Annual Meeting, Part 2, January 28, 2024, Wasatch Commons Community Association

Topics: Annual Budget

Decisions: Approved budget.

Sunday, 3:00-4:20.

Present: Linda Reed (fac), Emily Buckner, Michael Abrahamson, Joe Sweeney, Gheybin , Jordan Smith, Lila Sweeney, Vicky Wason, Tobi, Vinnie Mazzone, Laura DeBack, Alexandra Parvaz, Robin San Pedro, Cheryl, Keil, Lynda Angelastro, Hannah, Stephen, Kerry Terrazas, Kay Argyle (note-taker), Ben Trueman, Jorge San Pedro, Mike Wason. Online, Renae. Proxies: #1, #10, #11

Note:  ACM is rescheduled from February 14 to February 7, to avoid Valentines.  Will have an insurance presentation.

Annual Budget

Proposed budget is a 15.10% increase. Income from Association fees is 1 month at current fees, 11 at increased fees. 

Income

Interest.  Q. Estimate $6K in interest; rates are supposed to go down. Realistic?  A. Most of our current CDs are ~5.5% interest.  We have $103K in our reserve. Now we transfer $4,700/mo.  At UFirst, we can get APY of 5.55%. Upping reserve deposit to $5K/mo, purchase a cd each month. Keeping CDs at ~$5K each for flexibility in emergencies. Total in CDs is operating fund $18K =, 1yr CD $2K in July, $8K purchased Nov/Dec. Jorge had asked for maturing CDs to be put in high-yield money market but they appear to have been renewed. In reserve at UFirst, $50K maturing in July.  At UFirst they pay a higher interest for CDs purchased with new deposits.  6mo CD just purchased $4.7K.

Income estimate from pay or play is based on current system.

Electric.  Almost all our common electricity is covered by the solar panels, but there is a flat fee each month for the meter, so our electric bill will never go to zero.  OTOH, we have a large enough credit to use more electricity from appliances and electric cars without increasing the bill.  We can't use it for units because we aren't an electric reseller.  We are "battery-ready" if we come up with the money to purchase a battery.

Expenses

Landscaping.  Lowered request by $1K, reallocated to maintenance.

Maintenance.  See email from Vinnie for details.  Stucco damage at north end of west carport was discovered recently. (Possibly a dump truck backing into the support beam; mark on beam shows rust.)

Q. Line 08790 "Reimbursement East Side (Mary)" is zero. For field north of the east garden.  A. Need to bill Mary.  The field has been sold to Hans. Scott is supposed to relay to Hans that Hans needs to work out his own water for it -- probably a line will need to be run from the street.

The money we are pulling from the operating fund float (unspent previous budget) to put into the reserve doesn't show on the budget, so it won't cause a problem like we had one year from a title company who wanted all expenses paid by new income.

Some vendors charge us a fee is we pay by credit card; they get a check.  Otherwise we try to maximize our cash back.

Q. How was the reduced increase from the previous draft achieved?  It is mostly from putting a bit less in the reserve and offsetting part of it, $8.5K, from the float. We are still working on getting the reserve closer to fully funded, but not as aggressively.

Showed a table showing anticipated reserve expenditures, contributions, and ending balance for 2024-2031.  Request.  Can we see a report of reserve expenditures and contributions going back a number of years? 

There is a legal requirement to keep set aside at least enough to cover a deductible on an insurance claim.  We raised the deductible from $10K to $30K.  Not clear yet whether this money needs to be in a separate account or simply earmarked.

A copy of the new fees was included in the emailed spreadsheet.  Increase ranges from $37 to $50.  Formula is more complicated than just square feet.

For the households that pay automatically, the amounts pulled need to be updated by Wednesday to avoid needing make-up checks.

Straw poll.  All thumbs up.

Any concerns?  ... silence.  Break.

Call for consensus:  Approved, no stand asides.