Glenbrooke Homeowners Association Finances
First, some news about Glenbrooke’s 2009 financial results: Pulte voluntarily contributed a subsidy of just over $24,000 to bring the association income up to expense (not considering depreciation, which our reserves presumably cover). So, I’ll retract my question about whether we should have considered a special assessment, and thank Pulte for making that a non-issue. I should also say that the prior two posts on Glenbrooke finances are now out of date, as is the 2009 audited financial report that residents received. A corrected 2009 audited financial report is available here.
Having already looked at current income and expense, the next logical step would be to consider our reserves. I’ve reviewed the Assessment and Reserve Funding Disclosure Summary, and have to say it did not inspire confidence. The summary page dated December 31st, 2009 stated our contribution rate was $27 per month, and that our balance was $210,130. As far as I can tell, our contribution rate for 2009 was $20 per month, and more definitively, our end of year reserve balance was $197,545. I’m just speculating, but these figures may have been “best guesses” in October, 2009, when the study was done. On a more positive note, the reserve analysis used mainstream software and was performed by Diversified Facilities Services a company experienced in the field.
Others are surely better informed, but based upon my review, I’d have a few specific suggestions for our management company. I think they should use a little more care in preparing financial reports – and probably have an additional person proof read them before publication. I also think that they should do a better job with general ledger descriptions – seeing items labeled “give something back” (hundreds of them), or even labeled with just a staff person’s name, neither gives a positive impression nor helps understand what the entry is about.
I also think the treasurer’s job may entail a lot of work for an unpaid position, and it would be worthwhile to form a finance committee to assist them to ensure we receive full value for our assessment dollars.
This brings to an end my investigation of the association’s 2009 finances, and overall I’m reassured to NOT find major problems. It's been so much fun that I'm tempted to start looking at 2010.
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Thanks Jim, the first thing that I noticed is that the deficit went down to $18000 from $42000 in the restated statement. We still have to focus on a balanced budget and full disclosure as you have indicated.
Sebastian
We would also like to thank Pulte for making the deficit a non-issue, but must make sure that we live within our budget this year. Pulte will not always make this a non-issue. If we have some large expense that was not budgeted for, then we revise the budget. If we don't you can expect dues to increase or have an assessment. In doing some research regarding reserves, it is suggested that 20% of dues go to reserves. Seems reserves is the slippery one that gets many HOA's in trouble.
One item that someone needs to do some research on are the fences....cement (block), iron, wood that surround Glenbrooke, including the parks, ones facing Whitelock, etc. Are they our responsibility or the cities? If ours, that is not being covered in the reserves. I'm getting comments that it's our headache, but it's not from the horses mouth... so to speak. If I remember correctly, Pulte said it was the cities responsibility. ????
Thank you Jim for all the hard work..even though you enjoyed it and I believe it was also an unpaid position.
Sometimes I'm lax in getting the thank you's out from this little household...owe you a Starbucks!