Re: Seeking input on compassionate HOA calculation
From: Mac Thomson (macheartwoodcohousing.com)
Date: Mon, 10 Dec 2007 11:27:02 -0800 (PST)
Sharon Villines wrote:

On Dec 10, 2007, at 10:35 AM, Mac Thomson wrote:

Our HOA dues have a 50% fixed component and 50% variable based on
number of people in a household. The monthly range ends up being from
about $100 (household of 1) to about $200 (household of 6) per month.

How do you count households?

From our agreement: "For purposes of making this calculation, the census of how many people are living in each home is updated at the beginning of each month. A person is considered to live in the home if they are expected to stay more than 90 days."

Our bookkeeper (a member) keeps the census. For gray areas (someone lives here part time and somewhere else part time), she just works it out with the household. The amount of money is not that great so I don't think this have ever been much of a problem.



We have room renters who come and go leaving empty spaces and not all
participate in the community.

We have babies.

We have residents who don't participate in the community.

We sometimes have undeclared residents.


Our goal and our assumption here is that everyone who lives here actively participates in the community. This is supported by our Membership agreements. In reality, a few folks participate very little, but if anything, they should probably pay more dues because of the work they don't contribute. :-)

Everyone counts in the census, any age. In truth, babies don't cause much wear and tear, but by the time they're 3, I'd wager that they cause more than their share of wear and tear -- at least in the dining room.

=============================================
Adi wrote:

what was the rationale to have a charge based on the number of people in a
household?

We have a reserve fund for which monthly dues are based on square- feet of siding/windows/etc. so differ by unit, but otherwise there doesn't seem to be a strong correlation between number of people in a household and what it costs the community to maintain the common house etc.. In fact, more people in a household means more workers, and so there might even be a reason to give the
household a "credit"...

Our homes are all detached or duplexes. All home maintenance is the responsibility of the homeowners so our dues go for community stuff. So basing dues on square footage of households doesn't make sense for us here.

The rationale is that some of our HOA expenses happen regardless of how many people live here (snow plowing) while others are a function of how many people there are (CH carpet cleaning). Our formula seeks to strike a balance between these two.

More people in households here usually means more children so that doesn't really create more workers.

Cheers,
Mac

--
Mac Thomson

Heartwood Cohousing
Southwest Colorado
http://www.heartwoodcohousing.com


"We do not stop playing because we are old. We grow old because we stop playing."
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