Tag Archives: budget

New Process to Develop the 2020 Budget

Committee Meetings, Community Announcements, Special Announcement

How members can provide input

  • June 11th and 12th:  Department managers present their Operations and Capital requests to the Finance Committee, drafting begins. Meeting will be in the Dance Barn starting at 6:30 p.m.
  • July 10th and 11th:  Department managers present their Operations and Capital requests to the Board at 7:00 p.m.
  • July/August:  Two Town Halls for Members to engage in budget draft development and give feedback before the draft gets proposed to the Board
  • August 29th:  Board votes on the budget to be put on the ballots to be mailed early in September  
  • November 2nd:  Members vote on the budget

At both the Finance Committee meetings and Board meetings, the budget will be projected on the screen and modified in real time showing the totals as they are modified. The meetings will also be available to view online. 

This process is intended to increase transparency, maximize Member input, participation and education, and develop a sensible, sustainable budget.

Starting Today – send your budget suggestions to the Board at BOD@suddenvalley.com

New Budgeting Process for 2020

Committee Meetings, Community Announcements, Special Announcement, ,

New Budgeting Process for 2020

In an effort to ensure a transparent process, educate the community, and maximize member input and participation, Sudden Valley Management is adopting a new budgeting process for developing the 2020 Budget.  Each manager will present their departmental budget justifications directly first to the Finance Committee, and then to the Board of Directors, over the course of 2 Special Finance Committee Meetings and 2 Special Board of Directors Meetings.  All department managers will be present at all 4 meetings.  Community members are encouraged to attend; however, these will be work sessions only and Property Owner Comments will not be permitted.  The meetings will be very interactive with changes made to the budget displayed live and in real-time on a projection screen.  The budget presentations will be recorded and livestreamed for those unable to attend the meetings.  It’s never been easier for residents to be informed.

Two dedicated Town Hall meetings will be scheduled after the BOD presentation in July and before the final vote on August 29th.  Community members are invited to engage in this process and to provide their feedback on the proposed 2020 Budget.  One will be held on a weekday evening, and the other will be held on a weekend. 

Budgeting Timeline

Special Finance Committee Meeting – Capital and Operations Budget Presentation

  • Day 1 of 2 – Tuesday, June 11th at 6:30 p.m. in the Dance Barn
  • Day 2 of 2 – Wednesday, June 12th at 6:30 p.m. in the Dance Barn

Wednesday, June 19th – Finance Committee Meeting:  Final Budget Presentation

Special BOD Meeting – Capital and Operations Budget Presentation

  • Day 1 of 2 – Wednesday, July 10th at 7:00 p.m. in the Dance Barn
  • Day 2 of 2 – Thursday, July 11th at 7:00 p.m. in the Dance Barn
  • 1st Town Hall – Budget & Ballot Measure Presentation – date/location tbd
  • 2nd Town Hall – Budget & Ballot Measure Presentation – date/location tbd

Thursday, August 29th – BOD Meeting:  Vote on Budget, approve AGM agenda, ballot, and explanations

New State Law Impacts the Valley

Community Announcements, , , , ,

The Association was informed by its attorney that, on March 27, the Governor signed into law SB6175. This new law, in part, governs all Washington Home Owners Associations, whenever created. In particular, according to the attorney’s recent first analysis, Sections 117 and 326 of this HOA law will apply to Sudden Valley as of July 1 this year.

 

Section 117 makes Section 326 applicable to SVCA. Section 326 requires dues assessments, and special assessments, to be included in, and part of, any proposed budget. Budgets are approved unless a “majority of the votes in the association … reject” it. Therefore, the immediate analysis is that separate voting on “dues and assessments” and “special assessments” is no longer permitted in Sudden Valley, and that the prior 60% approval requirement for all assessments or dues is no longer in effect.

 

The law is very long, and other sections may also apply to the Association. Therefore, the attorney is analyzing the statute further. He will appear at the first Board meeting in May – the 10th – to update the Board in public session.

 

To help all Association Members have questions looked at by the attorney, please send any questions you may have about the new law to BOD@SuddenValley.com, or directly to me (BODbrown@SuddenValley.com), no later than the afternoon of Friday, May 4. Those questions can then be researched and addressed as time allows at the May 10 Board meeting.

 

The Board – assisted by the Finance, and Communications, Committees – will continue working with the Association’s attorney to determine how best to communicate to Members all the impacts of the new law, and how to respond to the law’s new requirements.

 

-Larry Brown, 2018 Board President

Candidate Forum Clarification

Community Announcements, ,

SVCA held two candidate forums, on 09/23 and 09/27. The candidate forum was a space for candidates to gather, and community members to listen to the responses to a pre-determined set of questions regarding our community. Each candidate answered the same questions. The audio and video to the 09/27 forum can be found here.

The association would like to provide clarification on three items that were incorrectly stated at the forum:

  • Inaccurate candidate statement: The 2018 operations budget is not balanced
  • Accurate response: The 2018 operations budget is balanced with no additional funding from UDR (Undesignated Reserves Fund) as shown on page 6, column 2 of the 2017 Annual General Election Booklet.

A balanced budget means the amount of income and expense anticipated is the same, so net income is zero.

  • Inaccurate candidate statement: The UDR fund is where monies go that have pre-allocation to either operations, CRRRF, or roads.
  • Accurate response: The Undesignated Reserves Fund, UDR, is where money collected in the current year for prior year operational dues is deposited. Money spent from this account must have prior approval by the board.  It is a board-designated operations fund.
  • Inaccurate candidate statement: It is in audited financial statements that we have to get a vote of the membership to borrow.
  • Accurate response: This is the opposite of what it states in the audited financial statements. The 2016 Audited Financial Statements, Note 7, “If additional funds are needed, however, the association has the right to borrow funds…”. This verbiage has been included in the audited financial statements for at least the past 10 years.  Copies of the 2015 and 2016 Audited Financial Statements can be found here.