Cohousing-L Mailing List: Two-tiered dues structure?

[Kay Wilson Fisk (kwwilson]

I thought I remembered someone describing a two-tiered dues structure, but
have searched through the recent posts and can't find it.

As I recall, it had two levels:

1) A base dues that covers essential costs, that everyone is required to
pay; and

2) An optional "surcharge" that goes toward non-essential costs. 

As I understood it, this was how one community handled the issue of keeping
dues affordable for all. We are searching for such a system in order to keep
from having to raise dues to cover essential costs without cutting
non-essentials to the bone.

Can anyone describe how this system works and what the pros and cons are?

Kay
Bartimaeus Cohousing
Bremerton, WA