Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Homeowners' Association Dues

[Zukrow (Zukrow]

At Valley Oaks Village, we decided to start with equal division of our Dues
among our 28 households.  This was done simply to make it easier for our
CC&R's to be passed by the Dept. of Real Estate.  We intend to revisit this
issue in the near future, and I anticipate that part of our dues will be
divided on a per member basis, with the rest divided equally among
households.  

I am also very interested in how various groups handle this issue since we
will be revisiting it soon.  I did some research when my group last discussed
this issue (about 1 1/2 years ago).  I am including a copy of a summary of
that research.  Please understand that it is somewhat dated, and I can not
vouch for it's complete accuracy.  If members of the mentioned groups would
like to update this info, that would be great.  I'd also appreciate info from
any other groups.

Thanks,
Monica Zukrow, Valley Oaks Village, Chico, CA
(Where it was about 80 outside yesterday and we all went swimming in our
pool!)  As more of an update, I should say our last unit is probably sold,
but we still have 2 adjacent lots for sale.  The main thing we're all
focusing on now is our landscaping.  It's looking really beautiful.

A SAMPLING OF MONTHLY ASSESSMENTS OF COHO GROUPS

Puget Ridge (Seattle) ? 35% of the total budget is divided equally among each
household.  The remaining 65% is divided according to sq footage.  Dues range
from $80-140 per unit.

Southside Park (Sacramento) ? 
Basic assessments cover 1) Variable reserves -- saving up to replace roofs,
repaint exteriors & perhaps someday replace the siding. Allocated
proportionately to unit size; 2) Fixed reserves --saving to replace common
house (& outdoor common area) fixtures, appliances, tools, floors
furnishings, , etc.). Allocated equally per unit; 3) Fixed costs -- mainly
insurance, allocated by unit size; 4) Operating expenses-- common area
utilities, minor repairs, administrative, committee budgets, activities.
 Equal per unit. All this is pretty standard condo stuff, fine-tuned to
reflect the fact that they do much more of their own management & maintenance
than typical condo ass?ns.  5) Supplementary assessment Income level is the
main factor for the assessment to repay reserves, from which they borrowed to
make capital purchases.  Members pay $1-9/mo to this fund, the amount
determined partly by unit size and partly by self-defined income level. 

The result: 1-bedroom $70, 4-bedroom $100.  (The spread is actually $90-130
because after move in, they found the city was billing them collectively for
water, garbage & sewage. Those expenses were allocated with a partial
weighting for unit size, adding $20-30 a month 

"During construction, I proposed a method similar to Highline?s: a
spreadsheet formula that would also take into account # of residents &
income, since we have a very wide range & have been very conscious about
trying to maintain affordability after purchase as well. The decision then,
was to defer any such  system for at least a year. I think mostly people
didn't see that the end result would be that much different & our group
mentality tends to try to avoid unnecessary complications. While the
egalitarian ideologues among us may bring it up again before long, I wouldn't
be surprised if the group decides to just stick with what we have.

It has occurred to me that the poorer residents among us tend to have either
smaller units or renter-housemates. Also, adjusting for number of occupants
would in most cases tend to balance out  adjustments for income and unit
size, since the lower-income people tend to inhabit smaller units than
higher-income families of the same size. So I think the inclination here may
be to spend our time having fun instead of debating assessment formulas."

Emeryville assessments are based on sq footage and range from $160-230.  I?m
not sure of their exact formula.  They are so high because they?ve had a lot
of construction problems, they hire out a lot of work, & they just recently
got earthquake insurance.

Monterey Coho (St Louis Pk, MN) pays $50/month for a single adult household.
 Each additional adult per household pays $25, & kids are free.

Sharingwood (Snohomish, WA) divides equally between households $34/mo.

N Street (Davis, CA) pays $12/mo per adult & $2-5/mo per child on an ability
to pay basis.

Highline Crossing (Littleton, Colo).  Criteria:  1)  Assessments approximate
costs where possible; Two primary variable "allocators" are the number of
people in the "unit" & the size of the unit.  2)  They wanted to keep the
highest to lowest monthly fee range to 2:1.  3)  Special costs are allocated
among the special cost group.  (ie, garage maintenance & insurance costs are
divided among garage owners.)

Formula:  1)  Per unit expenses are divided equally among the 36 households .
 These include snow removal, office supplies, common house telephone, legal &
accounting fees, parking & walkway maintenance & replacement, etc.  
2)  "People" related expenses are allocated based on "equivalent adults"
where each adult counts 1, each kid age 4-18 counts 1/2 & kids under 4 count
0.  People expenses include garbage collection, common house utilities
(gas/electric/water), repairs & maint for common house, etc.  So, if there
are a total of 62 equivalent adults in the community & a household has 2
adults, 2 kids, and 1 infant (3.0 equiv adults) that household would pay 3/62
of the monthly people related expenses.  
3)  Unit size related expenses give frontal footage a 50% weighting &
finished sq footage a 50% weighting.  These variables both affect insurance
costs, exterior maintenance, etc.

Although this may seem complicated, it meets their criteria & is administered
by plugging this into a spreadsheet & bouncing it against an expense budget
which is divided in these categories.  
They are budgeting & adjusting during construction & partial occupancy & will
go to an annual budgeting cycle once they?re fully occupied.  They fine tuned
their categories to keep the 2:1 highest to lowest ratio.  Interim fees ave
$85/mo.  They expect that long term fees will be under $100/mo ave with a
range of $65-$130/mo.  They have 1 to 4 bedroom units & family sizes from
singles to couples w/3 kids.