Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Dues structure

[Fred H. Olson (fholson]

Maryann Jones jonema.dwq_po.dwqmain [at] dwq.swrcb.ca.gov
is the author of the message below but due to a problem it was posted
by the Fred the list manager:  fholson@cohousing org

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Ours (Southside Park Cohousing) are also based on size of home.  So even
though I have 4-5 people living in my house, I pay the same as every other
home with my square footage.  If you try to devide by people you get into
the issue of how you charge for children.  Do roommates get charged the
same as permanent residents?  What happens when roommates move in and out?  
Do you charge less when the household is short a roommate?  What if the
roommate does not use any of the common facilities?

I think that our dues structure was set up to be supportive of families.  
If you charge extra for each kid, that becomes a tax on families.  And in
our case, it wouldn't be fair.  The main expenses out of our homeowners
dues are insurance, roofing reserve, painting reserve and money for
upkeep.  None of those are based on occupancy.  You can say that utilities
and trash, to an extent, are based on occupancy (we have to have the same
exterior lighting regardless of how many people live there), but I would
argue that the items that are based on occupancy are a minor portion of
the total.

Maryann Jones


>>> brian <brian [at] trillium-hollow.org> 10/03/99 07:57PM >>>
Dear folks,

Our community is preparing our annual budget.  To date, we have divided the 
annual budget based exclusively on the square footage of each residence. 
 For example, if I have 1 person in my 1,000 sf home, I pay exactly the HOA 
(Homeowner's Association) dues as someone with 3 people in an identical 
1000 sf home.  Or if I have 1 person in my 1,500 sf home, I pay double what 
2 people would pay living in a 750 sf home.

I should add that all our utilities, HOA and community fees are run through 
this system

I am an accountant and think our fees should be split based on a couple of 
factors namely square footage and number of people.

I am wondering, how do other communities divide dues?

Brian Setzler
Trillium Hollow
Portland, Oregon