Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Counting the # of Residents for Calculating HOA Dues in a Condo Building

[Mabel Liang (mabel]

The only thing we do by residents is the water charge (we have one water 
meter for the entire property).  When the next year's budget is being 
prepared, the treasurer asks for the number of residents you are 
anticipating in your unit for the year.  People will estimate fractional 
people if they have, for example, kids who are in a college dorm, but 
home for the summer.  It's basically honor system, but there _might_ be 
a question if the number seems radically low.

We count every person the same - figuring that a baby may account for 
extra diaper washing, etc. - there's nothing that makes us think one 
kind of person uses more or less water than another.

We don't adjust the water fees during the year if the number of people 
changes - it's not worth the hassle to change condo fees in the middle 
of the year.

More gory detail than you may want - The water bill is estimated for the 
year and the assigned amount becomes part of a unit's condo fees.  
(Ditto for the electricity that is used for the common house, but I 
think that is all covered by our solar panels at this point.  The gas 
has a more complicated formula, because the apartment buildings have a 
common heating system, but the townhouses have their own.  Everyone's 
share of the estimated gas charges also becomes part of their condo 
fees.)   If the utility bills estimates are off, the fees gets adjusted 
in the next year's budget.

The rest of our condo fees are based on percentage interest.

Hope that helps!

-- Mabel :-)

 mabel [at] twomeeps.com
 Mabel Liang
Cornerstone Village Cohousing
Cambridge, MA
 Software Engineer turned Gardener

On 2021-11-28 10:19, Alice Alexander wrote:

> A question for those cohousing communities that live in a condo or
> multiresidential building, and jointly meter utilities and building 
> costs
> (or anyone who knows of other communities that are similarly 
> structured):
>
> How do you count the # of residents in each condo for the purposes of
> calculating HOA dues? Specifically:
>
> * Owners (and when they are away, renting or not renting, does that 
> number
> continue to be applied or is it increased or decreased?)
> * Children - do you count children and if so at what age?
> * Renters - how do you count those renting? or is it covered via # of
> owners?
>
> Many thanks.
> --
> Alice Alexander
> Durham Cohousing
> Durham, No Carolina
>
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