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

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

> On Nov 29, 2021, at 11:17 AM, Ken Winter <ken [at] sunward.org> wrote:
> 
> I strongly recommend submetering for utility bills that are not already
> metered for each residential unit.  Our experience with submetering for
> water bills is described here:
> https://docs.google.com/document/d/14kO0ncu6-G0W_qJKJqsjxXT9xYAotIWSXGhqTK1aF0c/edit?usp=sharing

An excellent article — very nicely written and formatted. So clear!

A question: In the end, how different were the highest and lowest sub-metered 
water bills? If water usage was reduced 20%, how much was the total cost 
reduced? Was it more than the estimated $50 per unit operations & replacement 
cost?

And information — You say:

> For new construction, there is another option to consider: a utility meter 
> for each unit, so the local utility directly bills each unit for its water, 
> and the community isn’t involved in private usage at all.  Sunward has no 
> experience with this option, so we won’t offer any advice about it.

We consciously chose one utility meter during construction. With an individual 
meter for each unit, there is an account for each unit and each accounts comes 
with a minimum charge and flat fees. We use far less water than the average so 
with 43 individual accounts we would be paying more than we pay with one 
account.

I don’t have either the original figures or current figures to check that but 
it is worth looking into. The better option would vary depending on how you are 
charged for water.

Sharon
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Sharon Villines
Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC
http://www.takomavillage.org