments. The good news is that we don’t have a large problem, with only 34 of over 800 quarterly payments having been late (less than 5%), and few properties having multiple late fees assessed. Further good news is that with the opening of village two for sales, in 2010 there are an additional 70 lots paying assessments, bringing the total to 400. Even the model homes are paying assessments.
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1. What you mean about labels left over from the previous year?
2. Note 2 on the Financial Statement: For the year ended 12-31-08 there was a deficit of $ 109,942 which Pulte Homes" has agreed to subsidize.". ??out of the goodness of their hearts or mandatory? What happens with the 12-31-09 deficit of $ 42,703? Pulte subsidize or we have an assessment? Seems we're running this business in the RED...
3. Would still be interested in knowing the "details" of the Landscape repairs and maintenance" excessive costs in 2009. Would probably need the check record. That should have been an alert item for the CPA to have reviewed and maybe he did. JMO.
4. If memory serves me correctly, the Board made a statement that there are more pages to this FS that were not released, believe it was in answer to a question from a resident....maybe someone can remember what was said.
Thanks Jim, we owe you! It's a lot of work, especially when everything is not at hand and you have to play the waiting game.
1. What you mean about labels left over from the previous year?
a page with 2009 data, showing a 2008 date..(the format was the same last year - so I'm guessing as they updated the data fields, they missed the year).
2. ...subsidize.". ??out of the goodness of their hearts or mandatory?
not mandatory - but maybe not out of the goodness of their hearts either - if funds had to be taken from reserves or assessments raised, that might make it harder to sell the next lots. Anyway, it was a good thing for us homeowners.
I'm still looking at the expense side - and may be able to tell enough just from general ledger entries. If not, I'll ask for "enhanced records" as needed.
Glad you found it interesting.
Thanks Jim. INTERESTING??? Are you kidding? Running the HOA with a (deficit) each year is somewhat troublesome for me, actually very troublesome! I had the same thought about Pulte. It seems the Budget figures vs. Actual expenditures needs to be closely monitored. It does make it very difficult since this is the middle of June and the only statements we have available are for Jan., Feb. & March. I wonder if we, as residents, could insist they are published monthly due to the fact that the HOA has had a deficit for the last two years. Otherwise, we are going to be faced with an increase in dues or extra assessment which is going to make a lot of people unhappy and then some could probably care less. $$ Who exactly prepares the Budget and is there any oversight?
Somewhere...somehow, I seem to have heard there was someone having another CPA firm review the statements. I thought about it last year, but just didn't want to impose on this firm asking for a freeby. Think they might have actually enjoyed it though!
Just wondering....does anyone else have any concern about this? Not hearing a peep! If so, maybe you can give Jim a hand if he needs it......and I'm including myself!
JMO, of course!
Jim and Norma Lee, I am also concerned about the $42,000 this year. That means that this money is taken from the replacement fund and reduces this balance. We must strive for a balanced budget to prevent this from occuring again and again in the future. Our budgeted revenues were short $80,000 mainly from the $60,000 less from developer asssessments.
One other item I would like to know about is, for example.... the July 2nd celebration. Charge is $ 20.00 per person. I would assume that this per person charge was based on a certain number attending to break even. Say you're 5 people short in order to meet the cost, but since it's a small number you decide to not cancel...does the HOA pick up the $ 100.00 shortage?
I guess the association pays a little for some events, and makes a bit for others. The net result (in 2009) was that cases where income exceeds expense outweighed the reverse, both for activities and fitness.