Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Budget question

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

> On Jun 27, 2022, at 2:02 PM, James Glickman <james.glickman [at] gmail.com> 
> wrote:
> 
> Hi all. I am on a Finance/Legal committee at VHC in Northampton, and we are 
> wondering how much you budget - if anything - in anticipation of annual legal 
> expenses for your community. If it’s zero, that is still useful for us to 
> know.

We have done various things over the years but as other posters have said, 
legal expenses vary widely. We usually have $1,000-1,800 in the Admin line. 
Sometimes it isn't used and sometimes more is spent.

My advice would be to establish a reserve account of $3,000-$5,000 and just 
leave the money in savings. You don’t have to add anything if you don’t spend 
it but it is there in case you need it. Your whole budget won’t get jerked out 
of shape if you need the lawyer to review a contract for a negligent vendor.

This also varies with the age of the community. We used to have $10,000 in an 
emergency fund that could be used for anything unexpected. But after 22 years, 
we have several reserve accounts so having a contingency fund isn’t so 
important. Our budget is also much more stable. In the early years it is harder 
to anticipate expenses. You are still finding out what is necessary.

Sharon
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Sharon Villines
Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC
http://www.takomavillage.org