ACM Minutes, Dec. 20, 2023

Topics: budget, guest room fees, changing pay or play

Present: Mike W, Michael, Laura, Lynda, Natalia, Heather, Kay (notes), Starla until 7:45, Vicky, Victor, Grae, Cheryl, Ben, Coleman, Jorge, Robin, Emily, Renae, Stephen, Mary, Hannah, Joe, Cyd, Chelsea, Eliza

Wednesday, 7:00 p.m. common house sitting room and online

Exercise: communication envisioning, debate, dialog, or avoidant discussion

Budget

Handout of budget draft. Last page shows itemized committee budget requests.

Discuss some of the ideas for raising money that will raise a predictable amount.  Some of the ideas aren't amenable to estimating the money that might be raised, such as an annual dinner, since we haven't actually done such a thing. Not voting on anything tonight. 

A number of repairs need to be done this year sooner than expected, for instance gutters.  Some of it will come from the reserve, some from the operating budget.

Having a strong reserve avoids the risk of needing a special assessment.

The reserve analysis recommended a minimum of $4,445/month into the reserve.  We are currently adding ~$4,790/month. We would like to increase that to $6,000/month. 

Q. Does increasing it to $6K increase the reserve's 65% share of the total budget?  A. It depends on what the total budget ends up being.

Q. Is this a temporary increase or can it be dropped back in a couple of years when we catch up? A. The reserve analysis estimates the spending needed over the next 30 years. At the beginning of 2023 we had only 42% of what is recommended. Spending will vary each year.  Ideally the amount being taken in is spread evenly to let people plan how much they will pay each month.  We are trying year by year to get closer to being where we need to be. There will never be a point at which we aren't putting anything into the reserve, because we always need to be saving for the next new roofs etc.

As of November, the reserve balance is $154,255, which is closer than we were last year.  This year Management looked at ways to get more interest on the reserves by moving part of the money in certificates of deposit.

It looks like we will be $12K over budget this year (that is, we spent $12K more than we took in).  In 2023 Maintenance didn't have a large budget, but there were a number of repairs we hadn't anticipated. With a zero budget increase, funding all budget requests and doing the repairs we know are needed, we would end the year $38,500 over budget (not including repairs we don't expect).

For some large pieces of equipment we plan to rent. Smaller pieces we plan to purchase.  For compatibility of batteries,  we are trying to stick with Ego for landscaping and Makita for maintenance. Renting the smaller equipment isn't cost effective; renting half a dozen times is as much as purchasing.

Q. Why an infrared heat gun? A. To pinpoint where our buildings are losing heat in order to do repairs/upgrades, which will save on everyone's heating bills.

Guest Room Fees

Utilities are ~$6.50 per day to run this building.

Adding up the year's usage of the guest rooms, fourteen households used the guest rooms.  Nine households used more than seven nights.  One household used _.  It's very common practice at other cohousing communities to request a donation for using the guest room.  We may want to change some policy around the guest rooms, which we don't need to decide right now; as part of the budget request we would decide number of "free" days if any per household and how much to charge after that.

Charging for guest room use seems like a disincentive to use something we've already paid for.

During most of the community's history we've asked for a donation for use of the guest room.  We don't get a lot of donations. We can't enforce it  Could have a sliding scale or suggested range of donations to accommodate income diversity.

Despite trying to share things like lawnmowers, cohousing is not significantly cheaper than any other living arrangement.

Most of the time the common house is empty. OTOH everybody pays for use of the common house, and somebody has to clean.

Email: What's the point, if we aren't getting a lot in donations? There is value in reviewing policies and getting people on the same page.

Pay or Play

Two hours a month per adult resident isn't getting the work done.  $20/hour is not enough to hire someone to do the work.

Going from two hours to eight is a big leap. Increase in hours needs to be slower.  Go to four or five and then we can revisit it. OTOH even with ten hours per adult there would still be work that needs doing.

Every family feels pushed for time and money. Puts a burden on households with room-mates. Maybe exempt room-mates from requirement.

The proposed changes are being seen as a way of generating revenue. Charging for an inconvenience. 

Don't like being asked to fix past mismanagement of maintenance.  OTOH being accused of mismanagement following years of doing maintenance with no budget doesn't feel good.

The people doing the work burn out. Some years necessary maintenance didn't get done, even paid, simply because the people doing the work didn't have time and bandwidth to figure out exactly what needs doing, look for a supplier, supervise them.

Distribute hours or charges across households by who has more income or more time. 

Need to get a list of suggested jobs so people who are pressed for time can glance at it, find something that will take half an hour, and do it when they have half an hour. Maintenance is starting a list of tasks -- describe the job, tools needed.  Will want input from other committees.

Do 17% budget increase this year.  Bring it up to the full amount next year.

Barter system.  Work at your own schedule on projects, not necessarily per month.

Sliding scale so people who've been here longer and benefited from years of zero increase pay more now.

Committee Reports

Maintenance. Next meeting would be Christmas and we aren't doing that. No work parties currently scheduled.  Jan 9. 

Welcoming. Doing orientation  Have an ad on the national cohousing site and are getting queries. Carol's house will be coming up for sale.

Celebrations. Have been discussing how to coordinate events so they don't overlap.

Landscaping. 26th and 30th work parties in workshop/garage.

Parents. Slow progress on the playground but it is coming along.

Events

December 20, 6:00 Thursday carolling.

December 21, Friday 6:30 white elephant party.  Snacks.

Party New Year's Eve.  Sunday potluck will be canceled in favor of the party.

San Pedros are having an open house after the carolling for anyone who wants to stop by.

7:00 p.m. ACM Planning

Emailed 12/24/2023.