Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: HOA Dues Structures

[Noel Rosenberg (noel]

On Tue, 1 Sep 2020, Mac Thomson via Cohousing-L wrote:

| Our community (Heartwood Cohousing in rural SW Colorado), has an unusual HOA 
dues structure. We collect 50% of our dues on a per household basis and 50% on 
a per person basis. The purpose is to try to reflect that some costs are more 
fixed in nature (e.g., replacing the common house roof) and some are more 
variable in nature, meaning that costs go up as usage goes up (e.g., shampooing 
the common house carpets).
| 
| After 20 years, we are reconsidering our dues structure and would like to 
know what other dues structures are used by other communities.
| 
| Some of the structures that I think are currently used are:
| Flat Rate: Each household pays the same monthly dues.
| Square Footage: Each household pays in proportion to their home?s square 
footage. My understanding is that this structure is more appropriate for condos 
where the condo association is responsible for the maintenance of private 
homes. Since all of our homes are privately maintained, this structure doesn?t 
seem applicable to us.
| Household Income: Each household pays in proportion to their household 
income. We?ve discussed this option and dismissed it.
| 
| Are there any other dues structures used by any communities?

Here in MA, since we are legally a condominium trust, we are required by 
law to collect HOA fees by "beneficial interest" (which is more than just 
square footage, but takes into account other factors).  Since Mosaic 
Commons is *also* a cohousing community, we decided early on to have 
seperate cohousing dues that are on a sliding scale.  These dues cover the 
things that make us a community rather than just an HOA, such as operating 
the common house, and support our value of affordability.  Each year, we 
calclate the per-household average needed to fund the cohousing budget, 
and collect pledges from households (and a few non-resident affiliates) 
toward this budget.  Each household must pledge at least 5% of the average 
household amount, and there is no limit.

Ex: The average per household amount last year was $97/mo, and the minimum 
pledge was $4.85/mo.  Despite the low minimum, we have only once in 11 
years had an issue making our budget due to people pledging more than the 
average.

This system has its quirks, but it works for us.

-Noel
--
---Noel Rosenberg
---noel [at] mosaic-commons.org