Cohousing-L Mailing List: paying for sweat equity

[Ruth Chaet (rchaet]

I have been surprised reading some of the letters about paying for sweat
equity.  At Westwood, I don't think we ever considered paying members for
sweat equity.  What we have done is to set a price of $10.00 an hour and
bill households for 5 hours a month.  If a household puts in 5 hours a
month, the charge is cancelled. Hours worked over the 5 are banked toward
periods
when the members may be away or unable to work.  Those people who do not
work at sweat equity pay the $50.00 or for any amount they did not work.
The money we have had paid in for sweat equity by those who did not work
was used to hire outside labor.  Our policy has always been that no member
is
paid for work of any kind that is done for Westwood. Renters are expected
to
try and put in the sweat equity time for the owners who also pay for time
not put in.  We define sweat equity as any labor done that adds to our
capital investment.  Other work, such as general maintenance, is considered
community service and is expected from each person.  We are really just 
starting to set up a procedure for that and are discussing whether people
should be charged some amount per hour if they don't put in a certain
amount of time.  Again, we would not consider paying any member for
community service.  Ruth Chaet at Westwood CoHousing in Asheville, N.C.