Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: HOA Dues Increase

[Diana Carroll (dianaecarroll]

FWIW, we have fully funded our cohousing target budget every year except
one, and that year it was only slightly reduced.

What we really like about this is that it allows us to have nicer things
without feeling like we are harming our members of less means. So although
I gave the example of choosing not to buy a couch to reduce the target
budget, the way it works in real life is that people in the community with
greater means help us have the community we all want.

Pledges for the cohousing budget range from $5 per month to over $200.

Diana


On Fri, Jul 5, 2019 at 1:44 PM Sharon Villines <sharon [at] sharonvillines.com>
wrote:

> > On Jul 5, 2019, at 9:44 AM, Diana Carroll <dianaecarroll [at] gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > The other is our so-called “cohousing” budget. This covers expenses
> related to community that wouldn’t be part of a typical condo budget.
> Things like furnishings for the common house, fitness room and kitchen (and
> a small reserve fund for replacing those), social events/parties,
> workshops, community gardens, and so on. This is much more fungible than
> the condo budget — if we can’t afford/don’t want to afford a new couch, we
> can choose not to buy one.
>
> I know Diana knows this but others may not.
>
> It is also a choice but also affects the value of the property. The social
> events and workshops might be different — although condos also have
> seasonal social events and decorations, welcoming of new owners, etc.
> According to the Washington Post some even have coffee and pastries
> available in the lobby  _every morning_  paid for out of the operating
> budget.
>
> Condos also have kitchens/party rooms, roof decks, exercise rooms, office
> space, etc. Things have changed a lot. All of our CH furnishings are
> included in our reserve study— we don’t have to do them if we choose not to
> but the money is there.
>
> The purpose of the capital replacement reserve is to preserve the value of
> the homeowners investment. If this isn’t done, people can’t sell at market
> price and buy somewhere else. Replacements are also done at the  current
> level of technology so the facilities stay updated, not just replaced. “No
> one replaces a coal stove with a coal stove.”
>
> The only thing we have organized volunteer funds for were large items that
> were important to some and not to others: a Universal Gym and fence on the
> SE corner. For the 10th and 15th anniversary celebrations for catering.
>
> Sharon
> ----
> Sharon Villines
> Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC
> http://www.takomavillage.org
>
>
>
>
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