Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: HOA Dues survey

[eileen mccourt (emccourt]

At Oak Creek Commons in Paso Robles, CA our dues cover the following items.

Pool, spa, 10 acres of open space, 3,800 sq. ft. common house, play area,
underground parking, carport, landscaping. The pool is heated to 80 degrees
May-Sept (it can be over 100 degrees during the day in the summer, so the
heating cost is not exhorbitant - I am told that April and October together
cost the same as the entire summer, so it is about 2x the cost in the
transition months), and the spa is maintained at 101-103 all year.  We have
135K annual budget, which includes 10K for cohousing community stuff - the
garden, community life, facilitation training, social activities, family
life cmtee, kitchen subsidy (sometimes), common house supplies, meeting
supplies.  Our reserves are being funded at a rate that yields about 80% of
replacement value, I think, and we are increasing the reserve portion of the
dues annually to get up to replacement value.
 
Here is a rough cut of our dues. Each household can reduce their fees by $32
based on their participation.

(approx sizes)
1 bedroom/1ba   740 sq. ft.     $203
2 bedroom/2ba   975 sq. ft      $209
3 bedroom/2ba   1500 sq. ft     $225
Lg 3 bedroom/2.5 ba     1600 sq. ft.    $234
4 bedroom/2.5 ba        1650 sq. ft.    $236
Lots            $156

We have a community agreement for cable and internet access which add about
$40 to the bill for the majority of households. Not all members participate
in the service provider agreement.

Eileen McCourt
Oak Creek Commons Cohousing
Paso Robles, CA

-----Original Message-----
From: Susan Hedgpeth [mailto:hedgpeth [at] berkeley.edu] 
Sent: Sunday, September 30, 2007 2:08 PM
To: Cohousing-L
Subject: [C-L]_ HOA Dues survey

Hi all,

We are in the midst of preparing our budget for 2008.  It's likely 
that we will have to raise dues but unclear at this point how 
much.  We're wondering how our dues compare with other cohousing 
communities, especially those that are condominium homeowners 
associations (HOAs).

So....  if you would be willing to share your dues amounts, it would 
be helpful information for us to have when we discuss the budget this
weekend.

Our 2007 HOA Dues:

1BR unit - 260
2BR unit (1 floor) - 294
2BR unit (2 floors) - 330
3BR unit - 342
4BR unit (small version) - 368
4BR unit (large version) - 400

As a point of reference, our HOA dues cover (I think these are the 
major items):
-insurance
-maintenance/repairs
-pool and spa maintenance/repair
-utilities (everything except electricity in the private units) 
including email and intranet
-contribution to reserves (which we fund at 100%)
-what we call "community enrichment" expenses, i.e., things that are 
more in the discretionary category such as parties, garden, common 
house furnishings, crafts room and kiln supplies, mediation costs, etc. etc.
-and other things

Thanks in advance.
-Susan

Susan Hedgpeth
Pleasant Hill Cohousing
Pleasant Hill, California, USA
(San Francisco Bay Area)
http://phch.org

_________________________________________________________________
Cohousing-L mailing list -- Unsubscribe, archives and other info at: 
http://www.cohousing.org/cohousing-L/