ACM Minutes, Dec. 20, 2023
Topics: budget
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
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.
The reason for the infrared heat gun is to pinpoint where our buildings are losing heat in order to do repairs/upgrades, which will save on everyone's heating bills.