Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: monthly assessments

[Jim_Snyder-Grant . LOTUS (Jim_Snyder-Grant.LOTUS]

A long time ago (before my time) New View agreed to a formula that single-adult 
households pay 3/4 of what multiple-adult households pay, during the 
development phase. This was to create a very approximate parity to the eventual 
downpayment and housing costs people would have.  (At closing time, all the 
differential payments are evened out, with interest)

During the early phase, the whole group approved individual expenses as 
proposed by committees, and then the finance committee would prepare a monthly 
assessment to cover those expenses, and the group would approve that 
assessment. 

Later on, we agreed that once an expense was approved, the finance committee 
could just announce the assessments, instead of having to get it approved.

Later then that, we approved an overall project budget, and agreed that 
committees could spend money within those budget categories without coming back 
to the group. (We still individually approve expenses that aren't in the budget)

(The theme here is that as the whole group developed trust in the committees, 
we were able to spend much less time in whole group meetings with expense 
decisions, so that we could focus on bigger issues)

Finally, we anticipate that once we move in, assessments will be done as in 
other condo arrangements: Massachusetts law makes it clear that monthly fees & 
voting percentages both need to be in proportion to the beneficial interest 
accorded to each household in the condo papers, which in turn needs to bear 
some reasonable relationship to each units 'fair value'. So when we prepare our 
final condo papers, some agreed-to system such as appraisals will determine the 
proportions of each household's interest, and thus their share of the monthly 
fees.

Other than the condo operating budget to be approved annually (with an 
allowance for both regular maintenance & some capitol accumulation for future 
enhancements), emergency extra assessments will be made by consensus at 
meetings, with our usual fall-back to a vote. (In the current draft of our 
condo docs we have enshrined our  'consensus with a fallback to voting' policy 
in legalese. The fall-back voting percentages are those as specified by the 
Uniform Condo Act & the secondary market requirements (FNMA), so that (we hope) 
no lender will be freaked out.

When we hired a consultant to guess our monthly fees once we move in, we got a 
guess of about $200 to cover the usual insurance, taxes & maintenance for a 
suburban Boston condo complex of our size & expense with very generous common 
facilities.

-Jim S-G, New View Steering Committee